| 5 Training Tips from Victoria Stilwell |
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Animal Planet's, It's Me or the Dog host, Victoria Stilwell gives Unleash 5 top dog training tips.
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| Dogs cannot be bad; it is the handler who is poor. When you are taking a walk down a sidewalk, it is indeed disturbing when a dog grabs at your clean clothes. This can also happen when the dog next door leaves his tell tale marks on your front yard. Just like the kid next door who has not been taught any manners, these dogs can be compared to them.
What can you say about pets and kids who belong to homes where the adults are not responsible themselves? Sensible owners take the help of dog trainers who teaches them proper handling methods without breaking the natural spirit. Either you contact your vet office or pet store to get to meet a trainer or seek online help from a dog training book or from online dog training tips and tackle your pet problem before it goes out of hand. Owners can learn how to manage their pets from this training. |
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| Dispelling the Myths About Invisible Fences, No Bark Collars and Dog Training Shock Collars |
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| The use of electronic training devices has become increasingly widespread. Last year pet owners worldwide purchased more than 500,000 remote training shock collars, over 1,000,000 pet containment systems, and almost 900,000 bark collars.
Why the popularity? These training systems have become much more affordable, and pet owners are finding them to be a safe, effective means for controlling the various behaviors that they find unacceptable.
As sales of these products increase, so do the not so favorable opinions about them -- that they make dogs aggressive, that there is a greater chance of failure than success when using them, that the shock they deliver is painful, that they will result in significant injury to your pet. |
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| When you have decided what you want your dog to learn, think of a command to use for that particular trick. The command can be anything you wish, as long as you will be consistent with the use (e.g.. Not use the same command for something else) and as long as the command doesn't too much resemble some other command that your dog already knows. For example, you can teach your dog to retrieve a thrown object by using the command 'retrieve', but if you want him to bring you a desired object that you have hidden (or lost), there's no point in saying 'retrieve ball. |
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| A Step-by-Step Guide to Puppy-Proof Your House |
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| If you've decided to bring your puppy home, that's just the first step. You need to get your house ready for him. You're going to have lots to do around the house. After all, puppies are not so different from toddlers and like children, will want to explore all areas of your house.
But how do you know if your house is safe and ready for your new puppy? Listed below is a checklist for you to take note of before you bring your new puppy home:
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| Dog Biting-How to Ensure Children are Safe |
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 Does your pet dog have a tendency to bite? It's an issue that if left alone, can become a critical one. Here are a few facts that may help you understand why your dog is biting, and a few tips on how you can help your dog overcome their habit.
First of all, it is important to understand why your dog bites. The main reason is the canine instinct that all dogs have. Long ago, before dogs became domestic animals, they were wild and ran around in packs. The reason they bite is because of their instinct to dominate. Biting is a way dogs are able to show their authority and dominance over other dogs in the pack. Because of this instinct, your dog is biting in order to establish dominance and control.
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|  It seems that the simple act of chewing seems to be a matter of individual preference among dogs: some have an innate desire to chew as an overall pleasurable activity while others seem to have no need to chew whatsoever (unless they’re driven to it out of sheer boredom). Kind of like people and chewing gum - some like it a lot more than others who could live without it all together.
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| Why Train Your Dog |
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Written by Dr. T.C. Branch
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Obedience training is one of the most important aspects of raising a dog. In fact, a well trained dog is by far a happier dog! Why? Because a trained dog requires fewer restrictions. The more reliable the dog, the more freedom he is given.
For example, many stores and businesses that normally won't allow dogs on their premises will make an exception for a puppy or a dog that will heel nicely by his owner's side, or will do a sit-stay or down-stay without hesitation.
And when company arrives in your home, there's no need to banish a well-behaved dog to another room for fear that he will be a royal nuisance. Moreover, because a well-mannered, obedience-trained dog is both appreciated and welcome, he receives more attention and interaction from family members, visitors, and passers-by, than does the ill-mannered dog.
You As Your Dog's Leader
Training serves to strengthen the bond between a dog and his owner. It builds communication, understanding, and mutual respect, and subtly but effectively demontrates to your dog that you're the leader of the pack (commonly referred to as the "Alpha"). And if your dog doesn't respect you as his leader, you may both be in big trouble, particularly if he's a bit rowdy or dominant by nature.
Training May Save Your Dog's Life
Obedience training also gives the dog owner the voice control necessary to prevent numerous potential tragedies. For instance, should a dog slips out of his collar in the middle of a congested traffic intersection, he can be safely heeled across the street, then given a sit command to facilitate putting his collar back on. Or should someone accidentally leave the front door open, and you spot your dog leaving, he can be safely called back to you using the recall command.
Not only will obedience training help your dog to become more responsive, but because it enables you to have immediate control over your dog's behavior, in an emergency situation obedience training may save your dog's life. In fact, it can ultimately save the lives of many dogs, because far fewer dogs would end up in animal shelters if their owners would simply take the time to train them.
And for those dogs who do need homes, a trained dog is far easier to adopt out to a new home than an untrained one.
Statistics also show that puppies which receive early socialization, obedience, and temperament training (aggression prevention training) are far less likely to end up being destroyed by the time they turn three years of age than those that do not receive this early training.
