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Puppy Training

Training your new puppy the right way

Puppy training is very important, whether you are training your first puppy or your tenth.  Properly training and socializing a puppy is vital to making it a valued member of your family and your community.

In some ways training a puppy is easier than training an adult or adolescent dog.  One reason is that the puppy is essentially a “blank canvas”, untroubled by past training techniques and other issues.  However, the puppy can be far more difficult to train than an older dog.

One challenge to training a new puppy is that puppies are more easily distractible than adolescent and adult dogs.  Everything is new to a puppy and every new experience provides a new chance for distraction.  For this reason, it is best to keep training sessions short when working with a puppy and to end each training sessions on a positive note.

It is also important to allow the puppy plenty of time to play and to interact with other puppies and dogs.  Socialization training is vital to making your new puppy a good dog citizen, as canine aggression is a growing problem in many areas.  A properly socialized dog learns how to play properly with other dogs and overly aggressive play is punished by the other dogs in the play group.

This type of play learning is something that happens among siblings in litters of puppies.  As the puppies play with each other, they learn what is appropriate and what is not.  Inappropriate behavior, such as hard biting or scratching, is punished by the other puppies, by the mother dog, or both.

Unfortunately, many puppies are removed from their mothers and sold or adopted before this socialization has fully occurred.  Therefore, puppy play sessions are a very important part of any puppy training session.  Most good puppy preschool training programs provide time in each session for this type of dog interaction.

Introducing your puppy to new experiences and new locations is also an important part of puppy training.  Teaching your dog to be obedient and responsive, even in the face of many distractions, is very important when training dogs and puppies. 

One great way to socialize your puppy both to new people and new dogs is to take it on a trip to your local pet shop.   Many major pet store chains and some independent ones as well, allow pet parents to bring their furry children and these stores can be great places for puppies to get used to new sights, sounds and smells.  Of course you will want to make sure the store allows pets before heading over.

It is important for puppy owners to structure their pet’s environment so that the puppy is rewarded for good behaviors and not rewarded for others.  One good example of this is jumping on people.  Many people inadvertently reward this behavior because it can be cute.  While it is true that jumping can be cute for a 10 pound puppy, it will not be so cute when that puppy has grown into a 100 pound dog.

Instead of rewarding the puppy for jumping, try rewarding it for sitting instead.  This type of positive reinforcement will result in a well behaved adult dog that is a valued member of both the family and the community at large.

This type of reinforcement can also be used in potty training the new puppy.  For instance, teaching a puppy to use a unique surface such as gravel or asphalt is a good technique.  The theory is that the puppy will associate this surface with going potty and therefore be reluctant to use other surfaces (like your kitchen floor of sitting room carpet for instance) as a potty.

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Dog Training – Learning The Basic Commands

There are of course many reasons for owners to want a calm, obedient and faithful dog.  For one thing, obedient and trained dogs are happier dogs, less likely to get into trouble with people or with other dogs.  Another reason is that many communities require that the dogs living in their neighborhoods be well trained.  This is especially true for many breeds thought to have aggression and behavior problems – dog breeds like Dobermans and Rottweilers for instance.

Training your dog well will also make him or her a much better family companion, especially in households where there are young children.  Many studies have shown that proper dog training makes a big impact when it comes to cutting down the number of dog bites and other behavior problems encountered by dog owning households.

When considering training your own dog, or having someone else help you train it, there are certain basic commands that must be mastered in order for a dog to be considered truly trained.  These basic commands include:

  • Heel – it is important that any dog learn to walk beside its owner on a loose lead, neither pulling ahead nor lagging behind
  • Respond to the word No – the word no is one word that all dogs must learn.  Training your dog to respond to this important word can save you a lot of trouble.
  • Sit – Training your dog to sit on command is a vital part of any dog training program.
  • Stay – A well trained dog should remain where his or her owner commands, so stay is a very important command in dog training.
  • Down – Lying down on command is more than just an appealing trick; it is a key component of any successful dog training program.

Dog training does much more than just create an obedient, willing companion.  Training your dog properly actually strengthens the bond that already exists between dog and handler.  Dogs are pack animals, and they look to their pack leader to tell them what to do.  The key to successful dog training is to set yourself up as that pack leader. 

Establishing yourself as pack leader is a very important concept for any potential dog trainer to understand.  There is only one leader in every pack of dogs, and the owner must establish him or herself as the dominant animal.  Failure to do so leads to all manner of behaviour problems.

