Dog Training Basics

Archive for September, 2009

The family dog is a valued member of countless families all around the globe.  However your dog barking consistently and awfully loudly is usually not a very desirable feature.  This makes lots of dog owners need to begin teaching their dog to stop barking. 

First off before you begin training you dog to stop barking please understand that it is an impractical demand of your dog to be fully quiet all the time.  However it is very possible to make sure that your dog is trained to show a bit more restraint when it comes to barking. 

You will wish to start by making an attempt to work out what is making your dogs barking get out of control.  Do they seem irritated or excited thanks to a particular stimulant?  If you’re able to figure out just what is making your dog go out of control with its barking you are one step ahead on successfully getting the barking in hand. 

You should buy some of your dog’s favorite treats to have available while coaching him to stop barking.  Keep them in areas where your dog is known to bark often so you have them available for instant positive re-strengthening. 

One route you can take when you’re making an attempt to stop your dog from barking is after they start barking praise them for being a good dog and try to find out what the difficulty is.  You may want to then tell them to be quiet while showing them one of the treats that you have available. 

Your dog will be so concentrated on getting the treat that you are offering them that they won’t be barking.  After the dog has been quiet for around 2 to 4 seconds then let them have the treat while praising them for being a good dog. 

You want to scold your dog everytime that it barks during these training sessions.  Tell then to be quiet in a loud and humorless voice.  Continue to supply them their favorite treat and each time increase the quantity of time that they need to attend before being rewarded.  Continue this until you have trained your dog to control their barking habit so it is not so excessive. 

Keep in mind that coaching your dog to curb it’s barking could be a long and drawn out process so it is important to keep patient.  Believe me, when it comes to dog teaching, It will definitely pay out in the long run that may make everybody in the family quite happy.

Most people are impressed immediately by the cute looks, fun optimism and perpetually positive attitude of the inimitable west highland white terrier. But despite the non-existence of the ratter westie nowadays, the westie’s terrier instincts is still very much within the dog. The westie was bred to hunt and “go-to-ground”, and one trait responsible for its sane and crazy adventures is its individualistic courage. Soon enough, all westie owners are bound to realize that they have a small dog brimming with a big dog attitude!

Westies are extremely intelligent. Their sometimes obstinate nature must be interpreted and managed properly in anticipation of possible behavior problems. Most behavior problems are due to a lack of companionship, discipline, activity and exercise. Westies can be very destructive if left unattended and bored. The ten tips below will show you how you can help still more in westie training.

1. All dogs will benefit a lot from training, but the most efficient training happens in the puppy that starts with it at eight weeks of age. The time that you yourself will spend on inculcating westie basic manners and obedience skills need to be fun. If done properly, the routine will build a solid and lasting link between your dog and you as trainer.

2. Get in touch with a tried and tested training club, school, or private obedience instructor. Examples of professionals who can give a referral are your vet, groomer, or breeder. You might also want to sit in a class session.

3. Any dog training program that operates through the use of force or abuse is bound to fail or is failing already. The best training programs make use instead of a blend of reinforcements and corrections.

4. On the occasion of unacceptable behavior, reprimand promptly the dog. The best reinforcer is food, and it is sure to motivate your dog. Other means are praise, play and attention.

5. Be kind with your westie, always fair and forgiving. They do have a sense of justice that make them sensitive to hitting or yelling.

6. Flood your dog with verbal praise and pats whenever it accomplishes what you wanted of it. Add a treat now and then to the praise.

7. Practice consistency and exude confidence in training the dog. The entire family needs to help teach also in the training program. But one person will be the most responsible for most of the training.

8. Despite the demands of training, try to have regular time for sessions of attention, affection, and play. Twenty minutes of training a few times a week, or ten minutes daily are all that it takes to keep you and your dog student enthusiastic for more learning.

9. These five basic training commands will be the building blocks of training westies: sit, stay, heel, down and come. A well trained westie makes a welcome presence anywhere it goes.

10. At some point in time, training your westie will seem to be eating much of your time and patience, but your pay-off is a westie that is a pleasure to live with.

German Shepherd dogs are highly versatile.  A German Shepherd dog with the right breeding and the proper training can be the type of dog that you have been searching for; someone to protect your home, loyal companion, a beautiful show dog or anything else that might come to mind, this dog will be more than capable of doing.  All around working skills is what this breed of dog was designed for.  German Shepherd dog training will be the glue that holds the pieces together.

German Shepherd Dog Training

These great dogs are capable of learning at the early age of seven weeks old.  By this age the pups’ brain is able to take in some of the simple commands, their bodies are going to take quite a bit longer to catch up though.  Teach your puppy games that he will enjoy for years to come.

Exercise can help your dog mentally and physically.  Teaching tricks is fun and enjoyable.  Your dog will become more self assured the more he learns.  Learning new commands and signals can be helpful later in his teaching sessions.  When teaching your dog tricks, it best to use treats.  As your puppy matures doing some tricks for some praise will be very exciting for him.

