Train Your Dog - Benefits and Tips For Successful Dog Training

Watching your children's eyes light up when you bring a new puppy home is truly a heartwarming experience. Your dog comes with unconditional love and warm genuine friendship. If you've owned a dog before you already know that along with all the delights of a new doggy - it can also come with frustration, unconditional messes, and genuine destruction. Not to worry, with a little obedience training you can head off unwanted dog behavior.

5 Great Benefits of Dog Training

· It builds a solid relationship with you and your dog and establishes you as the pack leader. The time you spend together as a team working together, learning about each other, deepens your bond.

· A well-trained dog is a welcome dog that can be taken almost anywhere, and is a joy to be around when camping, hiking, or even just going for a walk, because he is not high risk or a nuisance to others.

· Dog training corrects undesirable dog behavior. Chewing up your furniture, digging up your flowers, barking at everyone who passes by your yard and even bolting out the door can be resolved with a little focus on obedience training.

· When you train your dog it stimulates your dog's intellect and allows him to use his brain; dogs are curious by nature and want to learn about both the world and the people around him. Dogs have a deep desire to please us, it's instinctive, so when they can understand what we want of them and they respond to our commands; they feel vital and needed - a strong member in the pack.

· It saves you time and money! Taking the time to train your dog to behave properly in your home saves time cleaning up messes and saves you money by not having to replace torn up pillows, shoes or other valuable possessions.

Obviously, there are many great benefits to a well-trained dog, to many to really list, but among my favorites is the companionship, having a dog that can protect my family when I'm not around. It was best said by an unknown author: "He is your friend, your partner, your defender. You are his life, his love and his leader."

The very best dog training method is the use of Positive Reinforcement to train your dog. This is simply rewarding good behavior that you want to see repeated, and ignoring bad dog behavior. This is a direct contrast to a now outdated method of obedience training which by today's standards was cruel and inhumane, (like using shock collars, hitting your dog with rolled-up newspapers, or even rubbing your dog's nose in pooh.) Your dog instinctively wants to please you and when you use positive reinforcement to train your dog you will find that your dog learns quicker and the lessons are remembered throughout your dog's life. This is the best path to a well-trained dog. 

5 great tips to facilitate your dog training efforts

· Be sure to use meaningful rewards. Most dogs get bored quickly and don't respond as well with just a pat on his head or a good boy. To keep your training at the highest standards, use tempting incentives for good dog behavior.

· Mix up the rewards, don't always give the same treat while training your dog. All dogs have different favorite treats; I've trained dogs that would practically rob a bank for a liver treat. Try to find two or three special treats that you can use just when you train your dog.

· Use the right timing when you reward your dog for obeying a command. Your goal is to mark the desired dog behavior with a treat timed so that your dog understands what behavior earned the treat. Some dog trainers recommend a clicker while training to mark the exact moment your dog does what you desire, then immediately give the reward. This works well but so does a high pitched "whoop," or any other sound that the dog can identify as the reward sound.

· Be clear and consistent with your commands. Decide your verbal clues before you start your training and stick with them. Be sure that everyone in the family uses the same commands and your dog's rate of obedience training will be much higher and you'll see a quicker change in dog behavior.

· Take the time to learn proper dog training techniques - it really helps to get it right the first time out. If you're new to obedience training or an experienced trainer; it pays big dividends to read trusted sources to learn more about the benefits of training your dog.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Train-Your-Dog---Benefits-and-Tips-For-Successful-Dog-Training&id=1870718