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Start With These Basic Dog Training Techniques
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Start With These Basic Dog Training Techniques | Start With These Basic Dog Training Techniques |
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You have to know some basic dog training techniques to effectively communicate with your dog and train him. Although man has been interacting with dogs for centuries sometimes communication between the two can be confusing. A dog's understanding can be compared to that of a two year old human child. However, a dog's senses are not like ours. Not only do they perceive shades of red and green differently than humans, but their noses are extremely sensitive in comparison. A dog's mind also processes information in an entirely different manner. In order to limit a trainer's frustration and misbehavior on the dog's part, it is critical to remember these differences. By instinct, dogs are still pack animals. They are actually descended from wolves, also pack animals, who are social animals and work best within a hierarchy where all members interact with each other appropriately. Training can start as early as possible. For some breeds, four weeks is a good time to start. For the first several months, you should allocate at least thirty minutes per day, though a full hour is preferred, for training. There are some basic dog training techniques or guidelines that all types of training utilizes. When training your dog, you want to make it clear that you are the dominant one as early as possible. Dogs are pack animals by nature, and every pack has a natural pecking order. The top dog is the alpha. It is followed by the beta dog and so on. If you want sanity in your household and you want a happy dog who knows where he stands, you need to step up and be the alpha of his pack. The ease with which this is done depends largely on the breed of your dog, as well as the individual temperament of your dog. Just like people, some dogs act more assertively than others. Tools like leashes, collars, commands, and other training material are nice to have but the thing that influences successful training is your dog's attitude. Don't allow him to take charge of you. You shouldn't have to use physical force to project your dominance. There are times when this may be necessary, though, it must be properly used. On a normal basis, patience and firmness are all that is needed to properly train your dog. For puppies, try placing them into a position of submission when they are still young. Roll them onto their backs, and put your hand firmly in the middle of the chest. When they lower their paws, this signals a sigh of submission. You can go further by placing your face directly in front of theirs, emulating dominant dog behavior. Begin by using a short leash which will hinder the dog's natural tendency to run and play. It is essential to allow some free time for the dog to run in order to promote good health however. Initially, this time should be scheduled before or after training but not during. The first step is to choose a series of short and sweet commands, like sit, stay, down, and come. Each should sound distinctly different to avoid confusion between them. Your voice should be firm but not punitive. Make sure that you communicate that you're the boss, but not that you are mad at the dog. Stay away from using two-worded commands like 'sit down' because they tend to confuse the dog. When you give a verbal command, make sure your facial expression and tone of voice are consistent and use the same hand signals. Ultimately you can separate these from one another, but initially simplicity and consistency are key. Remember that dogs have a word understanding roughly equal to a toddler so you need to keep your meanings simplistic. For example, don't use the verbal command "Down" to mean lay down as well as to indicate not to jump. This will just confuse your dog - stick to 1 meaning per word. Being patient, clear and consistent with your dog training techniques will result in an easily trained pet that understands what you want and complies. In short, your efforts will be rewarded with a dog that is a joy to be around! About the Author: Is your dog a bad boy? Find out how training him can be as easy as 123 with the dog training techniques you'll learn about at http://www.positivedogtrainingtechniques.com/. |
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