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 This is a direct contrast to a now outdated method of obedience training which by today's standards was cruel and inhumane, (like using shock collars, hitting your dog with rolled-up newspapers, or even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.

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How To Stop Your Dog From Snatching Food

Dogs are keen observers, and devious opportunists! It's instinctive and it's how they survive when they are on their own. Unless they are taught manners, it doesn't take long for them to figure out the best times to make their stealth attacks are on unsuspecting children, when adults are distracted, or better still, out of the room.

Dogs know the little people are easy pickings! That's why children are such a soft target for your dog's hit and runs.

You may be a bit more of a challenge. However, a quick glance around the room to note the coast is clear, and your turkey sandwich is history!

Why Your Dog Steals

Your endearing, snack-snatching pooch is nothing more than a wolf in disguise. Like wolves, they have their pack. In your puppy or dog's case, that's you and your family. Even though they have the cutest little face, and seem so innocent, their genes are screaming messages in order to survive, you must be a fearless hunter. That means you have to take risks now and then.

Your dog instinctively knows, in a pack everyone has his or her place. In the wild, when a pack shares a kill, those lower in status patiently wait their turn to chomp on the carcass. Most are happy with whatever scraps are left. Your little wolf learned this when they were nursing with their litter mates. They quickly figured out, the higher your status in the litter, the more you get to eat, is the rule.

So, you had to be bold and daring if you wanted a full belly. The wily members, like a sharp businessperson, always weigh benefit versus cost. If the odds appear more in their favor, they will take the risk and make an unabashed leap for prime stuff. They will the risk of the wrath from the higher-ups. They will jump in at any and every opportunity to "snatch" a bite of whatever they can sink their teeth in.

That's what's happening with your thieving canine opportunist! They have learned children are easy prey. If your dog is not taught manners, and to respect your child, they will consider them lower in pack status.

Here's how you prevent or modify that inappropriate behavior.

Teaching Rules and Boundaries

Your dog must learn to respect rules and boundaries. Positive reinforcement, punishment-free methods work! Enroll in an obedience training class that encourages the attendance of the entire family. It teaches everyone how to define the pack order, so your dog understands as important as he, or she may think they are, they are now, and will always be at the bottom of the pack.

"No free lunch!" Never give treats, without your dog doing something to earn it. Make them follow a simple command. It is a positive way to reinforce they must work for their rewards, and people are the provider of all good things... and that includes the little ones too!

Teach your children not to tease or "share" their food with their dog. That only encourages snatching.

Never feed your dog from the table! They should not be allowed near the table at mealtime. All it takes is a simple distraction, and there goes your chicken leg! Children often drop food where they eat... sometimes by accident, sometimes not so by accident! Or, children, (and sometimes Grandpa,) are easily cajoled into slipping a treat when no one is looking. Your dog quickly learns where there are free eats!

If you catch your dog in the light-fingered act, immediately correct them. You must let them know what they just did was unacceptable behavior. If you can, take the object away from them. Demonstrate to them that you are higher on the pack status; therefore, it belongs to you! If they have already swallowed it, let them know you are not pleased, by exiling and ignoring them. Give them a minute or three to associate their behavior has consequences. If there's one thing puppy and dogs hate, it's being unnoticed!

Teach your dog the "LEAVE IT!" command. Place them in the sit position. With a treat in your hand, give the "LEAVE IT!" command. Do not allow them to touch it, until you give a release command. If he or she goes to snatch it, give them a no reward maker, such as 'EHH!" Make a firm correction, such as "NO! BAD!" Then, repeat the exercise, until they associate they are not to touch the treat until released to do so.

If you have little or no control over your puppy or dog, consider enrolling in a positive reinforcement, punishment-free obedience class. It will help you learn the leadership skills you need, and it will help your pet learn their place in your family in a fun way.

Bottom line - Teaching your puppy or dog not to snatch food is not difficult. If you are fair, firm and consistent, they will make the association that it is an inappropriate behavior.

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Why Does My Dog Like Some Dogs And Not Others?

Dogs are very similar to humans in many ways. One of those ways is how we interact with other people. Have you ever met somebody a immediately say to yourself I don't really care for her. Will the same thing can happen with your dog. Let's talk about some of the possible reasons for this. 

If you take your dog out for walks around other canines quite frequently you probably said to yourself my dog doesn't seem to like dogs that look like that or my dog doesn't seem to like the ones that act like this. Of course the question is always why? 

There can be a lot of different reasons. For example if you don't know your dog's history because he was adopted he may have had a bad experience with a dog that looked like that. Let me give you an example may be as a young puppy your dog was attacked by a large white dog. He will remember that and in the future he may not like big white dogs and will respond aggressively to keep that big white dog away when he sees it on the street. 

