Edie MacKenzie

Edie MacKenzie is a published author, traveler, dog lover, and tortoise enthusiast. Passionate about what she does, her books provide peopel a firm grounding in the dog breed and their unique characteristics with a nice touch of humor.

The First Step To Successful Dog Training

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As a dog owner, what do you really need to know to train your dog? Gathering information and preparing to train your dog follows some reasonable steps. The first phase is the most often skipped and is the most crucial. A mirror test of sorts. How good is your relationship with your dog? The idea is that it’s better to have a good owner-dog bond first before you let your dog undergo obedience training.

The point is, if you already have a good bond, that bond will be even stronger after the training. And maybe the training will be easier since you may not undergo a lot of frustrations compared to owners who aren’t bonded with their dogs.

The thing is, if you have not established an attachment with your own dog, training him to obey is not going to be as smooth compared to if you had a good bond. You could get annoyed easily when your dog fails to accomplish tasks. You may not be as easily annoyed if you and your dog had been through a lot. That dog might not even want to cooperate. To address this noncompliance, try breaking the tasks into small and more manageable tasks.

This way, despite the absence of that owner-dog bond, the chances of your dog accomplishing the smaller tasks will be easier. Suppose you want you dog to stop barking on command. You can do this and silence him at will. When you can do this you can even make him bark on your order. This means you need to start with a small objective in the beginning, and start with easy commands.

The most common complaint against pets, dogs in particular, is that they chew up on the furniture, bite into and drag objects, and munch into them as though they were baby tethers. To address this behavior, you could purchase for your dog some toys he can play with, so his attention will be on those toys instead of things to bite in your household. You need to limit these toys to four or five. More toys will just distract him and he’ll lose interest. To start training, you can test if you can make you dog bite and pick up his chewing toys on your orders. Ask him to bring it to you. Throw it far again. Ask him to bring it back.

But if you just got your dog, chances are you don’t know his behavior much. That’s the first thing, to observe his behavior, especially those that will be problematic for you. List those behaviors that pose problems and try to address them one at a time. If your dog loves munching on household things, you have to and you can change this. If your dog barks incessantly, you can change this. But you really have to allot some time to observe his behavior and bond with him. If he bonds with you, he’ll be motivated to please you, and you’ll have more patience in training him.

Increase the happy years of your dog by checking out my free e-book. In it I reveal all the secrets I’ve used to develop a happy, healthier dog. Visit Dr. Alfonso’s dog training blog right now…

Article Source: ArticleSpan

Dog Training: The Six Common Mistakes To Avoid

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When new trainers start training, they tend to make a lot of mistakes in their approach and methods in their training process. There are some mistakes that are common among most trainers.

High Expectation- The individual who makes this mistake is a true dog lover. The problem arises only when they start watching the tricks their neighbor’s dog can do or watch some well trained pets in their favorite sitcoms. Also sometimes when they go to park, they would have come across people who would have been enjoying the company of their dogs that are obedient and well trained. At that moment, they tend to forget all the time, money and patience that has gone into training these dogs.

Giving Up- This is also a common mistake done by novice dog trainers. Just because the dog cannot learn to play Frisbee in an hour or so, the owners conclude that the dog would just not learn at all.

Positive reinforcement- Many frustrated trainers go home with deprived results because they forget to reward their dogs for doing well. Rewards must be consistent, just like the training. The dog which always receive only correction and never gets rewarded will get frustrated.

Negative reinforcement- Trainer who spends his whole day during the training process will be looking for the dog to make a mistake, so that they can be corrected. This is a major mistake done by novice trainers because when you focus only in finding the mistakes of your dog, you will then fail to identify and reward all the good behaviors.

Apathy- Often a dog trainer says I hate this or that about the dog but its too difficult to change it. Changes can be made and if your dog sees that they bring rewards they will respond much quicker to a direct approach.

The major mistake the trainer makes is by thinking that the training is over. Training is a learning process and it doesn’t have an end. Your dog may learn some commands and know it well. So why do you stop there? Your dog loves to learn and you are a good trainer. Train your dog something new and enjoy your day forever.

With the knowledge of these mistakes trainers often make, you can recognize some of the common feelings which you might have encountered for yourself. You can now stem these mistakes before they become a problem.

Ranju Kumar offers excellent tips and advices on dog and puppy training including how to look after their health and other dog problems. Please take a 5-minute lesson at Puppy Training for FREE and make your dog obey your commands now.

Article Source: ArticleSpan

How To Test A Shelter Dog

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It’s hard to know how an unfamiliar dog will react to your attempts to become his leader; if you catch a very self-protective dog off guard, he may bite. It doesn’t happen frequently, but don’t take the chance, and make your assessments in other ways instead. He’s going to be a little bit out of sorts when you first take him out of his cage. Give him some time to get used to you and to work out his excess energy. Don’t make loud noises or sudden moves; just let him sniff and greet you, and then take him somewhere where you can really get acquainted.

Never grab an unfamiliar dog; he may interpret this as a threatening gesture and respond by snapping. If you’ve brought your kids with you to the shelter, ask them not to touch the dog until he’s gotten accustomed to you and until you know that he is trustworthy.

Crouch down and pet him and play with him. Does he accept and enjoy your affection, or does he act suspicious of you or ignore you altogether? Does he trample and nip you, or does he avoid you? Look for a dog who plays and cuddles with you enthusiastically but not obnoxiously or fearfully. Take a walk around the room. Does he trot after you, or does he seem relieved to see you go? He should follow you happily without attacking your legs. If you have a toy, toss it for him. Does he show interest, or does he turn up him snout at your attempt at a game?

Keep petting, talking, and playing with him. If he growls or snaps at you or curls his lip, move on to another dog. Unless you’re an experienced dog trainer, you don’t want to mess with an aggressive dog. If he doesn’t appear dangerous but is nevertheless very rough or mouthy, he still may be too dominant for you.

If he slinks around and avoids looking at you, he’s probably a submissive dog who will need a lot of positive reinforcement. Some dogs may cower or shake when you try to pet them; many interpret this as a sign that the dog has been hit or beaten. However, adult dogs often shrink away from human hands simply because they were not properly socialized and have never gotten used to being touched and petted.

If a dog seems wary of your touch at first but begins to accept your affection after a few minutes, chances are that he’ll be able to come out of his nervousness pretty quickly with good training and lots of love. Bur if he remains nervous and terrified, it’s probably going to be a real challenge to turn him into a happy and comfortable pet, and he’s better left to someone who’s had lots of experience working with undersocialized or abused dogs. If he’s lethargic and draggy, there’s a good chance that poor health is to blame. Look elsewhere. You don’t want to adopt a dog who may be sick. Be on the lookout for a dog who’s cheerful, responsive, and confident.

Do you have fun playing with him and paying attention to him? Often, when owners who are having troubles with their adopted dogs, their biggest problem seems to be that they just don’t like their dogs very much. Do not adopt a dog if you’re not crazy about him! Spend as much time as you need to get to know as many dogs as you can; make more than one visit if necessary. But don’t forget that a dog who catches your eye one day may be adopted by someone else or even euthanized the next, so you’ll have to judge for yourself how long it’s safe to wait.

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