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Dog Behavior Questions - Is Your Behavior Ruining Your Training? |
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Written by Lee Dobbins
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Monday, 07 July 2008 |
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Contrary to popular belief there are not as many training styles as there are trainers and one of the most interesting dog behavior questions that arise is how the trainers attitude affects the training process. The despite an individual differences people handling dogs fall into clearly recognizable categories. And no matter your an individual style or that of your dog there remain certain truisms.
by LeeDobbins
Contrary to popular belief there are not as many training styles as there are trainers and one of the most interesting dog behavior questions that arise is how the trainers attitude affects the training process. The despite an individual differences people handling dogs fall into clearly recognizable categories. And no matter your an individual style or that of your dog there remain certain truisms.
I can't think of anything that requires more patience (except perhaps for raising children) then training a dog. Most people don't have a lot of patience naturally so along with training your dog, you might have to train yourself as well!
Be prepared to an invest the time daily at least half an hour but preferably an hour to developing the desired behavior in your companion. And when you feel you're at your limit of patience whether at 10 minutes or an hour an end the session.
Strive to length that 'time to boiling point' a little an each day. Remind yourself you are dealing with a dog. Even the most an easily trained breeds or individual dogs an understand at roughly the level of an average two-year old persons. Of course there are those rare an exceptions.
In nature, dogs live in a hierarchical social structure, and many dog behavior questions can be answered by this. In their society, there is typically 1 leader in the "pack" - the alpha dog. In your house, you are the leader of the back. You must remember this when training and not let the dog take a leadership role.
When giving commands, be firm, but do not yell. Do not get angry with your dog when they do not obey. Rather than becoming frustrated with your dog, persist in your practice. Also, do not let the dog become the alpha of your pack. Your goal in training should not be to stroke your ego or to feel like you have power over your dog. The goal should be to have a safer environment for your dog and your family.
There are dogs who are naturally easy to train, but not all of them will be this way. You need to have patience and remember that your dog wants to please you. Keep up on it consistently and your dog will eventually follow your instructions.
Even the best-trained dogs will not an always do what you want when you want. Expecting a dog to too-quickly an understand a new command or to unfailingly remember a previously learned one is a recipe for frustration. The dogs' memories work very differently from humans so you need to keep this in mind and not expect him to act like one. Take the time to learn your an individual dog's capacity and limitations.
There are different factors that affect how easily your dog will be to train. One of these factors is breed. Some breeds are easier to train than others. For example, some breeds are energetic- such as terriers, retrievers, and Dalmatians- whereas others are more relaxed. These breeds include basset hounds and collies. Another factor is age. A young puppy is going to have a shorter attention span than an adult dog.
You are trying to teach the dog good behavior, so don't create any confusing dog behavior questions in your pet by exhibiting bad behavior yourself. Help your dog understand that good behavior will be rewarded and keep punishment to a minimum. Your dog should not be learning to be afraid of you, but to trust you completely.
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