Another thing to consider is body language. As trainers we feel like we've learned a lot about dog's body language however there's a lot more to it that we will never know. Dogs communicate through body language and with their olfactory abilities. If the dog sees or smell something that isn't right with a particular dog again they may act aggressively. However on the other hand if they see our smell something that brings back good memories and will probably act friendly. 

Another possible reason why your pet acts aggressively to a new dog is in its efforts to protect you.. We really usually see this in a dog that hasn't been obedience trained well. Since obedience training develops the master dog relationship it gives the dog a leader to look up to. Without that training your pet assumes that it is the leader and needs to protect the other members of its pack. 

If your dog reacts badly to new dog's on a regular basis consider doing some obedience training and possibly some obedience training that includes positive reinforcement when your dog sees and comes into contact with other dogs. 

Remember with your future dogs to train at 4 months of age and socialize early to avoid this type of problem that always seems raises its ugly head somewhere between 12 and 24 months of age.

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Train Your Dog To Go To Bed (Place Command)

It can be very helpful to teach your dog to "go to bed" or to learn the "place" command. Many times a dog may hang around the door when you have visitors going in and out, or he may be under foot in the kitchen or when you're doing something else. Being able to send your dog to "his place" is a good way to handle these situations.

Here is a way to approach training the "go to bed" command. With this method you'll need a good bed or mat for your dog. With this method, your dog needs to know the down-stay before you start teaching "go to bed."

Working near the mat, put your dog in a down-stay on the mat. If your dog already knows this command, this should be easy. You simply need to work at keeping him in the down-stay for a few seconds and gradually ask him to stay for longer periods of time with you in the room with him. Once your dog can stay in this position for a couple of minutes (without whining or fidgeting) then you are ready to try leaving the room for a short time. Once you can do this successfully, start adding the command "go to bed" when you put your dog in the down-stay on the mat. Then start sending your dog to bed from a short distance away. Gradually increase the distance away - try sending your dog to bed from the next room, and so on. Your dog should be "going to bed" on command in just a few days.

Of course, you should use lots of positive reinforcement to teach your dog using this method. Treats go a long way with most dogs.

Naturally you will need to do this training over sessions in different days. Don't be afraid to back up to something your dog already understands if he's having trouble with something new.

As you can see, it's not hard to teach your dog to "go to bed." But it does take some practice with your dog. If you work on one of these methods with your dog he should be able to do this exercise in just a few days.

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Training Your Dog Without Headaches? Try These Ideas To Help

When training your dog, you want to ensure that you are using the most common and proven methods. This article will go into detail with the most popular and tested methods and let you know how to implement them. Follow the tried and true methods listed, and you should see success in your training.

Positive reinforcement is everything when you are working at training your dog. You need to give your dog lots of chances to get things right and then immediately reinforce that desirable behavior. You can use treats, praise or a combination of both to let the dog know how happy you are with what he just did.

Your dog should have a wide variety of social interactions daily. This will ensure he'll continue to blossom as a social animal, and he'll be able to use up some of his energy meeting all these exciting new people and dogs.

In order to train a well-mannered dog you should always be consistent with your punishments. If you let your dog get away with a particular bad behavior when you normally punish him for it, then your dog will be more likely to revert to bad behavior in general and not as likely to listen to your commands in the future.

One tip to keep in mind when training your dog, is to be sure to never discipline your dog for bad behavior when he is ill. This will only confuse your dog and might cause him to not respond to discipline in the future. Examples of this would be, if your dog defecates or vomits in a manner that is not typical to his normal behavior.

Dogs are creatures of habit. If you customarily take them out for their walk at the same time every night, they will grow to expect that walk, even to depend on it. Missing the scheduled date by even just a few minutes can result in an accident for the younger dog and even for the older one.

Before you ever get a dog, be sure that you have everything you need. You should have: sturdy food and water bowls; a good quality of dry dog food; a comfortable bed; a crate/kennel in the right size for the dog you plan to get; and an appropriate leash and collar or harness. By having everything in place, you will avoid a lot of rushing around and uncertainty with a new dog or puppy. This will help everybody settle in better.

When interacting with other dogs, expect a calm, sedate attitude from your pet before letting them go loose. By establishing a calm demeanor in your pet, you will cause a ripple effect through the other animals as well as teaching your dog that you control the environment. When it is time to go as well, this will make it easier to withdraw your dog.

In the foregoing, we have provided the most popular methods for training your dog. These tricks and tips have been used over a long amount of time with many types of dogs and many dog owners. So, if you follow these methods as suggested, you stand a good chance of training your dog correctly.

You want to ensure that you are using the most common and proven methods when training your dog. When you are working at training your dog, positive reinforcement is everything. One tip to keep in mind when training your dog, is to be sure to never discipline your dog for bad behavior when he is ill. You should have: sturdy food and water bowls; a good quality of dry dog food; a comfortable bed; a crate/kennel in the right size for the dog you plan to get; and an appropriate leash and collar or harness. These tips and tricks have been used over a long amount of time with many types of dogs and many dog owners.



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