How to Say No to Your Dog: 3 secrets

Many people struggle with this concept. And once you know how, the change is really immediate! The secret lies in the tone of voice.

Secret 1: Say No in Mandarin Chinese 4th sudden dropping tone. 

Secret 2: Show your teeth and pointer finger

Secret 3: Mean it!
Bonus: It works with small kids too. And if you're good in doing it to a kid, you can do it to your dog.

Is that simple? Yes it should be. 

Secret 1

Why do some of us fail in this? Well most of the time they say excitedly "NOOOOOO!" in Chinese 1st or 2nd tone "noooOOO. That is the high tone and the rising tone. What does the dog hear? "Woof, do it!" So there goes the lost in translation.

Then some of us are unsure or have given up hope so they use the Chinese 3rd tone "NNnnoooOOO" What does the dog hear? "I dunno leh, but you go ahead." Again the lost in translation.

This is the 4th tone: NNOo!
So why is the Chinese fourth tone so special? Because it Commands!
Imagine your strict school disciplinarian. Or your strict teacher, or your army sergeant or a NDP parade officer.
Notice they use the Chinese 4th tone? Notice how they always have a drop in the tone?
And all of a sudden, even small kids pay attention and stopped their rowdiness.

Secret 2

Show your pointer finger Cesar Millan style. Our ancestors who hunt with dogs point where the prey is and what not to do by intuitively using the pointer finger. The dog also learnt that the sight of pointer finger is a warning sign. Then our ancestors probably show teeth like a wolf when he disapproves his dog's behavior. And guess what? It still works to today's dogs.

Secret 3

You cannot fake your intent to a dog. He can sense your heartbeat, breathing pattern and read your mind (I believe they have 6th sense, and Science have yet to prove it). So mean it. Imagine him stopping doing anything that displeases you. Express your emotions. If you are angry, just imagine telling him you are angry. I am not advocating violence or abuse to dogs. Neither am I telling people not to love their dogs. But just like a Primary School teacher, you have to mean it when you say No to your kid.

If these 3 points do not work, look into the mirror and rehearse.
It will not work in 1% of the time where the dog has learnt to be super aggressive.

But 99% of the time, it works.

Then for higher intelligent and faster thinking dogs, they would understand the first few times and then revert to violate your rules. This is normal. They are so intelligent that they can think and they dare to try to game your system that you put in place. Do not despair. He understands your rule, but he needs to understand that there is no buts and ifs...for his curiosity's sake. Curiosity is a form of intelligence too.

For slower dogs that seemed to take time to learn a dog trick, this will be easy.

We see sometimes an inverse correlation between dog's speed in learning against obedience. That does not mean we do not see a fast and obedient dog. These are few. And that does not mean there is no slow and disobedient dog...but this is super rare.

So be patient, yet firm.

Loving your dog is a balance between pampering him and drawing up the boundaries and rules.