Archive for July, 2008

Jul 29 2008

Helpful Dog Obedience Training Tips

Filed under Dog Behavior

by Dan

A dog is a man’s best friend. That is why it is important that as a dog owner, you should train your dog properly and teach them the right dog obedience training. It is advised that you start training your canine between six and eight weeks of age. However, if you think your dog is older and has yet to be trained, keep in mind that is it never too late to teach your dog a new trick so there really is no need for you to worry.

Finding the right dog obedience training approaches sometimes tend to get too confusing because of the many options available today. With hundreds and thousands of dog obedience training guides to consider, dog owners should find the most ideal one for their dogs. However, the main tip experts share to dog owners is that in any dog obedience training, positive reinforcement must be the primary concern.

When doing dog obedience training, dogs are very eager to learn especially if owners take time to praise them and give them good treats. Every time a dog performs the command correctly, he should be awarded with a treat. This is one way of reinforcing positive behaviours. But be sure you know the right time to reward and when not to reward your dog.

In any dog obedience training session, the last thing you want to happen is to see your dog angry or unhappy. When this happens, dogs are prone not to learn anything at all. Therefore, take time to find out the right ways on how your can cheer up or calm your dog. Dog owners should also know how to control their pets. There are times when dogs just simply need to be a dog. But when things go overboard, they must be corrected and punished. There are various ways in correcting your dog while still retaining its trust in you.

Before you consider dog obedience training sessions, always consider that the right time to do so is not when you just feel like it. There is a proper to train your dogs. You can ask your local veterinarian to evaluate if your dog is ready for a dog training. Remember that dog obedience training is done initiated whenever you feel like it. It should always be when both you and your dog is ready to go.

It is not also a good idea to push your dog too hard, otherwise they will easily tire out and may get uninterested to doing what they are told to do. Pushing them too hard might hinder them from their training. Meaning, your dog obedience trainings can never be effective if your dog does not have enough energy to do so.

Last but not the least, don’t forget to praise your dog whenever they exhibit positive behavioral habits. Positive reinforcement is a great way to let your dogs know that they are special and loved. This treatment will be very helpful for future dog obedience training.

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Jul 18 2008

Taming a Dominant Dog

Filed under Dog Training

by Joseph Then

Just like any new pet owner, you are excited because there is an addition to the household.

What am I talking about? Well, I am talking about you getting a new pet! After picking up the dog of your choice and bringing the pet home, you realize that your pet is quite dominant and hard to control. What should you do? The first thing that comes to your mind is that you should train your dog. But, before you start on anything, ask yourself this; do you really know what you are doing? Do you know what you are going to train? Do you even know how to train a dog? Well, just like with any tasks, don’t come unprepared. You should understand and also acquire the knowledge first.

The first thing you should do is see where the origin of your dog is. A dog is a descendant of wolves. Although dogs have been domesticated thousands of years before, there is no doubt that there will be some characteristics similar to a wolf that is by instinct ingrained within your pet. An example would be its sense of smell. It uses its sense of smell to do basically do everything. Unlike us, we use our five senses to understand our surrounding. Therefore, we learn that even though dogs are domesticated they still retain some of their most basic instincts. That is the most important thing that you need to keep in mind before taming a dog.

When you feel that the time is right to train your dog and to show who is boss, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start training your dog. There are three basic things you should remember when training your dog. They are; Focus, Take Control and claim all things as your possession that is inside the house, of course.

Let’s talk about focus and why you need this. Sometimes it can be challenging to keep your cool especially if your dog is too annoying. So do you resort to using a stick and beating up your pet? Or yelling at your dog? That won’t do you any good. What you can do instead is be calm, steady and always remain firm. Whenever you start training or working with your dog remain consistently calm.

The next part of training is taking control. How do you take control? No, you do not yell. Instead, you should always maintain eye contact and make sure that you are firm when teaching your dog new things. By maintaining this, you will let your dog know that you are in charge and the one who has the authority. The submissive dogs will look away but not the dominant ones. Therefore, you should always remember to look your dog in the eyes and be firm.

