There are many ways you can drive a dog nuts — and you probably aren’t even aware of them. So if you want to be your dog’s best friend, find out how you can fix your annoying habits.

Dogs try to be our best friends, but boy do we ever make it difficult sometimes. Here are some of the things we do that might make dogs question whether they want to remain best buds or cut ties completely:

1. Using words more than body language

We’re a vocal species. We love to chatter away, even at our pets, who can’t understand the vast majority of what we’re saying. Dogs might be able to deduce what a few key words mean — walk, treat, toy, off — and maybe even learn hundreds of words as some border collies have done. But they can’t understand human language. What they rely on to figure out what we mean is our body language. Dogs have evolved to be expert readers of the human body and can figure out what you’re thinking and feeling before you even realize you’re thinking and feeling it. But we can easily send mixed signals if we are only paying attention to what our mouths are saying and not what our bodies are saying. If you go to any beginning dog training class, you’ll see plenty of people saying one thing, doing another, and a confused dog trying to figure out what in the world is wanted of them. For instance, telling a dog to “stay” while leaning forward toward the dog and holding out a hand like a traffic cop is, in body language, actually inviting the dog to come toward you. But when the dog does, she gets reprimanded for breaking her stay command. It’s all so confusing!

A great experiment (and something that will probably have your dog sighing with relief) is to try to spend a whole day not saying a word to your dog, but communicating only with your body. You’ll realize just how much you “talk” with your body without realizing it, how to use your movements and…

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About the Author

Jaymi’s passion for the environment started as a little girl. She has always held a special interest in wildlife and habitat conservation both on a local and global scale. As wide-scale environmental problems worsen, her concern for the environment continues to grow, as do her passions for the written word and conservation photography.
She received her degree in English and creative writing from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and married her loves of writing and green technology while working as the managing editor for EcoGeek.org. She then spent five years as an editor and writer for TreeHugger.com, covering technology, ocean and water, and wildlife conservation issues. Now, it is her daily joy to cover all things animal for Mother Nature Network.