Basic Dog Training Tips

Understanding Your Dogs Nature

Dogs naturally want to please their owner they see you as the leader of the pack. Obedience training is an integral part of preventing or correcting pet behavior problems.

If your dog is showing undesirable behaviors such as aggression, continuously barking, biting, chewing or howling, then you need to understand that there is a reason for this behavior.

As Humans we tend to deal with these problems on a human level, you need to get down to the dogs way of thinking. For example, You might get a complaint from the neighbors saying you dog was howling all day. If you could ask the dog what the problem was, he would probably say "I was bored" "I was lonely" "I felt like I had been abandoned"     Why is your dog so aggressive with the next door neighbors kids, again If you could understand your dog he might say "When you leave me in the yard, those nasty kids threw stones at me"

Those scenarios are just to get you thinking, there is a reason; you need to watch for trigger points to problem behavior and work on a solution. If you cannot change the Cause you CAN change the Effect, by training your dog to react differently to a specific trigger.    Do not overlook the fact that there could be medical problems causing certain behavior, so if this continues, ask advice from your vet.

Dog Training Tips  - Training Tools   

Clickers  The Clicker is a palm-sized, hand held plastic and metal unit, which emits a loud 'Click-Clack' noise when released.  This device is especially good for drawing the attention of a distracted dog. The dog's sensitive hearing can pick up the sound over any other back ground noises.  It is more commonly used as a 'Begin' sound when the animal exhibits desired behavior or to start a behavior.

Collars and Leads   Collars come in a variety of buckle, snap, nylon or leather combinations. Provided the snaps and nylon are of good quality, they can be fully strong enough for even the larger dogs.  They should be adjusted carefully so they do not slip off when the dog lowers his head. You can easily loose control of your dog by not fitting the collar correctly.

Spike collar or Choke collars are not recommended.       Spike collars can easily damage a smaller dog and tend to engender fear even in the larger ones.  A sharp tug on the front of the dog's throat, using a choke collar, can bruise or even collapse the trachea.  Also, to often choke collars are put on backwards, this makes them counterproductive and dangerous.  For basic Dog Training commands all you need is between a two to four foot lead.  This will give you enough control over the dog to extract the desired behavior.

Vests    Chest halter leads or even full vests avoid putting excessive pressure on a dog's throat but they can limit your training capabilities as the dog feels no discomfort from pulling against them.  They were originally designed to be used for seeing eye and other aid dogs.  The chest halter can actually encourage pulling but if you feel as if you need more control, especially over a strong dog or if a regular lead and collar are just not suitable they can be beneficial.

Muzzles    Forshort term barking and biting control muzzles may sometimes be helpful or even necessary. The downside to using one is the dog never learns through other means to suppress barking.  The muzzle becomes a substitute for more difficult, long term solution of obeying 'no bark' commands.

More Dog Training Tips  

including Dog Training Techniques, Potty Training, Basic Command 

and lots more