Saturday, April 28, 2012

Professional Tricks For Training Your Dog

By Avery Stevens


You should pick a phrase to say to your puppy while he is being house trained. Every time you take him outside, tell him "go potty" (use whatever phrase you have chosen) and this will help him learn to focus and remember what he has gone outside to do.

Don't force your dog to go into his crate. Instead, profusely praise him when he enters his crate on his own. Young puppies, in particular, might be somewhat afraid of the crate when it is first introduced. If you force them to enter it their fear might turn into terror. Their natural curiosity will eventually override their fear.

Puppy chewing is a natural and necessary behavior, but it can be redirected. A puppy's chewing is one way that he explores the environment around him. Provide your puppy with clear leadership and a lot of human interaction and stimulation. Also, provide him with fun chew toys. This will help stop him from chewing on the things that he should not be chewing on.

Any dog owner should consider their pet's diet when looking to correct behavioral problems. As with humans, dogs are what they eat. If their diet is not nutritionally sound, internal and external problems can develop. Make sure your dog is eating his best, and improved behavior will often follow.

Never leave a tied dog unattended for long lengths of time. Even the best trained dog can become excited and active enough that they snarl up their chain or rope around and around itself or another object. If you don't catch this in time your dog could actually twist his collar tight enough that he suffocates.

Enforce all of the commands you issue to your dog. Do no issue a command on a whim. Only give a command to your dog if you truly mean it. This can lead to having to repeat your commands. A well-trained dog should only need to be told once to do something.

While training your dog, observe his body language and general behavior closely. Look for signs of enthusiasm. Is his tail wagging? Does he follow you around? This shows he's ready to learn. If you see your dog is scared, bored or nervous, stop what you are doing and reevaluate.

If your dog barks and growls at strangers in your home, do this: leash your dog, make him sit, wait until his attention is on you, and hand the leash, in full view of the dog, to your guest. Then wait until the dog is calm again, with the guest giving commands as needed. This teaches the dog that your guest ranks above him in "the pack" and he must accept them. When the dog starts to react again, repeat the exercise.

Potty training a puppy can be a harsh task at times, but not impossible. You have to remember that the puppy doesn't know that when they go to the bathroom inside that it is wrong. Try your best to keep an eye on your puppy and if it starts looking like it has to go to the bathroom let it outside, after the puppy goes to the bathroom praise the puppy so it knows it did the right thing.

After each training session, spend a few minutes playing your dogs favorite game with him. If you do this every time, your dog will know it's coming after the training sessions and will be excited when it comes time for your daily session. The more excited he is, the better he'll do.




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