If you want to stop puppy biting you can not be like most people and confuse disobedience with not understanding. Your dog isn't disobeying if he doesn't understand what it is you're asking of him. More training is all he needs, so find the time to put in a little extra work, and your buddy will be obeying your every command.
If you know your dog knows a command (because he's done it many times) and he is not obeying, you can consider this true disobedience.
This can be a very serious problem (for example, If Dexter is running toward the road, and you say "come Dexter", if he doesn't obey we know how this can turn out). Your relationship with your dog can also be damaged by this behavior.
What your dog is telling you is that they do not respect your authority. Given the opportunity to continue this behavior, your dog will form the nasty habit of passive-aggression. This problem will only get worse if left unchecked.
This is where we come to alpha status. Your dog needs to realize that you are higher up in the social structure of the house. This is something all dog owners need to understand in order to keep a thriving relationship with their canine.
Remember your dog isn't human. He expects someone to be in charge of his behavior and his actions. In order to have a healthy relationship with your dog, and stop puppy biting, he needs to understand that you are the authority, and that he is beneath you. It does sound strange if you look at it from a human perspective, but again he is not human. Your dog will appreciate this structure.
Let's go through some tips on how to deal with disobedience by reestablishing the hierarchy, which is going to be the first task.
-Always exit your home or vehicle before your dog. In a dogs mind the alpha is the leader. You do not want your dog to think he is the leader by being able to go first. In the home this is not as important, but when you are leaving the home or your vehicle you must command him to stay until you exit first. Once you exit then you can release him from his stay command.
-This step seems cruel, but really isn't. Your dog should not expect to be fed. What I mean is, vary his feeding schedule so he knows you are in charge. Always have dinner, or a meal before your dog. Make him wait until you are finished then put his food down. He should not jump right into his food. He needs to wait for you to say it is okay to eat. Put his food down, make him wait, and then release him to eat. Get this down and he will surely know who is in charge.
There are many more in depth tips and strategies to master such as:
-Your home is your den; you control access to any part of it. -You must initiate play time. -Do not go straight to your dog upon arriving home to play. Alpha behavior is to do your thing first and play second.
You may also want to start, and continue, a training plan. Nothing fancy, just give your dog a few minutes a day to learn the basic commands you need him to master.
Such as:
-You want to give commands that you can immediately reinforce once disobeyed. You're dog will think it is much easier, and more rewarding to ignore you if you let him disobey continually. An example would be, if your dog is having fun in the park, and you call for him to 'come', he could either come, or do what is easy and keep playing. This goes to show you that your dog should always be on a leash until he has proven time after time that he will do exactly what is expected of him.
-Your voice and expressions are a very good training tool. When you praise your dog you should always be smiling, speaking lightly, and happily. Your facial expressions and your tone do make a difference. Your dog will learn your facial expressions and figure out anger, and happiness. If you are to correct your dog, and stop puppy biting, your voice should be stern, not shouting, but stern, in a lower pitch, and used with authority.
-You should not be repeating commands. If you are repeating commands, this will only teach your dog to wait until you repeat yourself to obey. Uh, no way! Always use a leash, and if your dog ignores you, give him an abrupt jerk, or tug to let him know that you are right there, and still in charge.
This is only the beginning of your dogs training. As you can see, there is much your dog and you need to learn.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Dog Behavior Modification
Five Dog Tricks That Every Dog And Owner Should Know
by Daniel Millions
At first glance, dog tricks seem to be more like parlor tricks than anything useful. But the truth is quite the contrary; in fact, dog tricks promote very healthy and obedient behavior amongst dogs. The goal is to teach a dog five basic tricks: stay, come, sit, heel, and leave alone.
Teach A Dog The Trick Of Stay
Stay is one of the best dog tricks that can counteract bad behavior. Instead of a muddy dog making tracks throughout the house, why not teach it to stay on command, and save yourself the frustration of cleaning?
Training a dog to stay can be somewhat difficult. Reward the dog when you declare Stay, and the dog doesn't move towards you. Eventually, the dog will learn through association of benefit that Stay means to stay put until further command.
Teach A Dog The Trick Of Come
Come is a rather easy command to teach, mostly because dogs can be curious creatures. Every time you say Come and make a gesture, they usually perform this task on their own. But to really engrave it into the dog's mind, a treat should be given upon successful completion.
