Connecting With Your Labrador Puppy – Part 3

In this last part of my little “Connecting With Your Labrador Puppy” series I will show you what you need to do when your Labrador, as a puppy or as an adult hurts himself in whatever way. Not knowing what the right thing to do in this type of situation can lead to traumatic experiences for your dog or even worse, to a great amount of aggressiveness towards you for no apparent reason. I will give you an example so that you understand this concept better. I’m warning you now, do not disregard this despite the fact that it is a little counter intuitive.

So the best example is when you take your dog to the vet to have him vaccinated. How does your dog behave in this situation? I would be willing to bet that 90% of dogs hate going to the vet and when they realize that you are taking them there, they either become aggressive, either run the other way no matter what you tell them.

So why does this happen?

I can tell you that it’s not because of the pain caused by the needle going through their skin. And you may be like “Whaat?” The fact is that dogs care more about you, their leader than about physical pain. Are you beginning to see where I’m getting at? The reason why they don’t like it there is because every time you went there with him and he got his shot, you started freaking out and trying to calm him down when you were more scared than he was.

A dog that loves you so much doesn’t like to see you like that. It’s a state of mind that they can feel. Imagine now that feeling that you’re getting when you worry about someone or when you sincerely “feel their pain”. Your temperature starts rising and you’re almost starting to sweat. That is the feeling of losing control. There are certain chemicals that are running through are bodies at those times and dogs can feel them like we can feel pain. This is basically fear. A trained guard dog, or an aggressive dog that is not familiar with you, will start barking at you and even chasing you when they feel the fear in you. But when your dog feels the fear in his leader, he feels vulnerable.

I hope it makes sense to you, because it is such an important thing to understand if you want to be that best leader for your dog. As you were reading this you might have remembered a moment in your life when you started freaking out about your dog getting hurt. Because of the way he made you feel, he will avoid that situation forever.

So what is the right thing to do?

What you should do is very obvious and it’s something that you should apply in every situation. What you have to do is be a true leader, keep your act together. Don’t feel sorry for him, don’t cry, don’t go hug him. If it’s a minor injury let him be, if it’s something more serious, think of the best thing to do in that situation and do it. Don’t waste time whining.

If you want more proof, think about a homeless dog. It’s got a broken leg, half the teeth he should have and every step he makes sends a sting through his body. Does he whine? No. When you come to him and pet him, he starts wagging his tail like nothing ever happened.

Try it once and you will see. If your dog hurts himself somehow, just look at him. What he will do is he will make a high pitch sound the moment the hit happens. That’s mostly because of the scare. Then he will lick or smell that spot for a second or two and walk away immediately.

This is just the most obvious benefit but follow my tips and your Labrador puppy will look at going to the vet like it’s where you get the food and not the place that makes you weak.

This is the only dog food that I recommend you feed your Labrador puppy: