Dogs are considered man's best friend. Throughout the ages and of all animals, dogs have been man's companion. More than companions, dogs serve a variety of functions. There are working dogs (e.g., police dogs) and dogs that are used as guides for the disabled. Farmers and livestock owners use dogs for herding, and some home owners get dogs specifically to guard their property.
Whatever the primary purpose of a particular breed of dog is, it's important that it receive proper training and these dog training tips can help train your dog. Many dog training professionals will attest to the importance of having a well-trained dog. You don't have to be a professional dog trainer to train your dog. You can do simple activities to teach your pet how to behave.
Dog training tip #1: Curbing your dog's digging behavior
As a dog owner, you need to understand that dogs are social animals. When they are lonely or alone, dogs resort to digging. Loneliness isn't the only reason dogs dig, though. In some instances, dogs that dig are experiencing some sort of nutrient deficiency. To make up for this condition, dogs oftentimes would eat the dirt they dig. If your dog tends to dig a lot, spend more time with him. It also pays to have your dog checked up to make sure that his health is in good condition.
Dog training tip #2: Potty training your dog
A reward-based method works best when potty training your dog. To use this method, give your dog a treat after it potties in the right place. Following up good behavior with a reward will make it easier for your dog to remember doing good behavior.
Dog training tip #3: Repetition is key
Whenever you are trying to teach your dog something -- whether it's a trick or making your dog obey a command -- repetition is important. Repetition and consistency are keys that will help your dog understand a command. To test if your dog knows a command after so many repetitions, test him without any assistance. Do this at least three consecutive times to make sure that your dog's grasp of a command is not simply a fluke.
Dog training tip #4: Communicating with your dog
When training your dog to follow a certain command or do a certain thing, it's vital that you not just issue the command out. It's also important that you direct your dog how to perform a command or drill as well as correct your dog if he doesn't follow the command properly. Be consistent when you are issuing out commands and trying to teach your dog to develop certain behaviors. For instance, if you are trying to teach your dog not to chew on slippers or shoes, do not praise him one day when you see him chewing on a slipper.
Dog training tip #5: Proper timing in training your dog
It's always best -- and professional dog trainers will recommend this -- to train your dog when it is still a puppy. When it comes to training dogs, it is indeed true that old dogs can't learn new tricks. So start training your dog early.
Dog training tip #6: Let your dog know you're the boss
Dogs are pack animals, which means they follow a hierarchy. Thus, when training your dog, it's important that you establish yourself as the alpha dog (the leader). Your dog needs to understand that he is the submissive being. Avoid showing any fear when your dog snaps back. Doing so will break the established hierarchy you have with your dog. When your dog is doing his exercises, never allow your dog to stop mid-way or not complete the exercise. Firmly let your dog know that it should do what you, the alpha dog, wants him to do.
Dog training tip #6: Act around your dog
Your puppy will naturally want to chew on things so give your puppy an outlet for his chewing urges. You can give your puppy a chew bone to chew. If your puppy tries to chew on you, yelp loudly, fold your arms and ignore your puppy for about ten minutes. When a puppy becomes too rough on other puppies, the others yelp and tend to ignore the puppy. However, you may need to assess your puppy's personality because he may react to the yelping by biting more and even harder. If this happens, you may need to apply a more aggressive approach
Dog ear care is always important. Watch for ear infection symptoms and give dog ear treatment if needed. Control and prevent symptoms of ear infections in dogs, cats or horses. Remedies ear problems in dogs ears once and for all. Find out more about this powerful all natural remedy. Get fast relief for your dogs ear infection symptoms today from http://drdogs247.com
filed under: dog obedience training, train your dog, dog training, dog training tips, tips for training your dog, training your dog, teaching your dog, dog trainers, professional dog trainers, dog ear care, dog ear infection symptoms, ear infections in dogs, dog ear infection remedy
Showing posts with label professional dog trainers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label professional dog trainers. Show all posts
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Your Puppy: Have Fun While Fixing the "Naughtiness Factor"
I sat trapped on the airplane, hurtling toward Orlando, strapped into my seat, some 30,000 feet above ground. I say “trapped” because my seat, my entire row even, was constantly shaken, bumped and tossed by a pair of blond haired, angelic looking little monsters in the row in front of me.
