Doggy Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘training puppy tips’

If you want to train your puppy in the most efficient way from the start, there are two methods for training your puppy which you need to pay close attention to. They are being the pack leader and the method of positive reinforcement. Each of these methods will be explained in this article and you will see how you can use them to train your puppy dog effectively.

On bringing a puppy into your home, you should have some knowledge of the dog's natural instincts and of its life as a pack animal. The pack has its own dynamics and the principle of dominance is crucial within it. Within a pack there is a hierarchy and at the top is the alpha pair. They will not allow any other dogs in the pack to breed.

The alpha dogs eat first and take a higher vantage point when sleeping. Dogs like to sleep on beds or sofas for this reason.

If you want to set off on the right foot and avoid behavior problems in your puppy, you absolutely must position yourself and your family as the pack leaders or alpha dogs in your home. In order to do this, you should avoid letting your puppy onto your bed or sofa.

Your whole family should let your puppy see you eating something (such as a biscuit) just before you give him his food. You should make it look as if you are taking the food from the dog’s plate.

You should be calm and assertive. Speak with authority and be decisive. Closely associated with the idea of the pack leader is the concept of positive reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement means that you reward a desired behavior in your puppy or dog and ignore an undesired behavior. Negative reinforcement and punishment are not recognised as effective methods any longer by virtually all dog trainers.

You can use small treats as positive reinforcement. Praise and affection can also be used. It is vital that you do not reinforce undesired behaviors. Why do undesired dog behaviors happen? One of the most important reasons is owners reinforcing these behaviors without being aware of it. Whether you like it or not, puppy training occurs whenever you are with your puppy, not just during a training session.

For example, if your puppy jumps up at you when you come into a room and you give him attention and affection, you are reinforcing his "jumping up" behavior. You should ignore him whenever he engages in an undesired behavior. This means you should look away or turn away and not give any attention. You may find this difficult and this is why so many people encourage bad behaviors in their dogs.

You will find that positioning yourself as the pack leader in your home forms a bedrock for all your puppy training and positive reinforcement gives you a method to encourage the correct behaviors in your puppy and to avoid potential dog behaviour problems.

For more information on training your puppy, visit the Training Puppy Tips website.

Does your puppy’s barking drive you or your neighbors mad? May be you are at the end of your tether and do not know what to do. The first mistake that people make is to think that they can stop their puppy from barking completely. It should be understood that barking is normal for puppies. This is how your puppy communicates It is only when the barking is excessive and inappropriate that you should be concerned.

The fact is that puppies bark for a reason and so it is important to find what the cause is before taking action. Puppies can bark because they are lonely, bored, anxious, frustrated or frightened. They also might be hungry, need to pee or simply just need to go out for some exercise.

If your puppy continues to bark excessively or inappropriately, then you should use commands like “stop” or “enough” in a stern voice. If your puppy just carries on barking, it may be a good idea to pull them away from what they are barking at and give a correction. This could be a quick pull on the collar.

Giving praise such as “good” is important when your puppy stops barking so that he knows this is a correct behavior.

If outside and your puppy is barking to come in but you do not want him to come in yet, you can use a command such as “stop” or “enough”. You should do this in a stern voice through the door. Puppies can hear through the door. Remember not to open the door until you are ready to let them in.

If this does not work then you could kick the bottom of the door from the inside. This makes a loud noise which can startle your puppy. this method is quite effective.

Another idea is to hang out the window and squirt water from a spray bottle or hose. This gives your puppy a reason to stop. The more you do this, the more your puppy will get a negative reinforcement for barking.

When your puppy stops barking, do remember to give praise. You must be consistent in praising positive behavior and giving a negative reinforcement for unwanted behavior.

Now that you know the reasons for your puppy barking, you should be able to take the best action in order to have a quieter life!

Visit the Training Puppy Tips website for more detailed information on stopping your puppy barking. You can use the same techniques for stopping your puppy growling.

If you are going to be bringing a puppy home that hasn’t been house trained, you can use this step-by-step guide. If you follow the nine steps described here, you will be successful in house training your puppy. Consistency and persistency are vital in this process.

1.The right size of dog crate is vital. Make sure you get one before your puppy arrives. This means it should be large enough so your puppy can lie down in it and turn around in it but not much larger than that. This will become your puppy’s nest and his natural instinct is to never soil it. If the crate is too large, he may soil it away from his usual sleeping position. You have been warned!

2. Make sure you are available for at least the first couple of days, so that you can remain with your puppy. He’s going to need taking outside a lot to begin with – from every thirty to sixty minutes.

3. You may want to limit the puppy’s access to certain areas of the house until he is house trained.

4. There are certain times when he will predictably require taking outside, so take him out at these times: when he gets up in morning, when he wakes up from a nap, after he’s been exercising (for example, playing hard), after eating or drinking and before he retiring to bed at night.

5. When he arrives you are going to need to take him outside every thirty to sixty minutes, until you start to recognise the signals that he wants to poo or pee. The signal may be sniffing, circling or backing up.

6. Once you see the signal that he wants to relieve himself, you should take him outside as fast as you can and wait until he does his business.

7. When he does his business, immediately give him lots of praise and attention.

8. If you need to attend to other matters, you could leave the puppy in his crate for up to an hour. You should always do this if you cannot pay full attention, at least until he is well house trained. Firstly, however, your puppy must be content to stay in the dog crate. To do that give him small treats while he is next to the crate and gradually lure him inside with them. Once he’s been in a few times, shut the door very briefly and then open again. Gradually increase the time with the door shut. You can also put an interactive toy or a dispensing toy in the crate to keep him occupied.

9. If he does his business in the house, just ignore him when he does it but be sure to clean it up and clean the area thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner or hot biological washing powder solution. If you don’t, your puppy will still smell it and be tempted to do his business there again.

For more information about puppy crate training and house training your puppy, visit my Training Puppy Tips website.