Archive for June, 2010

Can A Dog Improve Your Health?

There’s nothing that relieves stress and makes us laugh like watching a new puppy chasing a ball on wobbly legs. And what fun to play ‘tug of war’ with a favorite toy! Just having your dog in your lap to pet and cuddle brings soothing relaxation.

Maybe there’s more to the phrase “man’s best friend” that we realize.

Dog Training For Proper Dog Behavior

Understanding how dogs evolved, and how dogs interact with each other, is very important to understanding how to properly train your dog to be a devoted, loyal companion.

 

The original dogs were probably orphaned wolf pups adopted by early humans.  These wild dogs probably learned to perform behaviors that their human protectors valued, such as guarding the cave or scaring off predators.  In exchange for these valued behaviors, the humans probably provided their new companions with foods, protection and shelter. 

 

The Association of Pet Dog Trainers recommends that you look for a training school that offers a good training program. There website describes a good training program as covering the following topics.  a) History of Dog Training, a complete history of dog training from late 19th century to the present and a comparison and contrast of dog training with other animal training endeavors. b) Animal Learning, classical and operant conditioning, positive and negative reinforcement, positive and negative punishment, conditioned reinforcers, discrimination, generalization, habituation, sensitization and desensitization, blocking and overshadowing, motivation, establishing operations, conditioned emotional responses. A comparison of dog learning to human learning. c) Dog Behavior, dog development and ethology, genetics of behavior, fixed action patterns, social signals, body language, social development, critical periods, hormonal influences, breed characteristics. d) Designing Classes, how to design your courses/instruction materials once you graduate. How to counsel individuals, motivate handlers/owners, how to screen and steer clients.

The Different Types Of Dog training Collars

Dogs bark for several reasons and it is in their nature to bark whenever they sense an intruder or when they have other problems. The ugly thing about barking is that it can become very annoying if our dog barks most of the time and without any obvious reasons. A Dog training collar is the best solution for your dog and it was created in order to solve the behavior problems of your dog.

Find an Austin Dog Trainer for your New Friend

If you and your family just adopted a new puppy chances are high that you may need a little help training them. Even if you adopted an adult dog they may still have some issues that need to be solved. The more common problems for dogs or all ages include walking nicely on and off of a leash, coming when they are called, sitting, staying down, leaving items alone, emergency recall, and how to stay when told.

Labradoodle Training And Training Problems

I know many of you won’t want to hear this, but you’re responsible for making the commitment to train your Goldendoodle to behave properly at home, when guests are visiting, and away from home. Unless taught, your puppy doesn’t know right from wrong.
And this can only be accomplished with dedication and repetition, repetition, and more repetition! Dogs don’t fail . . . owners fail their dogs.
How To Treat Your New Puppy
First, treat your puppy from the day you bring him home as if he’s already full-grown. What do I mean by this? Your cute little 15-20 pound Goldendoodle puppy is going to grow up (fast!) into a large dog.
Don’t allow or sanction any behavior in your puppy you would not allow a full-grown dog to do. For example, it’s so cute when your new puppy jumps up on you to get attention! It’s obnoxious, not to mention dangerous, when six months later your now large eight-month-old Goldendoodle puppy has just knocked someone to the floor!
Labradoodle and Goldendoodle breeder Michael Waggenbach of Sunshine Acres says it best, “Training is vital because, if they aren’t challenged, that boredom makes them trouble. So, I usually tell people if you’re going to have a great dog, you have to keep them challenged. I tell people, a well trained dog makes for a happy family.”
Have Honest Expectations
He adds, “When you take a puppy home, many times people have this glorious idea they will take this puppy home and it’s going to be perfectly trained. It’s not! They need to do training!
And there are people who give up after three days of not sleeping. They think they have the worst dog in the world! So, I think it would be good to set these expectations straight. When you take a a puppy home, it’s not going to be everything you want it to be.”
So, house training with a crate should be one of your first priorities when training your Goldendoodle. A crate is useful, but stock up on carpet cleaner, deodorizer, and some puppy training pads as accidents are inevitable.
You will also train on basic good manners. There are many puppy-training classes available in a variety of levels. Check the yellow pages or ask someone at your local pet store, because it’s best to get a referral or recommendation.
There will be times in your Goldendoodles life when it’s critical to their safety they obey your commands. Make sure they’re trained that obeying you is not optional!
As you can see, the problem of training your Goldendoodle is not uncommon and by committing to training, you’ll make your life a lot easier when dealing with your new puppy.

