Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Training Tips For Happy Dogs And Happy Owners!

By David Hamilton


Any pet owner will agree that proper dog training techniques are critical to a happy, fun-filled home life. The best way to embark on the process is to thoroughly educate yourself about effective methods that have stood the test of time. By taking these tips to heart, you and your pet will be well on your way to a cooperative, symbiotic relationship.

Teach your dog the command "drop it" to get things out of his mouth. This is very important because it could help save your belongings if your dog grabs it, and it could even save your dog's life if he grabs something dangerous. The trick is to offer him something even better in exchange for the item he picked up. Practice this with your dog and you'll be able to retrieve anything from his mouth - he might even start offering it to you!

Training your dog to "speak" can help eliminate annoying excessive barking. Dogs bark to alert the pack of threats. Since they bark by default, it is a good idea to teach them to "speak", because then they will understand how to not bark. Start by telling your dog to "speak" when it barks at the telephone ringing. Then, when the dogs pauses, tell the dog "quiet". This will help the dog distinguish a barking state from a non-barking state.

When you are approaching an unfamiliar dog, be sure to approach slowly and offer the dog the back of your hand to sniff. This allows the dog to get used to your scent and makes him much more likely to trust you. Once the dog recognizes your scent, he will not be afraid of you and will be more likely to follow your commands.

If your dog has done something that deserves rewarding, be sure to reward him immediately after he has taken the action. If he has done something that should be disciplined, do not wait to discipline him. If you react as soon as your dog does something one way or another, he will better understand that it is something that he should or should not have done.

Learn to read your dog's signals when training, so that you can see the difference between confusion and disobedience. A different response is required from you when your dog doesn't understand a command versus when they understand the command but choose not to obey. Understanding your dog's signals, can help you to choose the more appropriate response.

When training your dog, take some time to think about how your dog sees the world. Learning to see the world from your dog's perspective helps you understand your dog better so you can train more effectively. Getting in your dog's head may seem like hocus pocus, but it really helps you train more effectively.

Your own mood has a great deal to do with your success in training your dog. You must control your emotions, so that your dog gets the right idea from your training. Regardless of your dog's overall performance, be free and unreserved with praise, when your dog does what you want. Conflicted emotions on your part will have a negative effect on your dog's overall training regimen.

Now that you have successfully graduated from training, you and your dog will be much happier. As you probably have discovered, there are a multitude of ways and means of training. Whichever you choose, either singularly or multiple accesses, you can now hold your head high knowing that your dog is well-behaved.




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