The last part of training is to claim all things as yours whether this is about toys, food; rugs and so on stand your ground. You should only share your things with your dog when he understands that you are the one in charge.

So, there you have it. Now that you are aware of these things, all you need to do is to keep these things in mind and start training your dog. It takes time to achieve the desired results but always remember to give tender loving care to your dog.

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Jul 18 2008

How To Train Your Dog Not To Bite

Filed under Dog Training

by Lee Dobbins

As a dog owner, it’s your responsibility to learn the training methods for teaching your dog not to bite anyone. This is a critical part of pet ownership, in fact, The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that more than 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year. These bites result in unwanted medical bills and law suits, and, in some cases, the dog has to be put to sleep. With a little training, none of these negatives have to happen to you or your pet.

There are many common techniques that can be used to assist a dog to decrease, and eventually eliminate, biting behavior. The effectiveness of these techniques will vary from breed to breed, but with patience and repetition, puppies and adult dogs can learn to not bite.

Puppies have the tendency to always mouth and nip and it’s best to nip this behavior in the bud when they are still young. Even though you might think it is cute when your little pup plays by nibbling at you, if you encourage this behavior, you will end up with a big problem when your pet is grown.

You can start giving verbal commands to your dog when he is four weeks and older. When the puppy tries to bite, a gentle but firm “No!’ followed by a slight squeeze of the muzzle will train him not to bite anymore.

Be careful not to squeeze the muzzle too hard or high enough to hurt his nose. Dogs have very sensitive and delicate odor receptors and you wouldn’t want to damage this in any way.

Squeezing your dog’s muzzle isn’t intended to punish him, but to let him know that the behavior isn’t acceptable. By squeezing, you associate the verbal command with something the dog can readily understand: discomfort. Regardless of their age, dogs find having their muzzle squeezed uncomfortable.

Other than verbally discouraging your dog or using soft physical restraint to remind your dog, socializing your dog may help to train him or her. Socialization can and should begin at as early an age as possible, and your dog should be around other animals and people as much as possible. Socialized dogs are tranquil and confident dogs. Timid dogs that are unused to unfamiliar people or dogs are much more likely to bite.

While still young, socialize your dog with other dogs preferably those that are non-aggressive. Being exposed to other dog breeds will help him cope up with territorial behavior.

Although dogs have the tendency to mouth and nip, they naturally inhibit this behavior when they are playing with their mates. Train them to develop this behavior by expanding his playmates to include your family members, guests and other pets.

When introducing your dog to other household pets, restrain both your dog and your other pets. They will learn to gradually approach each other naturally.

Keep an eye out for uncomfortable body language, growling, ears that stand up straight or other signs of possible anger. Have the dog sit down, rub it’s back area, and extend your hand to the second animal, and then convey the second animal’s scent to your pet. Allow them to get to know each other slowly.

Many dogs can be trained to curb thier urge to bite by the time they are four and a half months old, but it may take your dog longer than that. It varies by breed, and each individual dog within a breed is different. And you know that saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”? It’s not exactly true, but training an older dog to stop biting is much more difficult than it is to teach a puppy.

While most dogs can be trained not to bite, there are some that still bite despite being trained. Pet owners should also be trained how to handle their dogs properly. If your dog still bites, make sure it cannot interact with other people or be expose to other animals.

Persistent long term use of these dog training techniques will likely result in a more stable and fun pet, not to mention that it could prevent an unwanted situation where your dog could get hurt or hurt someone else.

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Jul 17 2008

How To Use Dog Training Hand Signals Effectively

Filed under Dog Training

by Dr. Mayra Alfonso

In many countries and around the Americas, dog owners enjoy their pets a great deal. They’re oftentimes believed to be members of the family, just as an additional son or daughter. One of the reasons for this is because of how easily dogs can be trained, particularly when utilizing dog obedience hand signals.

