In pop culture you might have heard people talking about the 5 love languages and how being able to identify yours can be beneficial to all your relationships, either platonic or romantic. Do you like words of praise or to be hugged when someone is expressing how they feel to you? Do you prefer gifts or do you prefer that someone spend quality time with you? Or perhaps you feel the most loved when someone brings you coffee first thing in the morning, or makes dinner for you. You can see that it is helpful to know what your preferences are so that you are able to state a meaningful preference when a partner or loved one offers you a choice.
Finding out what your dog’s “love language” is can be of real help to you as well, especially for training and building your puppy bond. Just like eye color, coat color, temperament and size, what motivates and conveys “love” to your pup is unique and special. Let’s go over the different things that could mean love to your special little Habibi guy or gal!
Dogs who LOVE FOOD – this is the most common. These pups will do anything for a treat, and the highlight of their day is meal time. Once you have noticed how much your Habibi Bear loves all kinds of goodies, you are well on your way to success. Different results and difficulty levels can be achieved with varied treat values, ranging from dry kibble to the creme de la creme- bits of bacon or chicken breast.
Dogs who LOVE tennis balls or particular TOYS- If you have ever seen a video with a highly trained police dog or military dog getting rewarded, chances are they get a minute or two with either a ball or a favorite squeaky toy stuffy after a job well done. If you try to lure your Habibi pup away from a toy with food and they aren’t interested, chances are high that their motivator is a toy/ball.
Dogs who LOVE WALKIES- These are the dogs who will drag their leashes over to you whenever possible. Even if you try to distract them with food they are still focused on getting outside (and all that THAT entails)!
Dogs who LOVE PRAISE- These dogs are completely driven by making you happy. They live to please you and get a warm belly scratch and an excited YES! when they do well.They will often look to you for approval most if not all of the time.
While this is not a complete list, you get the general idea. There are many different ways to entice and lead your dog into training exercises using an appropriate reward that means the most to your dog. In addition, for more complex and demanding tasks, you may be able to combine the reward given, think of a stuffed Kong toy after a particularly grueling set of training commands, fulfilling both Food/Toy as a reward. Having this knowledge means a lot less frustration for both you and your puppy and is just one more example of speaking a doggie language that your Habibi pup can understand. Just think how much joy you will bring to your puppy when you are able to give them what it is that they value and cherish most. The emotional bond between you two will become stronger than ever, and their trust in you will increase exponentially! Let us know what motivates your pup and what their love language is by leaving a comment below. We are always here for you, cheering you on!
And for those of you who aren’t aware, we have an exciting announcement with the advancement of our Foundation, Hannah’s Heart We have for a couple very special puppies that will be the year’s first Hannah’s Heart scholarship program – if you know of someone who is in need of beautiful Habibi Bear to provide emotional support or psychiatric assistance for their child with Autism or special needs, we’ve received generous donations to provide adoption assistance toward their pup! We are accepting Video submissions with your application now – and would love hear about your candidate or your family! Our Scholarship Committee will be reviewing all applications, and if your candidate is selected, we will be notifying you!
Until Next Time-
Want to help with Hannah’s Heart?
For those who want to assist in helping more Habibi Bears getting into the homes of a child in need, or joining our Courtroom Facility program, we need volunteers! Please reach out today to let us know how you can help our cause!