How To Get Your Dog To Respect You? Reasons Explained + Tips

A dog is one of the most loyal pets in the world. Even if you feed a stray dog, he will remember it throughout his life. Not only that, he’ll show you his affection every time he sees you. But sometimes, things could go very wrong, and your pet might start not respecting you.

So, how to get your dog to respect you? The quickest way to show your dog that you are in command is by making him wait for things. It might take you time, such as a few weeks to months, but regaining lost respect is not impossible.

How Do You Know That Your Dog Doesn’t Respect You? 

We expect our pets to respect us all the time. Respect not only shows their love and affection towards us, but it also signifies their undivided loyalty. Since we adopted our pets, most dogs stay loyal and respect their owners.

But rarely, sometimes, our dogs stop thinking of us as their alpha or the leader. Then the loyalty we expect from them will go down drastically.

He’ll start demanding things, growl at you, and simply give you a blank stare when you call his name. These things are very subtle.

We don’t overthink and let them stay, thinking our pet is funny. But these subtle changes are the first level of a dog losing his respect towards you.

So ignoring these tiny changes in your dog ultimately makes you lose his interest and affection towards you.

Along with the signs mentioned above, the following indications also inform you when your canine stops respecting you.

• Stops obeying your commands
• He walks away when you’re talking 
• He rushes out of the door before you
• Starts doing things you tell him not to do
• Barking and growling at you when you didn’t comply with his wishes
• Nicer to others than you
• Stays away from where you’re sitting

The above list I compiled only has a handful of signs dogs start showing when they start disrespecting you.

Therefore, if you ever see any of the above cues, remember that you should take immediate action to reverse the situation.

Many other behavioral changes could be distinguished in individual dogs that plant doubt in their owners’ minds.

And now that you’re reading this blog, I assume you’ve faced the same situation. But, if you’re a lucky person who’s here to grab all the information to avoid this situation, congratulations!; you get my respect.

The advice I give all canine lovers is always to stay alert about your furry friend’s behavior.

You must avoid him getting out of line and stopping respecting you. Not only will it make you super sad, but it could also drop your confidence in parenting your pet.

Why Does My Dog Have No Respect For Me? 

You should first understand one major thing when figuring out how to get your dog to respect you. Why does your dog have no respect for you? And how did you lose your pet’s respect?

Even though we call a dog’s good behavior as their respect, this concept never crosses their minds. Dogs don’t understand how to respect.

They think, “this works with my mom, and this doesn’t,” and “this is safe, and that is not.”

If we don’t correct their behavior, they will start thinking even the bad things are safe for them to do. Therefore as I pointed out earlier, staying alert to your pet’s behavior is crucial.

Then you can catch your culprit right in the middle of the action and decide how to teach him that what he did was wrong.

It is simply a question of how do you get your canine to do what you want him to do? And how do you keep his leash in your hand? (ironically).

Training is essential when instilling respect (as we call it) in the doggo’s mind. And after that, you need to let him feel who’s in control throughout his life.

You also need to motivate your pet to do what you want. Food, treats, play, petting, and praises are some of the motivators that interest your pet.

But don’t forget they’ll try to impress you better if you show him that the prize for his work is tasty.

You should also make certain that your pet doesn’t get the negative mindset that he will receive a prize whenever he does something good.

When understanding why your dog has no respect for you, you must rewind your time and check where your parenting went wrong.

When did you let go of your dog’s leash and stop showing him who’s in command? Further, having a voice power over your dog is also vital. You must make sure that the pet knows that he has to obey you on the first command or will have to face the consequences.

Showing him that not obeying you is not safe is an excellent place to start. Like how a human parent nurtures her kids to become good citizens, you should train your dog to be good too.

If not, you will have to face many problems other than having to find out answers about how to get your dog to respect you.

How To Get Your Dog To Respect You?

Now that you have lost your grip on your dog, you should start acting immediately. You should regain your power as the pack leader but not in a cruel way by shouting or hitting your dog.

Those methods never work, and I don’t recommend unnecessarily aggressive behavior correction methods. That will only make you lose what little respect he has for you.

Let me explain step by step how to calmly regain your dog’s respect.

• Step 01 – Show Your Leadership By Protecting Him

Never give out the feeling that he should protect you when you’re out with your pet. That’s a pack leader’s duty.

Therefore, please keep your dog by your side instead of letting him walk ahead of you. Ensure that you’re in between your dog and other pets around. Then he will start respecting you as his leader.

• Step 02 – Comfort And Cheer Up Your Dog 

Whenever your pet is scared or sad, take the initiative to cheer him up. Pet him, coo soothing words, and some treats will instantly get his mood back up.

Also, when your doggo is afraid of something (firework, other dogs and thunder, etc.), play with him or hold your dog, giving him a protective sense. 

• Step 03 – Make Sure That You’re The One That Feeds Him 

Dogs build up a lot of respect towards the one that feeds them. So ensure that it’s you.

• Step 04 – Never Terrify Him

The more you become aggressive towards your pup, the more he will distance himself from you. Therefore, always be calm but firm when he misbehaves. 

Your simple action could decide whether you gain or lose your pet’s respect. Therefore, be sure that you always work and behave like a leader, and you shouldn’t have any trouble related to how to get your dog to respect you.

Thank you for reading this article! Stay tuned with Jack Russell Owner for more interesting posts.