Sunday, March 27, 2011

Help For Training Your Dog

By Paulette Bethel


No one says dog training is an easy thing to do. Dogs have different temperaments and varying personalities and will present challenges to a dog trainer. Some breeds are easier to train than others; some are capable of a greater degree of difficulty than others but no dog is untrainable. Some dogs will take longer to learn a command and not all dogs will be able to do everything to the same degree. A good dog trainer understands there will be limitations and takes that into account. You wouldn't want to try to train a toy breed to be a police dog, for instance.

You must consider what it is you're training for and pick a breed and an individual with natural talent for what you want to achieve. There are temperament tests that can determine personality types: alpha, dominant, friendly and fearful. For instance, make sure you don't train a sound sensitive dog for hunting.

The optimum age for testing for various temperament and traits is 49 days. The testing must be done by stranger to the pups; someone who has an understanding about interpreting the tests and can convey the significance of a response to distinct stimuli. Even an adult dog can be tested. The tests are applied with modifications.

An example of what not to do: Want a therapy dog? Stay away from an alpha temperament. Even a dominant dog is more difficult to use for therapy. Let me make this very clear; an alpha dog and a dominant dog can be the same individual but not all dominant dogs are alphas. Alphas are difficult and can be dangerous to live with. I cannot urge you strongly enough to avoid attempting to train an alpha unless you thoroughly understand the significance of what that means. Alphas do not make good pets for the average person.

There are many resources available to help you teach your dog better behavior. The Internet has made it possible to view DVD's about dog training, find outstanding books about specific dog behaviors and problems and many dog trainers will answer questions from an email or comment posted to their website.

Unfortunately, there is no "magic button" for removing unwanted behavior from your dog. Research dog training schools and instructors in your area. If this isn't possible, get a DVD that shows you clearly how to proceed from one step to the next. Learn the procedure, practice the maneuvers and start training.

You need a precise goal, extreme patience, a strong desire to achieve what you want and the intuition to know if something you are trying to achieve makes sense. It is vital to be gentle and consistent in your technique. You need to be absolutely certain that you are a good trainer; the majority of problems that dogs have is because their trainer is not doing a good job.




About the Author:



No comments: