Raising a dog to be a well rounded, obedient and good canine is a bit like raising a child to be a good adult. In this article, I’ll tell you exactly why.

No, I’m not saying that you should treat your dog as if it were your own child or the reverse (I don’t expect your child to eat chunks of meat from a bowl on the floor, of course not!) but there are many great similarities between the two.

For instance, you see so many examples of bad parenting and kids who are doomed to failure and crime from the moment they are born due to bad parenting. The same applies with a dog.

There are lots of training tips out there that are useful but what you really must understand is that you are the boss. The dog must always understand that you are the boss and do not take any nonsense from them.

No matter how much they whimper for that food off your plate, you’ve got to ignore them. No matter how much they keep jumping up at you and your visitors, you’ve got to ignore them and put them in their place.

It’s a bit like a child who throws a tantrum whenever they don’t get their way. Then some parents will cuddle the child and give them what they want. If the child wants some candy and throws a tantrum, the bad parents will give in and buy them the candy.

This might shut them up and make them happy in the short term, but in the long term it is causing a lot of damage.

In the same way, you are the boss when it comes to your dog and you cannot tolerate this kind of bad behaviour. So if your dog won’t leave your food alone then you need to intercept it and make a surprising dominant noise, like a quick “woosh” from your lips. It will stop the dog in its tracks.

As soon as it tries again, make another “woosh” noise. It only takes a few hours or even minutes for a dog to realise who is boss and obey him. These few minutes of discipline on your part will have a huge effect in the long term on your dog’s behaviour.

Remember, you’re the boss and don’t let your dog forget that.