Posts Tagged ‘dog problems’
Crate Training. The Facts!.
When you get a puppy, you might not think immediately about dog training, but you really should. Having a well trained dog can mean the difference between a alm and settled household and a chaotic one.
Dog behavior is directly impacted by how much training he has. He needs to have structure and limits in his life. If you don’t provide this, he will, and that can create significant behavior problems in your dog.
Why Train Your Dog?
No matter what your dog’s breed is, he is descended from wolves and his instinct is to be part of a pack. In the dog pack, there is a hierarchy, with clear dominant roles and submissive roles. If you don’t become the leader of the pack, your dog will make himself that leader. That’s not good and creates all kinds of dog problems.
Training reinforces and establishes the hierarchy concept for a dog. It teaches him that someone in the household is in control and that he must submit to that person.
Although some people say they prefer to not provide any dog obedience training, that’s a mistake. Puppy training – it’s best to start them young – can do much for your young dog, and will only help him as he gets older.
Where to Get Training?
You have a few choices:
1. You can hire a professional trainer to come to your house
2. You can attend dog obedience training classes
3. You can buy an online ebook and CD or DVD (the cheapest and preferred option)
Whatever you do, it’s important that your dog’s first (and future) experience with training is successful.
When most of us think about dog training, we think first and foremost about dog obedience training. Dog obedience training is really about the basics of training and includes learning commands like “sit,” “stay,” and “heel.”
Even if your dog only learns the most basic of dog training commands, his knowledge of just a few basic commands is immensely useful to you as the dog sowner.
A dog that’s received some dog obedience training is also much more pleasant to strangers and other dogs. You can control his behavior when necessary and he will also develop the inner discipline that will help him make right decisions even when you’re not around.
Dog House Training
Dog house training is something you can do yourself. You don’t need the experts for this, though a little advice from a dog training expert certainly can’t hurt.
Your dog should be house trained so that he can understand the basics of his needs. That is, he should understand, through some consistent dog house training efforts on your part, that there are certain needs he has that must be met appropriately.
If you have never done any puppy training before with potty issues, you might look in the following places:
* Books, online ebooks and CD or DVD
* You Tube videos
* Friends with more experience than you
* Dog training experts
Crate Training
The concept of crate training is lost on many dog owners, but it’s a concept and a behavior that should be encouraged.
Crate training dogs gives them a sense of safety and security. While initially, many dog owners will use crate training as a puppy training method, the older dog benefits greatly from using a crate as well.
Crate training can be used to reinforce house training, or it can be used as a tool to teach a dog to sleep in a particular place at night, to keep the dog away from strangers, or transport the dog in the car.
There are so many essential uses for crate training, in fact, that dogs suffer from not having this kind of dog obedience training in their lives.
Basic Dog Obedience Training
Dog training tips run the gamut from “be sure you use a firm voice” to “let your dog lead the way.” The reality is what works for you might not work for someone else and a different dog might respond differently to training.
Find your own path with your new dog. Keeping in mind that:
* He needs structure and discipline and dog obedience training gives him that
* He will respond to firm direction from you that’s given lovingly and consistently
* Both you and he will be happier in your relationship if your dog has even the most rudimentary of dog obedience training.
Dog training is an essential part of owning a dog. It’s worth whatever effort you are willing to give it.
Getting A Dog Or Puppy Then Read This First
There is a lot work to looking after a dog or puppy and he or she will take up a lot of time, you must be prepared to clean up dog poo every day, until your dog is house trained, or when you take him for a walk.
Training a dog can be hard, especially if you aren’t used to dog training. Simple acts can produce the best and quickest results. You have to understand how a dog would live if he were living in a dog pack. There is always a leader of the pack the alpha male, and you will have to become the alpha, so your dog will know you are in charge and will obey and follow you.
Don’t let any of this put you off, a dog is a wonderful companion and will give you lots of love, with the added bonus if needed, of protecting you. Remember they need plenty of love, attention, and petting as well, so enjoy your best friend.
The following tips will help you look after your dog properly and have a good relationship
Dogs like to dig, they like to bury bones, not good if you are a keen gardener. Being social animals dogs tend to dig when they are lonely. Spending more time with him or her should help if this becomes a problem. Sometimes when they dig they eat the soil, this can be because they are lacking in vitamins and nutrients. Check you pet’s health with a vet and if there is nothing wrong, buy a good dog vitamin pill, and this should help keep that digging at bay.