A properly trained dog will respond properly to all the owner’s commands, and will not display anxiety, displeasure or confusion.  A good dog training program will focus on allowing the dog to learn just what is expected of it, and will use positive reinforcement to reward desired behaviours.

In addition to making the dog a good member of the community, obedience training is a great way to fulfill some of the dog’s own needs, including the need for exercise, the security that comes with knowing what is expected of it, a feeling of accomplishment and a good working relationship with its handler.  Dog training gives the dog an important job to do, and an important goal to reach.

Giving the dog a job is more important than you may think.  Dogs were originally bred by humans to do important work, such as herding sheep, guarding property and protecting people.  Many dogs today have no important job to do, and this can often lead to boredom and neurotic behavior. 

Basic obedience training, and ongoing training sessions, provide the dog with an important job to do.  This is especially important for high energy breeds like German shepherds and border collies.  Training sessions are a great way for these high energy dogs to use up their extra energy and simply to enjoy themselves.

Incorporating playtime into your dog training sessions is a great way to prevent both yourself and your dog from becoming bored.  Playing with your dog helps to strengthen the all important bond between you – the pack leader – and your dog.

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Dog training

Training Your Dog to Behave Properly

There are many reasons for teaching proper dog behaviour and teaching such behaviour has many benefits for both the human and canine partners.  Dog behavior training is vital to such life and death issues as preventing aggression, controlling dog on dog aggression problems and teaching dogs to interact properly with both their handlers and with other members of the family.

Understanding how dogs evolved and how dogs interact with each other, is very important to understanding how to properly train your dog to be a devoted, loyal companion.

The original dogs were probably orphaned wolf pups adopted by early humans.  These wild dogs probably learned to perform behaviours that their human protectors valued, such as guarding the cave or scaring off predators.  In exchange for these valued behaviours, the humans probably provided their new companions with food, protection and shelter. 

That kind of relationship still exists today, of course, and dogs still can, and do, perform valuable jobs for their human benefactors.  Those jobs include herding and guarding livestock, guarding property, guarding people, and finding game for food.

When planning a dog training program, it is important to know that dogs are pack animals.  In wild dog societies, packs are formed, and each member of the pack quickly learns his or her place in the pecking order.  Except in the event of death or injury to the alpha dog, the hierarchy never changes once it has been established.  The lower dogs know not to challenge the alpha dog and the alpha dog understands his place as leader of the pack.

All the other dogs in the pack look to the alpha dog for leadership, in important survival issues like finding food and avoiding larger predators.  In order to properly train your dog and gain its respect, it is important for you to become the alpha dog.

That is because a dog that sees its owner as a superior leader will follow the commands the owner gives without question.  Getting the respect of the dog is the most important step to proper dog training, and it will form the basis of all subsequent training.

The reasons for training a dog properly are many, especially in today’s world.  A well mannered, obedient dog is a joy to be around, both for the owner and his or her family and for people in the community at large.  In addition, seeing a well mannered dog sets people’s mind at ease, especially with breeds of dog thought to be dangerous, such as Dobermans, Rottweilers and Pit Bulls.

When training dogs and dealing with unwanted dog behaviours, it is important to understand the motivating factors behind those behaviorus.  For example, many dogs exhibit unwanted behaviours such as chewing and destroying furniture due to separation anxiety.  Dealing with the sources of problem behaviours is an important first step toward eliminating those problem behaviours.

Many dogs exhibit unwanted behaviours as a result of stress in the animal’s life and its inability to cope with that stress.  The goal of a good dog training program is to allow the dog to tolerate greater levels of stress without becoming a problem animal.

When dealing with dog behaviour, it is important not to confuse human behavior with dog behavior.  While there is a great temptation on the part of dog owners to see their dogs as almost human, in reality dogs and humans have very different motivations and very different reactions to similar situations.

One trait that humans and dogs do share, however, is the need to form close social groups and strong bonds within those social groups.  This bonding is important to both humans and dogs, but it has served vastly different ends as both species have evolved and changed over time.

If you are interested in dogs and love dogs, please visit my website at www.love-dogs.co.uk where you can find a range of products all with either pictures of dogs, or slogans about dogs.

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Hello Fellow Dog Lover

Thank you for visiting my website.

This site is all about clothes, products and presents for people who simply love dogs.

It is a very new site and is under construction, but there will be lots of fabulous things for you to buy your furry friend or as a present for your friends.

If you are looking for something specific and it is not available here, please drop me an email on store@love-dogs.co.uk and let me know what you are looking for.

Warmest wishes and lots of waggy tails.

Ali

Ali Matthews

www.love-dogs.co.uk