Whenever proper dog training is accomplished, afterwards the dog will understand both, verbal and dog obedience hand signals. But in the majority of cases, these pets react better to dog hand signals than to verbal commands because of their nature to be really attentive of body language.

Dog training hand signals are enjoyable to teach and easily understood by the majority of dogs. The absolute fist matter to do is to connect your hand signals by gradually repeating the command, and then lento push aside the verbal command, if you only want to train your dog on hand signals. It is advisable that you use both in conjunction, the dog obedience hand signals and the verbal commands. When you’re training your pet, it’s best that the first command you had better teach is the sit technique.

So, how do you train your dog the sit command? It is actually really easy. First of all you need to make sure you have your dogs’ attention 100% percent. To get your dog attention, you need to call your dog by his name. Make sure you only do this once, if you need to have a leash attach to your dog collar. Once you have your dog’s attention, point your index finger at your dog, at the same time as you say the command sit. If the dog doesn’t comply, show your dog what you mean by placing him on the sit position.

The next primary command you want to train your dog on is the downwards command. Please remember that it’s a bit more challenging command for your dog to execute, particularly as when they’re lying down on the floor they experience that they’re bringing down their guard. A lot of pets will just not want to do that, particularly if they are extra watchful. There are a lot of methods to training your dog the “down” command, but among the most efficacious ones is to position a treat in front of his nozzle and bring the treat downwards toward the floor as you verbalize the word “down”. Your dog would want to follow the treat and naturally finish up on his belly.

Once your dog learn the sit and the down command, you’re prepared to train him on the ‘come’ command. When doing this, you want to call his name first as you give the ‘come’ command. Whenever he comes near you right ahead, present him with a reward, but he is defiant, just pull his leash toward you at the same time you’re calling his name and saying ‘come’.

Once your dog dominates the voiced command for come, you can now get going and train him in the come command by applying dog hand signs. To accomplish this flex your arm at the elbow, move your arm backwards toward you in a sweeping motion, and enunciate the command “come”. If your dog will not come to you, you might want to hold a treat in your hand, making sure your dog is aware that you have the treat, and then give the verbal and dog training hand signal for the come command, after your dog comes to you, give him a treat and tons of praises.

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Jul 16 2008

Dog Training Techniques For Small Dogs

Filed under Dog Training

by Lee Dobbins

Dogs of every size have been trained using the reward training technique, with it being one of the most effective ways to train small dogs. Pomeranian dogs, poodles, and chihuahuas are dogs that are too small to respond to the more insensitive training methods, like the utilization of a choke collar, though they will respond positively to reward based dog training techniques.

The use of reward training for your pet is an effectivr way of teaching obedience and good behavior. This training technique is use by both the police and military in training their dogs to perform various actions. It is also used by those who train animals for TV and movies. Reward training is a great way to teach all dogs whether they are a family pet or a working dog.

Reward training is based on giving a treat or reward when your dog performs the behavior you desire. Most often it means a special treat, but simply telling your dog that he was a good boy and patting him on the head can be construed as a wonderful reward for your dog.

You can train your dog to do nearly anything with reward based dog training techniques. In order to succeed with this training method, you just need to use a specific group of tactics to get your pet to do what you want him to do and then reward him right after he does what you want.

For example, the best and easy way to teach your dog to sit is by way of dangling the treat above his head and gradually moving it towards his back until he sits on his own. Do this process while saying the command “sit”, and then commend and reward him right after he sits. Your dog will easily relate the command “sit” to the action of sitting and the treat that goes with it.

Some trainers use a clicker to train the dog without using voice commands. Associating a clicking sound with the treat is the goal with this method. With this method of training, the dog learns to associate the desired action with hand signals and clicks and is rewarded after he performs the actions just as if you were using voice commands.