Potty Training
The best way to deal with doggie potty trainig, is to reward your puppy when he or she gets it right. Never rub his nose in it when he has an accident or hit him, he will know from your face and tone of your voice that he has got it wrong. If the occasional accident does happen, remember it isn’t the end of the world and urine stains do wash out.
Discover the answers to your dog health and dog problems
Control Your Dog’s Barking
Barking is a natural doggie activity just like talking is to humans. Trying to stop your dog from barking altogether would be like trying to stop someone to talk forever! It’s impossible and it’s not exactly a nice thing to do. But we have to admit, excessive barking (just like excessive talking) is totally irritating—not just to you but to your family, your hot neighbor, the children at play, the mailman, and every one else who can hear it.
Even if barking shouldn’t be stopped—after all, it’s very useful when your dog uses it for proper reasons like warning you, warding off trespassers, or telling you something of importance—it must be controlled. If you want to maintain peace in the neighborhood and between your neighbors, controlling your dog’s barking habits is important.
Many people and dog owners don’t know much about trying to stop dogs from barking .
These days, busy dog owners tend to run to these things called anti-barking collars. They’re convenient as they don’t seem to require much time from the owner. What’s so appealing about collars is that they can help the owner supervise incessant barking while the owner isn’t around. As of late, there are basically three different types of anti-barking collars available in the market.
One is the sonar collar. Sonar collars are discreet things. Whenever the dog barks, it releases a sound with a certain frequency inaudible to humans but irritable to dogs. This in turn will get them to think that the irritable sound is a punishment to their barking and will (hopefully) get them to stop.
Another one is the citronella collar. The citronella collar sprays a scent that dogs don’t really like. Whenever they bark, the collar would spray this scent so that, just like the sonar collar, the dog would find the scent as a punishment for their incessant barking. Many say that dogs have already found a trick to outwit this collar, though.
One anecdotal report states that their dog would just keep on barking until the collar runs out of citronella. Then he’ll just go on barking for the rest of the day. Other dogs find other ways, like making a face (that probably gets them to hold their breath somehow) when the collar sprays and then barking again.
The third variety is the shock collar. This collar gets a lot of people iffy. Whenever the dog barks, it shocks the dog with electricity. The strength level of the shock can be changed from 1 to 6, 6 usually being the highest.
Many people regard this collar as inhuman and condone it. Come to think of it no decent person would want to do that to their own child (or anyone they want to discipline for that matter) so doing it to their own pet sounds insane, illogical and altogether cruel as well. This collar is to be avoided at all costs.
Although they may all seem very practical, easy, and promising, collars are at most, simply a supplementary solution to incessant dog barking.
The best thing to do is to find out first why exactly your dog has that kind of habit. Take your dog to a veterinarian behaviorist. A veterian behaviorist basically observes a dog’s environment and circumstances to figure out what exactly triggers their socially unacceptable behavior. And then based on their findings, they give training solutions to eliminate the behavior problem.
Some reasons as to why a dog would bark are things like the lack of things to do (meaning they have so much energy with nothing to use it with) or frustration (perhaps they’re being bullied by another dog in the family or by the people around them) to name two.
If you can’t pinpoint what exactly triggers their undesirable behavior, call a vet behaviorist near you to help you find out what’s bothering your dog. A vet behaviorist will also teach you what to do. They might recommend you to get an anti-barking collar but only to support training.
Barking dogs are just sometimes extremely bored with so much energy to waste. If you think your dog might just be bored, then it’s time to spend time with him playing—take him for walks, play catch with him, and let him socialize with other dogs. If you’re always out, put them in the care of someone else while you’re out—like a relative or a friend or a dog walker or a doggie daycare. Especially when you’re alone in the house, when you’re out, like humans, your dog feels lonely and bored and he will do anything to use all his energy.
You can also use other tricks like the “QUIET” command, which you will have to implement whenever he barks senselessly. If your dog sees you as the alpha of the pack, then you wouldn’t have much trouble teaching the “QUIET” command. If the barking is much of a nuisance and is already getting in the way of your chances with the neighborhood hottie, then using an anti-bark collar might be acceptable, but only temporarily or only as a training supplement.
If you’re seriously considering a collar, get the sonar collar as it is more efficient and humane. Never forget to tackle the problem with hands-on solutions and obedience training as well. Training your dog to respond to obedience signals is still the best and lasting way to tone down incessant barking but still maintain his freedom to do what he naturally does.