Dog Training Basics

Posts Tagged ‘house training’

One thing that every dog must do is come when called. This is for the dogs own good as well as the welfare of other pets and people. Dogs need to be taught this for their own good because they can run into danger, like a car or an untrained animal. Once a dog is trained to come when called, you can take him out in public places.

It is not hard training for dogs to learn how to come when called. Basically, you would give your dog special treats when it listens to you. Training should be enjoyable for both you and your pet.

Before you start this type of dog teach training, make sure the animal is going to react positively to the type of food you will give him. Show the food to the dog and let him smell it. If he likes it, you can start.

Use small size food when dog pet training. You do not want to feed the animal too much where he does not get motivated to want to more food. Chicken and cheese are good to use.

Many professional dog trainers want the dog owner to work with them when they train the dog. This is because the dog must not only listen to one person. They need to understand that anyone who is in charge of them, will need them to listen. If someone in your family member wants to watch the dog, he will have a problem if your pet only listens to you. Have a friend or family member call the dog and then you do the same. Have your dog go back and forth, going from you to your friend. This is a great exercise. Stand about 30 feet away from each other in a safe place. You can call the dog and tell it to sit. Your friend can call the dog after you and then he can give the dog the treat. Every time the dog comes, give him a treat.

Try spreading out farther and farther away from each other. The dog will eventually have to look for you. It must find you to get the food. This will teach your dog how to come when called.

All puppies seem to want to bite and all puppies should be taught to change this habit. A lot of characteristics that you find cute in your puppy, such as jumping on you or nibbling on your arm, must be corrected before your dog gets too big.

When a puppy is left in its natural environment, she will learn to control her biting. The reason is if she bites too much, the mother or her siblings will correct your dog. Since puppies are removed from this natural environment, training a puppy is up to you the owner.

Let your puppy play with other puppies so it learns from them what type of behavior is allowed.

There are special classes intended for puppies sponsored by pet shops called puppy playtime and puppy kindergarten. There your puppy can socialize with other canines and humans. When your puppy plays too rough and bites too much, the other puppies will correct her.

Always try how to train your dog when it is still a puppy. This goes for biting training also. You need to have your dog spend time with other dogs. A dog that does not have the experience of socializing with other dogs can be hard to control and dangerous. Try to socialize your dog in the first 12 weeks of its life. This is according to dog training experts.

The same applies with training for dogs to socialize with people, particularly children. Parents may not want their child exposed to a dog that is older and bigger. It is best to allow your puppy to learn how to behave with children when it is still young and less of a threat.

Letting the puppy be around different things and people is a good idea. Like being around adults of different races, children, other puppies, cats.

Getting your animal to spend time with other dogs and people is important to ensuring that your puppy does not bite. Also, it will help if you provide your pet with toys to bite on. It gives your dog something to do and helps him to not bite things he should not.

Tell your friends and family that you do not want you puppy to bite. If your pet bites one person and they do not scold the animal, then it will be confused and might bite someone else.

Using the dogs own instincts is the best house training a dog method for your pet.This is what Crate training can do. You would leave the dog confined to a small area of you house. Since dogs are naturally clean, they will not want to soil their “den” area.

Potty training dogs can be done for any age pet using these techniques, as they have worked well for all dogs. There are mistakes that many do when trying to follow this type of house training philosophy. Don’t be inconsistent with the time that you feed your dog and do not rush the process. Rewarding the animal is good practice and this can cause the house training a dog to be trained quicker but do not move too fast.

When your dog has an “accident” it can be because the animal is in his den for too long a period or the den area is too big. It could mean that your pet has not understood yet that this den area is its bed. It could also be that the dog might have a urinary infection or another medical issue. Also it may mean that your dog is bored. Being bored might cause it to drink more water and urinate more. There are other signs of boredom as well. When your dog destroys things or nibbles on things he is not supposed to, he might be bored.

Your dog might think of its den in a negative way. This might be because the den was not introduced to your pet in the right way. He might feel trapped and may show this by whining, barking or by biting things.

Get to know your dog and its needs. Make sure that the den area is safe and pleasant for your pet and provide a toilet area that is known to the dog. One of the biggest reasons dogs are given to shelters is because of “going” in the wrong place.

Housetraining

No training is more basic for pet owners than that first important lesson: Do it outside!

Teaching your pet to potty outside the home, not in it, usually starts between six and eight weeks of age. Dogs as young as four weeks have been started on housebreaking, but at that age few have the muscular control to succeed.

With any dog training program, trainer patience is just as important as the dog’s temperament. ‘Sit’, ‘stay’ and other behaviors can often be learned in a few days. House training typically takes weeks – sometimes as short as two, often a month or more.

As with other learned behaviors, it helps to watch for signs of the desired actions and enforce and direct them with a voice command followed by praise. In this case that technique works even more to the trainer’s advantage, since all dogs will naturally eliminate. The trick is to get your puppy to do it when and where you want!

Watch for circling or squatting, then pick up the pup, say ‘outside’ and dash outside. Sometimes, the puppy may circle some more, but will often squat immediately. When he starts, say ‘Go potty’ ( or some other unique phrase) in a clear, firm (but not angry) voice. Wait until she is finished and then her praise lavishly.

You won’t always be able to catch the puppy about to begin, but don’t become angry or impatient when the dog potties indoors. It takes some time for your puppy to learn to tell you it’s time to ‘go outside’. It also takes time for the muscles needed to control bladder and bowels to develop control.

Young dogs need to go every 2-3 hours, on average. If you haven’t spotted pre-elimination behavior within that time, take the dog outside anyway. Issue the command ‘Go potty’ and wait. At first, usually, the dog will have no clue what you want.

Especially, even when outside, it helps to wait and watch for the desired behavior then issue the command. That helps the dog associate the command with the behavior. If tyour puppy hasn’t gone after a couple of minutes and a few ‘Go potty’ commands, take it back inside for an hour. Of course, if you spot the pre-elimination behavior in less time, go outside again immediately.

Dogs have a surprising ability to quickly learn what their ‘alpha’ (the leader of the pack) wants. This is almost always accomplished by associating a verbal command with behavior, followed by praise. Punishment is usually counter-productive, and nowhere more so than in waste elimination training. Never rub a dog’s nose in waste.

Paper and/or crate training is preferred by some. A pup can be trained to eliminate on a newspaper, or on one of the chemically treated pads designed for the purpose. Some small breeds that live all day in the apartment may not need to go outside at all.

The technique has a couple of downsides however. Unlike cats, dogs will seldom go in a perfumed litter box. Newspapers (even with the top layer removed after the dog goes) will eventually leave an unpleasant odor in the house.

Also, long before the odor becomes unattractive to humans, dogs can smell their own distinctive aroma. Dogs don’t find the scent unattractive – quite the opposite. So that spot continues to be the problem.

Dogs that are paper trained sometimes will prefer to potty indoors. Sometimes they’ll miss the paper by just an inch, resulting in a smelly mess to clean up.

Once the odor is in the carpet, the dog will continue to seek that spot out as its proper ‘place to go’. This makes training the dog to eliminate outside even more difficult. Best to suffer a few accidents than to create a hard-to-overcome habit.

Providing patience, praise and consistency are key factors to any dog training. Elimination training is the first order of business for you and your dog.

Get more tips and advice on housetraining or dog training at Luvurdog.com/dogtraining