The Consequences Of An Untrained Dog
Without proper training, many dogs are likely to misbehave. And when owners allow their dogs to misbehave, everyone suffers: The owner, because he or she lives with a dog, the dog, because everyone's down on him for misbehaving; the dog's owner's neighbors, because living next to a difficult dog is no one's idea of fun; and ultimately every dog owner, because each incidence where a dog creates a nuisance increases anti-dog sentiment, and contributes to the likelihood that tough legal restrictions will be placed on all dogs.
Obedience Training Benefits Everyone
A well-behaved, obedience trained dog is a pleasure to own because he can go virtually anywhere without being a risk or nuisance to others. And don't we all want a dog who exhibits appropriate behavior in a crowd, good manners when we have guests in our home, is reliable around children, and who doesn't threaten other dogs or passers-by?
The bottom line is that dog obedience training truly benefits everyone. |
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| Friend or Foe? |
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Written by Dr. T.C. Branch
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| Getting a new puppy is an exciting time for any dog lover and we would like to think that we’ll be the very ‘best’ owner that dog could’ve hoped for! We’ll provide the best of foods, plenty of fresh water, lots of toys and play with it after we return home from a hard day on the job. So that night you set your clock to get up early the following day to be able to have adequate time to care for the needs of the puppy. As soon as the alarm goes off you go through your calculated regime ending with a kiss on the pups head as you put him/her in the crate. Out the door you go promising to return that night, and then the new baby is left alone for the rest of the day.
Immediately the screaming, crying, and panting begins as the puppy realizes that he is totally alone. In the animal world a baby left behind is devastated as he intuitively knows that this means the end of him. There is no momma or daddy to afford him any protection from real or imaged predators. Thus, he screams and screams until he falls asleep in totally exhaustion. When he later awakens, the scenario replicates itself. You have caused your precious new puppy to live in a hell that you yourself could not tolerate. Think about the horrible experiments that were conducted years ago on newborn babies. Some were treated normally while the others had love, affection and physical stimuli omitted in their first months of life. The “rejected” ones grew up quite abnormal and remained so the rest of their lives.
We aknowledge the needs of dogs to learn about crate training. Indeed, most dogs learn to love the comfort of a crate. However, if left in the restrictive crate with no mental or physical stimulation, the dog will more than likely develop mental and physical issues due to lack of socializing skills. Yet, there is another way. With the help of an exercise pen which can be place around the crate, you offer the opportunity for the dog to have a desirable place to relax and sleep (blankets in the crate) while also providing an area outside the crate heavily layered with newspaper, to pee and poop. In this newspapered, outside area you can place many of the new toys on the market that are designed to mentally and physically stimulate the animal. You may even place the pen and crate near a window to provide exposure to sunshine, new sights and audible stimuli.
Will you be a friend to your new baby, or will you be the foe? That is what it boils down to. For more information and suggestions, an excellent book to read on this subject is Carol Lea Benjamin’s “Latchkey Dog” which can be found online from Dogwise and Amazon.
Remember these first months of life with your new friend may seem a bit taxing, but the reward for going the extra mile does last a lifetime.
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| Barking for Attention-Getting |
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|  When an owner deliberately spoils a dog or unintentionally rewards him for barking, the dog quickly learns how to get attention. For example, a dog barks because he is startled, and the owner reaches down and pets the dog to assure him that all is well. The dog perceives the petting and consoling as a reward for barking. Thus he barks whenever he wants attention.
Attention-getting barking can be corrected, provided that the owner is determined to unspoil the dog. Let's create a fictitious scenario and the solution to the problem it produces. This problem is common to small dogs and their owners.
As a puppy, the dog frequently barked and jumped up on the owner to get the owners attention. The owner would bend down and pick up the puppy. Soon the puppy learned that whenever he wanted the owners attention, all he had to do was bark and jump up on his owner.
Well, by the time the puppy reaches adulthood, the habit has been formed and the dog constantly demands that his owner pick him up and carry him around. The owner finds this annoying, yet he loves the little dog, so he hesitates to reprimand him. Instead the owner tries yelling at the dog, but to no avail. The dog continues to jump and the owner continues to try various tactics to correct the problem, yet nothing positive comes of the owners attempts.
The solution to this problem is to let the dog know that it's fine to ask for attention, but in an acceptable manner. The dog must learn that, as with most things in life, there is a price to pay for that attention. Instead of immediately responding to the dogs request that he be picked up, the owner now has the dog do something to earn his attention. Once the dog begins to realize that attention is no longer free, he can be trained to remain on the floor and accept attention from there rather than from the owners arms.
If you experience a similar problem, teach the dog to sit on command. Then, when he comes to you and demands your attention, have him sit before you respond to him. When he obeys the sit command, you can give him some attention. At first, you can pick him up, pet and praise him briefly and then return him to the floor. If he barks and jumps on you again, have him sit again. Follow his sit with praise again, but this time don't pick him up. Instead, bend down and pet him as he sits in front of you.
Soon the dog will learn that he must do something before he will receive your attention. In other words, ignoring behavior you don't want and recognizing behavior you do want will produce positive results. Responding to behavior you don't want is perceived by the dog as acceptance, and he'll continue to do it forever. However, when he learns that you'll only recognize him for good behavior, he'll exercise that good behavior in order to receive your attention. |
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