The favorite training method for German Shepherds is the positive training method.  The positive training method doesn’t involve any kind of punishmet.  You will reach your goals faster by using this type of training.  Training your dog using the positive method doesn’t mean the dog gets to do whatever it wants to do.  They must show proper behavior to get the reward.  Positive training produces a dog that is happy and eager.  Trust is one of the ways a dog will obey.  You and your dog will become a team.

German Shepherd Dog Training

Leash Training

In the beginning, while walking your dog, they might want to carry the leash in their mouth.  They can carry the leash for the first few times, but aren’t allowed to chew on it.  Try to keep the dog on your left side and hold the leash in your left hand.  Start the dog with short lessons.  The dog could take several lessons before figuring things out.

The Sit and The Down

The basics for teaching a dog to sit.  Using treats is easiest with positive training.  Take a treat and hold it in front of his nose, lift the treat up and back.  This  lets the dog fold his legs under himself for the perfect sit. Always repeat the word “sit’ while lifting the treat up.  Reward him with a treat, after he sits.

You start in the sit position, when teaching the down.  Move the treat down and forward in front of the dog’s nose.  This will get the dog to lower the front legs for the down. Don’t forget to say “down”, while lowering the treat.  After the dog lays down reward with the treat and lots of praise.

In Closing

The careers of German Shepherd dogs depend on training or lack of it. The experience that you have in training these dogs will be very exciting.  Living with a well trained German shepherd dog is a trip of a life time.

Training Your German Shepherd

When a dog whines it is trying to communicate. One of the first actions a dog learns is to whine. The hungry puppy whines to let its mother know that it is hungry. The mother dog feeds the puppy and the puppy learns that whining produces the desired result.

As a dog grows it will continue to whine when it is distressed or requires attention. A puppy that is one of a litter will feel a sense of belonging to that litter. If a puppy becomes separated from its litter its whines are a sign of its distress and it is letting the litter know that it needs to be rescued.

When the puppy is removed from its litter to become a member of your family it may feel extreme distress at being removed from its familiar surroundings and former family. It may whine to communicate its distress and sense of loss.

Now is the time to start training your dog not to whine. The dog will continue to whine if you reinforce this action by paying attention to its whines. On the other hand it is important that you have taken care of the dog’s needs before you try to stop a dog from whining. Make sure that your dog has food and water and is comfortable and is not trying to communicate to you that he is hungry. Have your dog seen by a vet if it whines when running, eating or gong to the toilet.

You must spend time with your dog and play with him; do not neglect him. If you spend time with him when he is quiet and not whining it will reinforce good behavior.

Your dog may suffer from separation anxiety one it has adjusted to you and you leave it alone. Separation anxiety in dogs is not uncommon. Dogs are pack animals by nature so remember that when you leave it it may feel quite anxious. If it is your habit to put your dog outside before you go out spend some time with him in the outside environment and make sure he has toys to play with. The dog will soon learn that being outside can be fun, too.

Pay attention to your dog’s whines and you’ll begin to understand what he is trying to tell you and why. Your dog could be trying to communicate to you that he is hungry, thirsty, hot, cold, bored, lonely, wanting to go outside to relieve himself, or he may be in pain.

Provide your dog with plenty of stimulation and exercise. Your dog is a sociable animal and you should take him for walks, play with him and take him to dog parks so that he can learn to socialize with other dogs. Dogs are intelligent creatures and require exercise and stimulation or they can easily become bored. A bored dog will sometimes whine to get attention.

Tend to your dog’s needs and don’t let him manipulate you with his whining. You must learn to recognize the difference between the dog’s genuine needs and his need for attention.  Reinforce good dog behavior. He will soon learn that his whines do not get him the results that he wants if you only show him the attention and love that he needs once the whining has ended.

I got out of bed with dog barking on the brain this morning. That is due to laying awake listening to my neighbor’s insane pack of dogs barking at coyotes all night long. This gave me plenty of time to ponder all the many nearby dogs with barking problems, and the various reasons that caused these behaviors. Thinking about it made me realize I was in a neighborhood periodically terrorized by relentless barking episodes.

Below I have listed several of the very common reasons your dog may have a problem with excessive barking behavior . You will have some work to do with your dog to correct the problem if he suffers from this behavior-actually I think we suffer a lot more from the barking than they do. It is unfortunate that this is a problem that will not stop until you take the time to work with your pet to correct it.

• One very common reason that a dog will start barking is when it sees another dog or a stranger somewhere within its visual range.Dogs instinctively want to guard and protect their territory and family so this behavior is quite understandable. This becomes problem barking  when a dog just won’t stop the barking even after it has made its point. He gets a form of positive reinforcement when the other dog or human has moved away because in his mind he has scared the dog or person away.

• Often the problem begins when dogs  respond to hearing other dogs- or in my neighbor’s case, coyotes- barking in the distance.  If you have a dog that  is out in the yard  engaging in long distance barking you can teach him not to be doing that. Excessive dog barking  is a problem you should not ignore, especially since all that unnecessary barking is annoying for you (and your neighbors, too).