If you have patience and energy, you can train your dog to perform difficult tricks and tasks by using reward training, a technique that is often used in the field of entertainment. One thing that works well is to get the dog to perform the action naturally. As soon as the dog succeeds at the task, his success is reinforced with a reward.

Training your pet should be a fulfilling tasks for both you and your animal. The use of reward based dog training techniques will allow you and your pet to achieve your goals without the use of aggressive techniques which may injure or scare your small dog.

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Jul 16 2008

Dog Behavior Questions - How Your Attitude Affects Training

Filed under Dog Behavior

by Lee Dobbins

If your dog training isn’t going as planned, you might have a lot of dog behavior questions concerning your pet. However, often the problems are not due to the behavior of your dog, but by the behavior of you - the trainer. When training dogs, there are a few things you need to keep in mind, in order for it to be a successful and rewarding experience.

You must have patience when trying to develop good behavior in your dog just about as much as raising a child. For the most part we as humans don’t have that much patients. So when trying to train your dog to behave you may need to train yourself.

Be prepared to an invest the time daily at least half an hour but preferably an hour to developing the desired behavior in your companion. And when you feel you’re at your limit of patience whether at 10 minutes or an hour an end the session.

Strive to length that ‘time to boiling point’ a little an each day. Remind yourself you are dealing with a dog. Even the most an easily trained breeds or individual dogs an understand at roughly the level of an average two-year old persons. Of course there are those rare an exceptions.

Dog behavior questions can always be answered by thinking about nature. In nature, dogs live in packs where there is an alpha dog or leader. When training your dog remember you are the boss or alpha dog. Remember in order for your training to work you must assert yourself as the leader and not the other way around.

When training your dog remember you are working with your companion. Be firm and assertive not angry or abusive. You are teaching you dog how to act towards others, including children and your neighbors. If you get upset and fail to be persistent you and your dog will fail.

There are dogs who are naturally easy to train, but not all of them will be this way. You need to have patience and remember that your dog wants to please you. Keep up on it consistently and your dog will eventually follow your instructions.

Even the best-trained dogs will not an always do what you want when you want. Expecting a dog to too-quickly an understand a new command or to unfailingly remember a previously learned one is a recipe for frustration. The dogs’ memories work very differently from humans so you need to keep this in mind and not expect him to act like one. Take the time to learn your an individual dog’s capacity and limitations.

There are different factors that affect how easily your dog will be to train. One of these factors is breed. Some breeds are easier to train than others. For example, some breeds are energetic- such as terriers, retrievers, and Dalmatians- whereas others are more relaxed. These breeds include basset hounds and collies. Another factor is age. A young puppy is going to have a shorter attention span than an adult dog.

Working against your dog’s nature is never a good idea. Treat your dog kindly, but firmly and work at building his trust and training will be a good experience for both of you!

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Jul 16 2008

The Real Secrets To Train Your Dog Today!

Filed under Dog Training

by Dr. Alfonso

You can find a lot of dog training secrets which can apply during behavior alteration programs secessions of the dog. These training secrets may maximize the results that you receive. But many of them are not aware of these secrets. If you applied these effective resources in the time of training your dogs then, it will be very beneficial when it comes to learning all those advantageous secrets which may prove your dog as an obedient dog or a disobedient one. If you really want to know about these training secrets then have a look at this article where I have provided some of the important information regarding dog training e-book and dog training CD.

CD for Dog Training

If you have decided to work with the dog training CD then, in this CD you may get introduced to a number of secrets regarding effective dog training, which has been brought out by different genius in the same industry. Before giving it to you all these secrets will be implemented for a number of years in a successful way. There are only few specialized trainers who like to share the secret towards their success. As I found there are a lot of CDs which are available in internet which is of great use. This will help you many things in the time of training your dog. I have listed out some of the major details which I experienced by using dog training CD.

1. At the time when you are training your dog, the very important thing is that you should train them by the use of optimistic fortification.

2. As per the study it has been proved that, the problem during the training session occurs and people will not be successful to train their dogs because of the natural results of the individuals who use pessimistic fortification.

