Tips on How to Train a Dog

There are tons of reasons why somebody would like to train their dog. Are you embarassed by its behavior when you have guests? Perhaps your beloved doggy is just a little too loud? Or maybe you just want to teach him some tricks to make your neighbors jealous? Whatever your intentions are, I will try to provide you with 3 tips that will make the training process much easier and pleasant, both for you and your dog.
1. Understand the nature of your dog. Dogs are pack animals. In nature, they would aim to follow "orders" of the senior members of the pack in order to please them, and become accepted. It works exactly the same way with your dog. He or she treats you as a member of the pack, and a senior member at that. Your dog will instinctively try to please you, and that is why it is relatively easy to train a dog, as opposed to cats for example, which are not pack animals and prefer solitude in the wild. Once you know that, you will just have to find a way to communicate with your dog. Which leads us to point 2.
2. Obviously, dogs cannot understand what you say to them. But they can understand HOW you say it. You have to use your intonation, and your voice itself, to let the dog know what he is supposed to do, and perhaps even more importantly, what he should NOT do. This is pretty obvious, but it works. Just one important thing - do not expect it to work after a day or two. It's a process, and might take a little while, and you will have to be persistent.
3. Teething. That is a very common mistake. Every puppy goes through this phase. Getting a new set of adult teeth can be very painful, and it also may lead to chewing. Do not punish your dog for that! Take your puppy to the vet to find out if it is indeed teething. If your vet confirms, a good idea that works for many people is to get a specific chew toy, such as frozen nylon bone. Not only will it prevent your puppy from chewing on your furniture or shoes, but it will also ease the pain associated with teething.
Those 3 tips should get you started on your journey. Good luck! ( by Thomas Katz
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