There is no question that our pets light up our lives; they can bring us so much joy and laughter. How we communicate with them shapes our relationships and affects their behavior. Sadly many of us, especially when our pet is in the process of misbehaving, will yell or scold Fluffy or Fido. The bad news is that yelling is totally counterproductive to our goals. Training our pets is a process that can try our patience, but we must remain calm with our best friends.

Studies over the past few years have shown that yelling has a detrimental effect on our pets. Two studies have shown that our pet’s cortisol levels (cortisol is the stress hormone) are higher when we punish or yell at our buddies. Cortisol affects their overall physical and mental health, as well as their behavior.

As we’ve said before, if you call your pet by name and then yell at him, it teaches him that his name can result in something negative (yelling). This makes him less likely to respond in the future. We don’t want that result!

If Fido runs to the window barking and you yell at him, guess what? You’re most likely being counterproductive! Yelling can sound like excitable barking, so Fido thinks you’re supporting his incessant barking and will probably howl a bit more.

Another situation where yelling produces negative results is in potty training. Imagine you catch Fido or Fluffy having an accident in the house, and you start yelling at them. This may teach your pet to be sneaky, and they will begin having accidents when you’re not around to avoid getting yelled at.

Studies on dogs and cats have reached the same result – yelling not only confuses your pet but it causes them stress and distrust – which undermines your position as a leader. And these feelings inhibit your pet’s interest in learning new things.

If you have been yelling at your pet, don’t worry, you can turn it around! Just stop yelling. Once you use a calm voice, your best friend will start respecting you again.

Instead of yelling, speak calmly, redirect your pet to something positive, ignore the behavior, or do something with them that you can reward (like basic training). This may be all you need to turn the unwanted behavior around!