• Dogs that are all stressed out and insecure are much more likely to bark even for insignificant reasons. These types of dogs have a lot of nervous anxiety issue,a dog will bark for no obvious reason whatsoever. These are the kinds of dogs that often  bark on and off all the time unless their masters are with them. My good friend’s dog was such a nervous Nellie that it would bark if a leaf fell down form a nearby tree. That dog was really nervous. It doesn’t take a big leap of imagination to realize that this dog barked all the time-for nothing.

• If a dog is bored and lonely enough he may start a barking rant, just to let everyone else know how he feels.  A dog that is left alone most of the time and doesn’t get enough attention and playtime and  from its master is the most likely dog to have this behavior.

• Sometimes a dog just wants your attention, and will continue to bark at you until he gets it-he doesn’t care if you are busy doing something else. If the dog respected its master as the Alpha dog, he would not be trying that. Unfortunately if you give in to this barking, you are in a way training your dog to boss you around. Until I put an end to my dog’s training of me, my Lab used to get a kick out of bossing me around when she wanted to play some more.

So, use these tips to put an end to your dog’s excessive barking problems. Please check out my full review of the best on line dog training program.

For more free helpful articles about dog obedience training and solving dog behavior problems, please visit  www.BehaveDoggy.com.

Tips on How to Stop Dog Digging.

Often, the reason behind dog digging is boredom.In rare cases, their digging is instrinctive.Digging can look harmless but it’s not; your dog can be seriously at risk especially if he lets himself out of your yard.Digging can be fatal in those cases.Your dog becomes a nuisance if his digging behavior is left as it is.Left home alone digging as he pleases, your dog turns a once-beautiful garden looking like a disaster.

See this informative piece on Stop Dog Chasing.

Understanding is the Required First Step.

Why is he giving in to the urge? Find out the triggers to your dog’s behavior so you can appropriately address them.Average dog owners such as yourself, can do that.Watch your dog for some time, perhaps a few days.Pay close attention and you’d find which triggers cause certain responses.Mind the digging pattern.Watching your dog carefully will allow you to recognize signs of their digging urge.

If clearly a hyperactive digger, your dog may be suffering from boredom.Walk your dog around the park.Hour-long rigorous exercises everday positively channels your dog’s hyperactivity and keeps him content.Dogs are working animals; they’re naturally supplied with more energy.Depleting that extra energy daily is a must.

Here’s a related article on German Shepherd Training Tips .

If your dog is fond of garden-digging, there are a variety of explanations for that.There are varieties of interesting sights and smells in a garden.Plantings, with the standard manure used with them, pose very curious smells to dogs.A selection of herbs and flowers carry various scents through the air and can get your dog to dig.The garden has a lot to offer for doggie amusement.Plants are often more than enough to attract unwanted attention from dogs.When this is the case, use a  sprinkler that’s connected to the end of a water hose.

As soon as your dog walks in to the garden and shows signs of the need to dig, spray him off.The dog must associatee the water with the spray and not you.If he sees you began the spraying, he’d continue digging when you’re not there.If he associates the spraying with the garden wanting him off, he won’t dig when the sprinkler is around.

If efforts don’t keep him from digging, cede a part of the garden for him to dig.Just like small children, give your dog a  sandbox, doggie version.Get some bones or treats and bury these on the designated digging spot to encourage your dog to dig there only.Start by doing it half-way; have half of a bone stick out so your dog sees it.Encourage this behavior by sounding excited and telling your dog to dig the buried treasure up.If he starts digging outside of the area, lure him back there.

Read further on this dog problem with Stop Dog Digging.

Shelters and city pounds in United States of America is becoming densely populated with many homeless dogs. Rather than to make an effort to make a proper living for these poor creatures, the responsible are more in to making the cities clean in order to win the council awards. Thousands of puppies will be spending the rest of their lives inside those walls without any home and have you considered about adopting a puppy?

Many Americans will spend thousands of dollars to own a puppy to fulfill their desire to have them cuddling on to you. Many Dog breeds and many calibers to choose from as well. But why not consider not spending a lot of money and instead adopting a puppy? This way it is a win-win situation for both the puppy and you.

Millions of puppies across USA are spending an imprisoned life for nothing. It is not because they have done anything wrong to us, but because they just cannot walk on this land that freely like man does. But because they do not have homes and because they are dogs they will have to go through this agony. This is why instead of ‘buy a puppy’ the concept of ‘adopt a puppy’ should come to terms with many puppy lovers.

Why would you go for a puppy sale when you can save one’s life without any charges? These innocent animals need your help, they will be ever so happy to live a proper life. Now you can easily find a puppy nearby you for adaptation. Adopt a puppy in your area just by giving your requirements to an online website which then will help you find the perfect puppy for you. Go through all the photos of puppies and select the one which is most adorable for you. Search for the Dog breed, color, sex and also the age.

If you have a point of view on this subject or any pets then visit the Number 1 Pets Blog.