This command is very useful when a dog becomes distracted and is pondering chasing a rabbit, for instance. Instead of chasing the dog all over town (and the rabbit, coincidentally), try stating Come! with a firm voice you'll be surprised at the results.
Teach A Dog The Trick Of Sit
Stay is another command similar to stay, although it is better in most cases. Instead of a dog standing up ready to move as soon as the owner gets out of site, the dog is obediently sitting on the floor waiting for the next command.
This command can be taught much like stay in the sense that the dog should be rewarded upon successfully staying. But in this case, the dog must also be sitting. Helping the dog into a sitting position is often required in this scenario.
Teach A Dog The Trick Of Heel
Heel is a difficult command to teach, since it attempts to teach a dog a learned behavior when they are at their most obnoxious and rambunctious state of mind. When they are tugging at their leash ready to run free, simply saying heel would be a great way to get things under control!
This command can be taught by saying the command multiple times, until the dog subsides. Upon submission, give the dog a treat to reward the submission. Hopefully, the word heel will become a word in both the dog's and owner's vocabulary with good practice.
Teach A Dog The Trick Of Leave Alone
This command is always the most fun to teach. Simply put an appetizing object in front of a dog, say leave alone and then offer the dog another treat that is bigger or better in some shape or form. Eventually the dog will realize that a bigger or better treat can be had if it is waited for after hearing the words leave alone.
Final Thoughts On Dog Training
Dog training is a lot of fun if the right methods are put into use. These methods will enable for both bonding between owner and dog, and will teach great behavioral character for dogs. Keep in mind that only positive reinforcement should be used as negative reinforcement can worsen behavior problems.
About the Author
Teach your Dog Tricks and get do information at our Dog Tricks Training Forum.
by Daniel Millions
At first glance, dog tricks seem to be more like parlor tricks than anything useful. But the truth is quite the contrary; in fact, dog tricks promote very healthy and obedient behavior amongst dogs. The goal is to teach a dog five basic tricks: stay, come, sit, heel, and leave alone.
Teach A Dog The Trick Of Stay
Stay is one of the best dog tricks that can counteract bad behavior. Instead of a muddy dog making tracks throughout the house, why not teach it to stay on command, and save yourself the frustration of cleaning?
Training a dog to stay can be somewhat difficult. Reward the dog when you declare Stay, and the dog doesn't move towards you. Eventually, the dog will learn through association of benefit that Stay means to stay put until further command.
Teach A Dog The Trick Of Come
Come is a rather easy command to teach, mostly because dogs can be curious creatures. Every time you say Come and make a gesture, they usually perform this task on their own. But to really engrave it into the dog's mind, a treat should be given upon successful completion.
This command is very useful when a dog becomes distracted and is pondering chasing a rabbit, for instance. Instead of chasing the dog all over town (and the rabbit, coincidentally), try stating Come! with a firm voice you'll be surprised at the results.
Teach A Dog The Trick Of Sit
Stay is another command similar to stay, although it is better in most cases. Instead of a dog standing up ready to move as soon as the owner gets out of site, the dog is obediently sitting on the floor waiting for the next command.
This command can be taught much like stay in the sense that the dog should be rewarded upon successfully staying. But in this case, the dog must also be sitting. Helping the dog into a sitting position is often required in this scenario.
Teach A Dog The Trick Of Heel
Heel is a difficult command to teach, since it attempts to teach a dog a learned behavior when they are at their most obnoxious and rambunctious state of mind. When they are tugging at their leash ready to run free, simply saying heel would be a great way to get things under control!
This command can be taught by saying the command multiple times, until the dog subsides. Upon submission, give the dog a treat to reward the submission. Hopefully, the word heel will become a word in both the dog's and owner's vocabulary with good practice.
Teach A Dog The Trick Of Leave Alone
This command is always the most fun to teach. Simply put an appetizing object in front of a dog, say leave alone and then offer the dog another treat that is bigger or better in some shape or form. Eventually the dog will realize that a bigger or better treat can be had if it is waited for after hearing the words leave alone.
Final Thoughts On Dog Training
Dog training is a lot of fun if the right methods are put into use. These methods will enable for both bonding between owner and dog, and will teach great behavioral character for dogs. Keep in mind that only positive reinforcement should be used as negative reinforcement can worsen behavior problems.