Michael, twelve, and his brother, eight, found relief from boredom in the only way they knew how…by fighting, wrestling and annoying everyone for three rows in all directions.
At first, I, too, was irritated by the little blond cretins. But as their father finally erupted out of his seat to threaten the boys with bodily harm, I began to smile. I nearly laughed in fact. Not because the boys were finally getting a stern talking to. But because of the image that came to me.
Suddenly, the kids reminded me of a pair of blond Golden Retriever puppies, happy, rowdy…and completely out of control. (except when dog ear infections flare up)
Michael and David, lacking any direction from their parents, defaulted to known behaviors on that flight. They “tore it up, from the floor up.”
Dad yelled at the children in that low, angry tone well bred parents use when what they really want to do is scream out loud at their kids in the Walmart. And he scared them. Most of coach was grateful. But the good effects from that dressing down were all too temporary. My seat began to rock and roll once again. The puppies—I mean the kids—defaulted back to standard boy behaviors.
That’s when mom intervened. She came bearing gifts. Sweetly she told them that their choices included certain death at the hands of their father…or they could do the activity games in the shopping bag she dropped in their laps. She walked away.
The boys tore into that sack like Golden puppies into a Kong stuffed with liverwurst. Bags of pretzels, disposable cameras, coloring books and playing cards gushed from that cornucopia of childhood goodies like a geyser from Old Faithful.
This was a good thing.
Mind you, they were still boys.
“Are we almost there yet?”
“How much minutes left?”
Questions and protest still gave the boys opportunity to be, well, boys. But the worst of the pandemonium was over.
I have this bizarre tendency to view dog training as a metaphor for life itself. Not much in the way of human behavior escapes some direct correlation to dogs in my view. So I thought about Michael and David and about why they reminded me so much of puppies. Then it hit me.
Dad came along and told them what not to do. And that didn’t function for more than a few moments. Mom had a better idea. She showed the boys a new behavior they could do, concurrently presenting them with a consequence if they failed to choose the new, and more rewarding behavior she designed for them.
The parallel to our lives comes when helping dogs or puppies stop unwanted behavior. It is effective to teach a dog a new behavior that is incompatible with his unwanted behavior. It is less effective to simply correct a dog for doing the bad thing.
Take jumping on people. You can simply correct for it. But temptation remains. Plus, get with the 21st Century already. We have dogs for the “warm and fuzzies.” We are ever less likely to knee their dog off when the dog just wants to greet us. So instead of battling the dog, why not teach him to sit and offer paw to solicit attention? He can’t do that and jump now can he? Plus it’s such an engaging trick that it’s likely to win much more notice for the dog, and thus, becomes self-rewarding.
Dick Russell, a professional dog trainer in Louisiana, says he teaches the same “sit and give paw” routine to space guarding dogs. A dog won’t often sit and shake and guard space from a child all at the same time. I handle this problem in a different way. Using a gentle touch with the leash and collar, I teach the dog to move, and give up any space humans want to take. Either way, you’ve taught the dog what TO do as much as what NOT to do.
As for Michael and David, they played with their new toys for quite a while. I eyeballed them periodically, however, waiting for the old behavior to reassert itself. I smile, thinking about the dog training equipment nestled in my checked baggage. If only I could do children, we could all retire to my own private island, where dogs run free and children behave.
Marc Goldberg is a dog trainer specializing in the rehabilitation of difficult dogs and improving relationships. He is Vice President of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP) and Editor of SafeHands Journal. The author also educates professional dog trainers in his techniques. Visit him on the web at http://www.chicagodogtrainer.com or http://www.dogtraininginchicago.com.
Dog Ear Infections or Cat Ear Infections a problem??