3. Your training will be successful only when your pet listens what you said and obey to every single command of yours. In the training CDs you will be introduced to effective strategies where you can ensure yourself about this.

4. Through the help of this CD you can recognize the fundamental psychology behind dog and puppy training. Also you will come to know why you need to conduct training in a particular way.

5. Through the help of this dog training CD you may recognize and understand many complications that you have to face at the time of dog training.

If you are tired of all the ideas to train your dog, then you can try using free dog training CDs. Today there are 1000s of websites which are providing free CDs. These CDs will help you to discover some effective dog training secrets for FREE!

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Jul 16 2008

Train Your Dog In Less Time With These Dog Training Techniques

Filed under Dog Training

by Lee Dobbins

You have to know some basic dog training techniques to effectively communicate with your dog and train him. Although man has been interacting with dogs for centuries sometimes communication between the two can be confusing.

In order to avoid human frustration and canine misbehavior, when training dogs consider these factors. Remember that while, dogs understand and respond at roughtly the mental level of a human two year old, their senses are very different from humans. For instance, their color vision has a different response pattern to reds and greens. Additionally, their minds process information different from humans. And obviously, of course, their noses are much more sensitive than that of human. Keeping these thoughts in mind will make the task of dog training much easier.

Dogs have descended from the wolf, and as a result have a pack mentality. The expression “lone wolf” is a misnomer, as wolves and dogs are by nature social creatures, who do a lot of interaction with each other, and are ruled by a strict hierarchical structure.

Beginning training at a young age is best, even four weeks is old enough depending on the breed. Devote a half hour, or better yet an hour, each day for training during the first few months.

There are some basic dog training techniques or guidelines that all types of training utilizes.

When training your dog, you want to make it clear that you are the dominant one as early as possible. Dogs are pack animals by nature, and every pack has a natural pecking order. The top dog is the alpha. It is followed by the beta dog and so on. If you want sanity in your household and you want a happy dog who knows where he stands, you need to step up and be the alpha of his pack.

Depending on the breed of the dog, or sometimes the individual dog, the training technique that is used will be either more difficult or possibly easier. Some dogs are more outgoing, similar to humans. Attitude is what counts the most, though training tools like collars and leashes, and commands are also useful. Your dog should never be allowed to think he is in charge.

You shouldn’t have to use physical force to project your dominance. There are times when this may be necessary, though, it must be properly used. On a normal basis, patience and firmness are all that is needed to properly train your dog.

For puppies, try placing them into a position of submission when they are still young. Roll them onto their backs, and put your hand firmly in the middle of the chest. When they lower their paws, this signals a sigh of submission. You can go further by placing your face directly in front of theirs, emulating dominant dog behavior.

In the beginning it is best to keep the dog on a short leash to help curb the dog’s inherent desire to run and scamper. Time to run freely is an important component of a dog’s health and well-being, but, at the outset, this should only be allowed prior to or after the training, instead of during the session.

The first step is to choose a series of short and sweet commands, like sit, stay, down, and come. Each should sound distinctly different to avoid confusion between them. Your voice should be firm but not punitive. Make sure that you communicate that you’re the boss, but not that you are mad at the dog. Stay away from using two-worded commands like ’sit down’ because they tend to confuse the dog.

A constant tone, look and hand sign should be included with every verbal command. Later we can separate them, but initially it is important to offer simplest and most stable type of communication.

Dogs don’t have the necessary resources to understand the subtle use of language, much like a toddler. Help their cognitive skill by being consistent. Do not use one phrase for more than one meaning. ‘Down’ should only mean ‘don’t jump on others or me’, or ‘lay on your stomach’, but not both things.

Using these basic dog training techniques, along with a firm hand, some patience and a lot of love will help you have a happy and obedient pet for life!

