Training Your Dog - The Basics

TrHaving a dog as part of your family unit brings a sense of great joy and companionship. However, as a dog owner it is your responsibility to ensure your dog is properly trained and socialized to encourage healthy habits and behavior. Hence, it is necessary to obedience train your dog. When looking to obedience train your dog, there are a few basic aspects you need to look at such as house breaking, training your dog to 'come' when instructed, and walking on a leash without struggling.
Before and during the first stages of training your dog, use the following guidelines.
- never instruct your dog to do anything that he can evade. Frustrating your dog by being overly controlling or bossy creates a negative training environment. Respect your dog's personality and character and accommodate their behavior in the initial stages.
- Provide rewards, treats, or hugs and praise when your dog performs well and follows your instruction. This is an important factor for any dog training, you must always praise good behavior rather than punishing bad behavior. This boosts your dog's attitude, and encourages positive behavior, this also helps develop your relationship with your dog.
- NEVER punish or scold your dog during training. Punishment adds negativity to the situation, making your dog feel pressured, leading to frustration and failure.
- Penalizing your dog is ok. Penalize doesn't mean punish. A penalty can be anything that to teach your dog that he/she is doing something wrong. Ignoring him when he's on the leash, so there's no walk or just ignoring him when he's trying to get your attention. This would make him feel guilty and behave properly.
- Remember that for training purposes, Rewards work better than anything. Rewards can be anything from a verbal praise to petting, giving food, a ball or anything that turns him on.
You need to understand your dog, understand his/her personality and conduct your training accordingly. The small time investment spent learning about what triggers your dog will be time well spent.
Training your dog takes a lot of patience from you, the dog trainer. A vital thing for you to do is to learn that it's realistic to teach your dog what you want it to learn. Your dog is always learning, just as we are. You have to learn how to reward your dog so that it is inclined to do what you want it to do.
Stipulate a particular portion of daily routine to train your dog. Five or ten minutes at a time, two or three times a day is more than sufficient. There are certain rules that you must follow to stop destructive behavior of your dog.
- Put a ten foot rope on your dog and let him drag it around the house; if your dog dashes out the front door. Just before opening the door step on the rope, or, for your big dog, leave a loop in the end and loop it over the inside door handle. So, now you are left with a handle to jerk your door back in if the dashes out the front door.
- Try providing two collars to your dog. One should be a buckle collar and the other, training collar. The buckle collar must have your dog's tags on it. Never tie your dog up with his training collar or leave it on when he is alone.
Remember, you are training your dog to behave correctly around you, your family, and visitors, and to become part of the family. With this in mind, you need to ensure your training is a positive, enjoyable bonding experience for both you and your dog.
When you have determined the dog training program or method that you will be using it is important to take some time and get the dog training essentials that you need to start the process. While it is not important to get the most expensive items, it is important to get good quality products to avoid having to replace broken items. Depending on the size of your dog these basic essentials will change slightly, but the key elements will remain the same no matter what the breed may be.
Collar and lead
For younger dogs, it's ideal to use a soft-woven collar with a buckle attachment. The collar should fit around the neck with enough room to comfortably slide two finger between the dog's neck and the collar. Having the collar any tighter than this will create an annoyance for your dog, any looser gives your dog room to wriggle out of the collar. Let your dog get comfortable with collars, but don't leave the collar on when your puppy isn't supervised.
When your dog has grown up a bit, a nylon collar and leash is best. Use the same method for sizing your dog's collar as you did when he/she was a puppy. Allow room for 2 fingers between dog and collar. Retractable leash's are a popular option, giving you control, while allowing your dog the freedom to roam. Leash's are generally fully adjustable, so you can keep your dog closer in crowded or high traffic situations, and lengthen when going for a walk, or out in the open. A regular nylon lead works just as well and may be easier to train with than the slightly more complex retractable leash.
Choker-chains should never be used when training younger dogs. You should only ever use choker-chains as a last resort with stubborn adult dogs that won't stop pulling. Incorrect use of a choke collar can result in serious injury to the dog.
Smaller dogs are often controlled using harnesses instead of leashes. The small breeds may have issues adjusting to a collar and, so a harness tends to be a much more popular option.
An often over-looked aspect of dog training is learning about grooming. You should have a soft slicker type brush and a metal comb as basic tools. A good set of dog nail clippers is also essential. Never use human clippers as they will shatter the claw and can result in extreme discomfort and pain for your dog. If your dog has long hair, you will need something to keep the hair trimmed such as a set of clippers or scissors.
Most trainers and breeders encourage crate training for dogs, especially if your dog will be spending the majority of it's life inside the house or in a confined area. Your dog's crate needs to be large enough for the puppy or dog to enter and to rest in comfortably, taking into consideration claustrophobia and hygiene issues. The breeder or a pet store chart should be able to inform you what size crate you need for your puppy. Crate training is idea for housetraining your puppy or dog, and will also provide a space of his or her own for the dog. The crate is not a punishment area, so the dog views it positively.
Dog treats are one of the best ways to let your dog know he's done something right, and to encourage future behavior. Don't use sweet or human treats, these can have huge affects on your dog's health, instead offer small kibble or special dog rewards. If you wish to be very healthy you can even make your own at home, there are several recipes available for free on the internet. ( by Colin Pederson )