Thursday, August 12, 2010

Easy Dog Training Tips - Motivating Your Dog to Want to Be Good

I'm not a professional dog trainer or a dog whisperer. But, I work with dogs every day in my animal rescue. As you can imagine, 99.9% of them are completely untrained. In fact, research shows that the number one reason dogs are abandoned, surrendered to animal shelters or even euthanized is due to behavior issues. In other words, a lack of training.
Most rescues don't seem to have a clue what a leash is when they first come to me, nor do they have any interest in finding out!
But, what I can tell you is this: everything I will tell you about dog training made simple is what I have learned and tested on the most difficult subjects: rescue dogs.
Most rescues come with their own baggage -- and we're not talking carry on, but massive trunks! -- emotional scars and issues from being abandoned and outcast -- many of them after having first been a loved member of a family.
Some are frightened, some are overly submissive and some are aggressive. All of them have a burning desire to please and to fit in with a pack. They just don't know how.
You have to learn how to motivate your dog to behave the way you want her to. Dogs learn best by positive reinforcement. Punishment should be used sparingly, and should be very subtle. For instance, what your dog wants most is acceptance and attention. The best way to let him know when his behavior is not acceptable is by ignoring the inappropriate behavior. Conversely, the best way to let your dog know when her behavior is appropriate is to praise her.
Early in training, you want to praise frequently with treats, clicks, words and touch. As time goes by, and your dog begins to learn the behavior you are trying to teach, you will praise less. The object is to have our dog continue appropriate behavior without needing a reward -- especially the edible kind.
The most important thing you can do to help motivate your dog to be good, is to be patient and consistent. Training your dog doesn't have to be a time-consuming project. But, it does take some time. You may not achieve overnight success, but most commands can be learned in a matter of days.

7 Easy Tips For Training Your Puppy

Some people think training puppies is difficult. How you approach your training and handling of the puppy will make a world of difference. The following tips will help make training your puppy easier and more fun as well.
Training Tip #1 - Always keep an eye on your puppy. If you supervise your puppy he or she can't use the bathroom in the house, they can't chew things up, and you can be there to take them out when they need to go.
If you can not supervise your puppy investing in a quality dog kennel is suggested.
Training Tip #2 - Let your puppy drag a leash. Buy a 5-6 foot nylon web leash and let your puppy drag it around. This way you can stand on the leash to keep your puppy around you. Tether the puppy to a chair or door so you can supervise them while you are busy.
Training Tip #3 - Handle them. Touch their paws, rub their ears, check their teeth, pick them up and check their belly, touch their hind end. These will get them used to being examined by the vet, handled by the groomer, by children and adults.
Training Tip #4 - Socialize your puppy. Early socialization is critical for proper development of your puppy. If you do not get them out in the world they will never learn how to behave in the world.
My rule of thumb is to take them every I possibly can between 8-14 weeks and I continue this socialization until maturity.
For younger pups consult your vet for safety precautions. Usually you can start socializing your pups with other dogs after they have started their second set of shots. Again, check with your vet before you do this.
Training Tip #5 - Use motivation to teach basic things like sit, down and roll over. Teaching your puppy to sit, lie down and roll over are great ways to begin formal obedience training with your puppy.
Rolling over and laying down are also submissive positions that will help your pup learn how to remain calm and see you as the leader as they mature.
With the use of positive reinforcement and motivational techniques you can work with almost any age and see results.
Training Tip #6 - Use hand signals. Along with verbal cues you want to use hand signals. This will help your puppy understand what you want them to do. Dogs are masters at reading body language. It makes sense to use it early on to start teaching your puppy behaviors.
Training Tip #7 - Avoid rolling your puppy on their back or practicing "alpha rolls." One popular concept today is leadership. Many people mistake leadership with dominance. Dominance and leadership or not the same thing and practicing dominant handling techniques like the Alpha Roll is not in you or your pups best interest.
Instead, lay them on their side and teach them to relax on cue. This will help you in the long run establish yourself as the leader and teach them how to remain calm under stressful situations like the vets office, the groomer, and in situations that cause your puppy stress.
In Conclusion Socialize your puppy as often as you can and start to touch them alot to help with handling and stressful situations they are going to encounter on a daily basis.
By taking the time to properly work with your puppy you will save yourself a lot of frustration as they grow older.

3 Effective Dog Training Tips

Effective dog training tips can help improve your dog training sessions. You can have sessions which are more convenient, both for you and your dog.
Below are some tips widely used by owners for training their dogs. Integrate these tips into your dog training sessions, and your dog will surely learn quickly.
1) Talk to your family first before starting to train your dog. Almost everyone in the family wants to take part in training your dog. They will take their own time of the day to train your dog. This could become a potential problem for you and your dog if you didn't talk to them first.
Why? Well because your dog might get confused with the different training styles and approaches used by each member of your family.
2) Don't limit the socialization that the dog gets each day. A useful dog training tip is to know that dogs learn new tasks and concepts faster when constantly interacting with other people and animals.
This means a walk in the park twice a week can be good not only for him but it would also help you keep health. Taking a job with your dog in the neighbourhood everyday would be ideal.
3) Use dog training aids. These gadgets can become quite useful for your training sessions.
For instance, the widely popular dog clicker boxes can help you train your dog in certain tasks. You can assign a group of keywords or keyphrases to a unique clicking noise generated by the box.
Once trained properly, your dog will respond when he hears the clicking noise. He will then do the task associated with it.
Keeping in mind these small small things makes a huge difference in the dog training. There is a Japanese philosophy called Kaizen which basically incorporates making small changes which eventually leads to big results. Implementing the Kaizen Philosophy in your dog training could definitely do wonders.