Saturday, July 28, 2012

Teach Your Dog To Mind With These Training Tips

By Kirk McGee


Making sure your furry member of the family is properly trained is essential to keeping a stable home. The last thing you need is a dog who doesn't listen.

A dog with hobbies is a happy dog. Make your dog work on walks. Many large breed dogs enjoy carrying items during walks such as tennis balls, sticks, or even dog-sized backpacks. This gives a dog a sense of purpose and gives him something to concentrate on. This way his attention span will be less likely to stray from your walk.

When training your dog, discourage bad behavior when it happens. Tell your dog "No" in a firm voice. Never yell, and never hit your dog with a hand or other object. Make sure you discourage the bad behavior as it happens or soon after it happens. Dogs have short memories. If you wait too long, the dog won't understand what you're trying to tell it.

To get your dog to walk beside you instead of pulling you, reinforce the behavior with treats. Treats make it interesting for your dog to walk beside you. You should also use a harness instead of a collar. It is much easier to control a dog with a harness and he won't feel like you are trying to choke him.

When teaching your dog discipline, regardless of what training method you use, you should always apply it with speed and consistency. Not correcting your dog for bad behavior every single time, sends him mixed signals that may only make the problem worse. Likewise, not correcting your dog immediately, may make it hard for him to understand why you are punishing him.

If you are having problems with your dogs chewing up your things, it is important to monitor them closely. As soon as you discover them chewing something that is off limits, scold them, take away the item, and replace it with a chew toy and praise them for chewing the toy. If you wait until long after they've chewed the off-limits item they will not understand what they are being scolded for.

Shy dogs benefit from re-socializing. Oftentimes, dogs have behavioral incidents with certain situations, certain people or other dogs, that go unnoticed by us. We might not realize, but these interactions have given our dogs a sour taste about these circumstances. Re-socializing your dog to the stimuli he's upset by, can help him overcome his anxiety.

A great way for your dog to learn new skills (or brush up on some old ones) is to attend classes at your local dog training center. If you are not sure of where to take him, your friends or veterinarian may be able to help you find a place that best suits your needs.

With all the knowledge you have learned now, you can already start using these tips to train your dog. The thing is that you want to make sure you digest this information to the best of your ability as well as trying to seek out new information you can use. If you try your best to do the things listed, your dog should be trained before you know it.




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