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We do special dog training at our store. Please call to find out more about it. Dog Training Tips:
One reason for doing obedience training is to establish a foundation from which you and your dog can learn to effectively relate to one another. The first thing obedience training does is to create a common language for you and your dog. This, in turn, lets your dog know the proper response (behavior) that you expect in place of socially maladaptive behavior. The obedience trained dog can respond properly to your commands, instead of neurotically trying to please and becoming ever more anxious with your displeasure. This dog acknowledges the people in the family as the leaders and becomes more secure and calm in this bond of love and authority. Obedience training can be used to help fulfill some of your dog's basic needs, such as exercise, the security of knowing what's expected, a feeling of accomplishment, and constructive social interaction. Obedience training will give your pet a job to do and can be useful in redirecting some of the mental energy of an animal that was meant for work. Dog Obedience Training Styles There are many styles of dog obedience training. Here I'm going to mention what I consider the two main types. In future articles I will explore some of the less well known styles of training, some of which are becoming quite popular. This page and the next two pages should help you decide on the best style of training for your individual pet. The main types of training are leash/collar training and reward training. I consider the leash and collar training to be a hard training style, and reward training to be a soft training style. Both styles are very old; however, the leash and collar has been used more and is considered the traditional style. I think this is because most obedience training has traditionally developed from military dog training. There are several reasons why this method would be preferred to using food, such as the nature of the dogs being trained, the task or mission of the animal, and the temperament and background of the military handler/trainer. Leash and collar training Although obedience training with reinforcement has become very popular in the last 5 years, the leash and collar is still the best way to do many kinds of dog training. Especially in situations where you need a great deal of reliability, and at times when the dog would be highly motivated for not obeying, such as obedience with a police k-9 who is highly motivated to fight. The leash and collar can be used with varying degrees of force. This could be from very hard correction to mild leash prompts. However, when the leash is used, it is best not to nag the dog with ineffective correction. Generally with a leash based obedience training system, the dog is first taught a behavior, usually with the leash. Once the dog displays that it knows the command, the leash is used to correct the dog for not obeying, or when the dog makes a mistake. Usually with this style of obedience training, the leash is the main form of controlling and communicating with the dog. In order for a dog to be fully trained, I think that the dog should be trained to trust the handler and allow the handler to at least place the dog into a position or posture that the dog does not want to assume. This does not necessarily require a lot of force, but it does require some physical manipulation. This manipulation is safest and most easily done with a leash. At least this much leash training should be incorporated into even the most advanced reward training systems. One thing that must be understood is "the leash is just a tool." By learning to train a dog with the leash, one should in the process, eventually acquire the skills necessary to train a dog with whatever tools are at hand. Even if the only tools at hand are your body and your intellect. One of the important skills that a handler can learn with the leash, is how to develop a leadership role in the dog's life. In this aspect of dog training the leash is a tool to help show the handler certain principles of leadership. Leash training can never replace developing the proper leader/follower relationship between the owner and the dog. Although doing leash training will increase the bond between you and your dog, it cannot replace the bond of trust that can only come through treating your pet fairly. Dog Behavior Training Dog behavior training encompasses every aspect of canine education, from the species specific responses that's inherent to canines, to learning theory and operant conditioning, to traditional training methods. When these training techniques are properly implemented, most people notice results immediately. A well mannered pet is now within your reach, all you need to do is optimally structure your pet's environment. Dog behavior can often be directed and controlled by training Dog behavior can be thought of as responses that are specific to the species canis familiaris. These responses are controlled and directed by manipulating the social and the environmental variables. We call this training. Training can increase responses that are desirable, just as those that are undesirable can be decreased. Your pet's problems are often a direct result of the animal's inability to cope with the stress of everyday life. The purpose of training is to raise the pet's stress threshold so your pet can tolerate higher levels of stress. Puppy training, how is it different than training an adolescent or adult dog? Puppy training in many ways is easier than training an adult dog, in that puppies have just not yet had a chance to learn how to respond to their environments. This means you get to teach your puppy how to behave properly right from the beginning. It is sometimes easier to do things right or according to the systems (house) rules if the individual does not already have a history of behaving in a certain way. A great example is the act of the puppy jumping to great people. If you can structure the environment in such a way that the puppy is never rewarded for jumping and make sure the puppy is consistently rewarded for sitting instead, you will have an adult dog that doesn’t jump when greeting people. In fact an adult dog with this type of history will impress your friends by sitting when it greets guests. There are other great instances of this principal, such as getting your new puppy accustomed to going potty on a particular kind of surface. An example may be teaching your pup to potty on gravel and it will be less likely to go on surfaces unlike gravel. I find this principle particularly troublesome when dogs stay with me that where conditioned as young pups to potty on concrete. When these dogs stay with me for a short amount of time it can be almost impossible to recondition them to potty in a more hygienically appropriate area of my yard. A good deal of this resistance to change can be explained by the phenomena of imprinting. There are certain times when a puppy’s brain is developing in a way that enables life experiences and successful behavior to become permanently wired connections. By training at this age you are actually building your puppy’s brain and its future behavior. During puppy training you need to remember, puppies don’t have the endurance of an adolescent or adult dog. Puppies can be very active for short amounts of time and then they need to rest and sleep. Some believe this rest helps the puppy build those important brain connections, as well as the muscle and bones of a developing body. When puppy training we must respect, understand, and use the rules Mother Nature has imposed upon the system we experience as a developing individual. |