About the Author
Teach your Dog Tricks and get do information at our Dog Tricks Training Forum.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
House Training Puppy
Training My Dog by Tara Matheny
I am sure everyone knows how frustrating it can be to be at odds with your best friend, especially if there is a communication gap. In our case, this problem came in the form of our Luna. She is the love of our lives, but being a 180lb. St. Bernard, has given us a few challenges to overcome.
Training my dog has been very rewarding. There was a time when it was impossible to even take her for a walk on a leash. She would get so excited, and be out of control the second you opened the door to go outside. Being as big and as powerful as she is, I’m sure you can imagine the site, or have maybe even been the poor person holding that leash. I knew I had to get training my dog if she was going to be a family member who would be able to do things with us.
I can’t believe how easy it was and how fast we got results. My 5 year old son can even walk her now and she outweighs him by 140lbs.! Everyone in the house is so happy, especially our Luna. We can take her with us anywhere without worrying she will be out of control or cause problems. While training my dog, we were all able to learn how to communicate with her and not get frustrated with her like we did some of the times before. She is probably easier to deal with than the kids!
Dog training covers so many more areas than I had ever even considered. There is so much you can do with them. It has helped an important member of my family, Luna, really take her place in the middle of our family. She is able to be a house dog, without me having to worry she will knock one of the kids down the stairs because she is trained not to go down the staircase until everyone else is all the way down. I now realize how smart dogs are if you only educate yourself first.
Since training my dog we have not had even one in house accident, no one has gotten plowed over, and Luna is with us whenever we can take her. She can be out in the yard with us without a leash, lets us know when someone is here, and my kids wanted me to add that they take her trick or treating, and she goes with us to watch their little league and football practices. Our next adventure is going to be camping with her. Wish us luck! We are all very thankful to have Luna in our lives, and very thankful for being able to learn how to work with her in such a positive way.
Good luck with your best friend. We wish you many happy walks and sunshine to play in, and we hope everyone has as good of a training experience as we had.
About the Author
My dog training review site is http://mattar.bezoogle.com/pp/dog-training/
I am sure everyone knows how frustrating it can be to be at odds with your best friend, especially if there is a communication gap. In our case, this problem came in the form of our Luna. She is the love of our lives, but being a 180lb. St. Bernard, has given us a few challenges to overcome.
Training my dog has been very rewarding. There was a time when it was impossible to even take her for a walk on a leash. She would get so excited, and be out of control the second you opened the door to go outside. Being as big and as powerful as she is, I’m sure you can imagine the site, or have maybe even been the poor person holding that leash. I knew I had to get training my dog if she was going to be a family member who would be able to do things with us.
I can’t believe how easy it was and how fast we got results. My 5 year old son can even walk her now and she outweighs him by 140lbs.! Everyone in the house is so happy, especially our Luna. We can take her with us anywhere without worrying she will be out of control or cause problems. While training my dog, we were all able to learn how to communicate with her and not get frustrated with her like we did some of the times before. She is probably easier to deal with than the kids!
Dog training covers so many more areas than I had ever even considered. There is so much you can do with them. It has helped an important member of my family, Luna, really take her place in the middle of our family. She is able to be a house dog, without me having to worry she will knock one of the kids down the stairs because she is trained not to go down the staircase until everyone else is all the way down. I now realize how smart dogs are if you only educate yourself first.
Since training my dog we have not had even one in house accident, no one has gotten plowed over, and Luna is with us whenever we can take her. She can be out in the yard with us without a leash, lets us know when someone is here, and my kids wanted me to add that they take her trick or treating, and she goes with us to watch their little league and football practices. Our next adventure is going to be camping with her. Wish us luck! We are all very thankful to have Luna in our lives, and very thankful for being able to learn how to work with her in such a positive way.
Good luck with your best friend. We wish you many happy walks and sunshine to play in, and we hope everyone has as good of a training experience as we had.
About the Author
My dog training review site is http://mattar.bezoogle.com/pp/dog-training/
Dog Training Obedience
Hello, and welcome to my Dog Training Obedience Blog.
I'll be posting some great articles as well as original content on dog training obedience. Please check back soon.
Thanks
RobC
I'll be posting some great articles as well as original content on dog training obedience. Please check back soon.
Thanks
RobC
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