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Jul 15 2008

Training Your Dog With Permanent Results

Filed under Dog Training

by Stuart M.Russell

Having a dog can be one of the most rewarding experiences you can ever have. It can also be one of the most frustrating experiences of your life. That adorable bundle of love can easily develop plenty of bad habits if you indulge him too much. All aspects of the dog’s life must be carefully planned beforehand, to establish sleeping, eating and play times etc.

Having a well-trained dog can be a great pleasure, but getting there is not very easy. It is a journey that you and your dog have to make together - trite as that sounds, it is true. First of all, make sure that everybody in the family has something to do with the dog, and is familiar with it.

Next, make sure that everybody agrees on exactly what the dog’s role is going to be. There are a few questions that need to be settled - where will the dog sleep, what are the places in the house the dog is not allowed in, when will the dog be fed, where will it be fed, who will take it for walks? For the dog to develop an attachment for everybody in the house, and the other way round, it is a good idea to involve everybody in these things.

Once all the details are worked out, stick to it and make a routine out of it all. Dogs are habitual creatures and when they know what’s to be expected, they are more secure and happy.

Next, set fixed feeding times. The occasional treat outside feeding time is fine, but this is also a key in toilet training. If you mess this part up, you will have a lot of messes to clean up, and you cannot really blame the dog for it.

After the fundamentals are established and the dog is properly trained accordingly, you can move on to teaching it simple tricks and improve its obedience. Give the dog a treat when it does something right and shower some praise.

Remember that your dog loves being praised and petted, and when it does something right, tell it so, and encourage it, so that it will know what to do the next time.

Please remember that you cannot get a dog trained properly through fear. Praise and encouragement is what works and it can be a rewarding experience for you, as well. There is nothing quite as uplifting as a pair of doggy eyes looking at you adoringly as if convinced that you are perfect - be patient and you will see that it is worth it.

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Jul 15 2008

Senior Golden Retrievers for Adoption

Filed under Dog Training

by John Charles

If you would really love to own a Golden Retriever but are hesitant about taking on a puppy, then adopting an older Golden may be the answer. These lovely dogs when they are mature settle in very easily to a new home and they do not need nearly as much attention as a puppy as they like to have some time to themselves. Regardless of their age you will find that your new friend very quickly becomes a welcome member of the family.

Where do you find an older Golden. Well your first stop should be your nearest breeder because strange as it may seem they often do have older dogs for sale. It may be a retired show dog, or a dog which has produced several litters and will not be needed again. There is a whole host of reasons why they might have a mature dog they wish to find a home for, so, give them a call and enquire.

When your mature Goldie comes to you they will already have been house trained, and so adjusting to your particular family lifestyle will be a lot easier. It won’t be easy, just easier, and you must expect a period of re-adjustment during which you will need to shower him or her with plenty of tender love and affection, something which, believe you me, it will not be hard to do.

When you meet your Golden for the first time you may well be so taken with them that you are tempted to ‘wrap them up and take them home’ straightaway. But, avoid this temptation. Take a bit of time to get to know them, and to know all about them, just to make sure that they are right for your lifestyle. Also, do involve the other members of your family in all of these initial decisions, as it is important that everybody feels happy about welcoming a new member into the family.

If you had a guest staying with you in your home you would of course take some time to show them where everything is, where the bedroom is and the bathroom and so on, and it is just them same when you introduce an older dog into your family. Allow some time in your busy schedule to ease them in to your home and routine, and this will pay dividends in the long run.

You should always give your new Golden Retriever at least a month or so to get used to his new environment, before you start his new obedience training. Even though your new dog may have some prior obedience training, you should still enroll him in a new class. This way, he can brush up on training and you can work with him to help him understand. Once you have finished training, he’ll understand your commands better and you and him will get along just fine.

To finish with let me just say that, as with everything in life, their are for’s and against’s about owning a mature dog. On one hand they may have some medical conditions, and your initial enquiries should include questions about this. But on the other hand it can be so much easier introducing a mature dog into a busy family life, over introducing a rather demanding puppy.

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