Control and prevent symptoms of ear infections in dogs, cats or horses. Remedies ear problems in dogs ears once and for all. Find out more about this powerful all natural remedy. Get fast relief for your dogs ears today from http://drdogs247.com
Michael, twelve, and his brother, eight, found relief from boredom in the only way they knew how…by fighting, wrestling and annoying everyone for three rows in all directions.
At first, I, too, was irritated by the little blond cretins. But as their father finally erupted out of his seat to threaten the boys with bodily harm, I began to smile. I nearly laughed in fact. Not because the boys were finally getting a stern talking to. But because of the image that came to me.
Suddenly, the kids reminded me of a pair of blond Golden Retriever puppies, happy, rowdy…and completely out of control. (except when dog ear infections flare up)
Michael and David, lacking any direction from their parents, defaulted to known behaviors on that flight. They “tore it up, from the floor up.”
Dad yelled at the children in that low, angry tone well bred parents use when what they really want to do is scream out loud at their kids in the Walmart. And he scared them. Most of coach was grateful. But the good effects from that dressing down were all too temporary. My seat began to rock and roll once again. The puppies—I mean the kids—defaulted back to standard boy behaviors.
That’s when mom intervened. She came bearing gifts. Sweetly she told them that their choices included certain death at the hands of their father…or they could do the activity games in the shopping bag she dropped in their laps. She walked away.
The boys tore into that sack like Golden puppies into a Kong stuffed with liverwurst. Bags of pretzels, disposable cameras, coloring books and playing cards gushed from that cornucopia of childhood goodies like a geyser from Old Faithful.
This was a good thing.
Mind you, they were still boys.
“Are we almost there yet?”
“How much minutes left?”
Questions and protest still gave the boys opportunity to be, well, boys. But the worst of the pandemonium was over.
I have this bizarre tendency to view dog training as a metaphor for life itself. Not much in the way of human behavior escapes some direct correlation to dogs in my view. So I thought about Michael and David and about why they reminded me so much of puppies. Then it hit me.
Dad came along and told them what not to do. And that didn’t function for more than a few moments. Mom had a better idea. She showed the boys a new behavior they could do, concurrently presenting them with a consequence if they failed to choose the new, and more rewarding behavior she designed for them.
The parallel to our lives comes when helping dogs or puppies stop unwanted behavior. It is effective to teach a dog a new behavior that is incompatible with his unwanted behavior. It is less effective to simply correct a dog for doing the bad thing.
Take jumping on people. You can simply correct for it. But temptation remains. Plus, get with the 21st Century already. We have dogs for the “warm and fuzzies.” We are ever less likely to knee their dog off when the dog just wants to greet us. So instead of battling the dog, why not teach him to sit and offer paw to solicit attention? He can’t do that and jump now can he? Plus it’s such an engaging trick that it’s likely to win much more notice for the dog, and thus, becomes self-rewarding.
Dick Russell, a professional dog trainer in Louisiana, says he teaches the same “sit and give paw” routine to space guarding dogs. A dog won’t often sit and shake and guard space from a child all at the same time. I handle this problem in a different way. Using a gentle touch with the leash and collar, I teach the dog to move, and give up any space humans want to take. Either way, you’ve taught the dog what TO do as much as what NOT to do.
As for Michael and David, they played with their new toys for quite a while. I eyeballed them periodically, however, waiting for the old behavior to reassert itself. I smile, thinking about the dog training equipment nestled in my checked baggage. If only I could do children, we could all retire to my own private island, where dogs run free and children behave.
Marc Goldberg is a dog trainer specializing in the rehabilitation of difficult dogs and improving relationships. He is Vice President of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP) and Editor of SafeHands Journal. The author also educates professional dog trainers in his techniques. Visit him on the web at http://www.chicagodogtrainer.com or http://www.dogtraininginchicago.com.
Dog Ear Infections or Cat Ear Infections a problem??
Control and prevent symptoms of ear infections in dogs, cats or horses. Remedies ear problems in dogs ears once and for all. Find out more about this powerful all natural remedy. Get fast relief for your dogs ears today from http://drdogs247.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)