Training Your Dog on Your Own

Training your dog can be a challenging endeavor. There are typically 3 basic options when it comes to training your dog. You can train him on your own based on what you have heard or from asking others. You can send him to dog obedience class to be trained by professionals. Lastly you may invest in a home dog training study course and train him yourself.Sending your dog to a dog obedience class is the most expensive of the options. Here we are going to discuss training your dog without direction vs. training your dog utilizing a home study course.  Let’s compare the two options.Learning on your own to train your dog without a training program is indeed cheaper in the short term. You don’t have to pay for the training course. These courses can vary from $30 up to $100 or more. So you may only need to purchase training materials (clicker, treats, etc.).TRAINING WITHOUT A COURSEYou can learn to train your dog by reading information online and asking others who have trained their dogs. There are a variety of articles, forums, and other information to help you learn how to train your dog.However, learning this way is not without challenges. You may have to sift through a ton of information to find the correct information. You will find a lot of misinformation so finding what is true versus what is not can be difficult.Also you must make sure that the bits and pieces of training information that you find all work together. You may find 2 pieces of information that are both true and effective. However, each one can be for different techniques for training making using them together ineffective.So you need to make sure that you are sticking with one way of training your dog so that everything works together. You do not want to confuse your dog with conflicting training techniques.Learning on your own may also take longer since you are more likely to make mistakes along the way that need to be corrected. You will then need to undo these mistakes and correct them. Retraining your dog can be more difficult than training correctly the first time.BENEFITS OF DOG OBEDIENCE COURSEThe biggest benefit of investing in a dog obedience course is that you will receive step by step instruction from proven methods. With this information you will not have to wonder if the information is effective or not since it is proven.Also you will be able to cut down on mistakes of training your dog since you will use the proper techniques from the start. Cutting down on mistakes will help you to shorten the amount of time that it takes to train your dog. All of the information will work together in stages to correctly train your dog.So this could possibly also help you save money. One of the major savings will come from cleaning. The quicker that you potty train your dog the faster that he will stop messing your carpet. A well behaved dog will also prevent your sofa from being destroyed when you walk outside for a moment.Of course the biggest downside of utilizing a dog obedience course is that you will have to pay for it. However, most of these courses can be obtained for less than $50. So they can more than make up for the time and cost due to an untrained dog fairly quickly.

Dog Training DVD – Inexpensive Canine Education

There are a lot of dog lovers out there; they want only the best for our dogs and they want their love and respect just as much as the dog does. There is an inexpensive way that you can train your dog to be obedient and the results of this training will make your dog as happy as it will make you. A dog training DVD can be invaluable in so many ways. If you follow the advice and methods of a professional dog trainer, you will have a long and happy relationship with your dog. Dog training will strengthen the bond between you and your dog by building communication, respect, and understanding. And most important of all your dog will be happier and safer.

How To Potty Train Your Old Dog

All dogs need ground rules setting, regardless of the proposed use of those ground rules. In the case of obedience training you need to establish who is in charge and teach your dog to listen to your commands. In the case of potty training dog it is not only to keep your home looking and smelling clean but it also benefits the dog as well. Dogs are not messy animals by nature and they would much rather mess outside than where they sit and eat. It is usually necessity or bad training that leads to a dog messing in the house instead of the yard.
Start potty training as young as you possibly can. It really is never too early to learn and dogs are at their most susceptive when they are still very young puppies. Get them into a set routine as soon as you start training and make sure that you always stick to that routine as stringently as you possibly can. This routine is the one thing that will really help you and your dog get used to your new plan. Be aware that most puppies will need to go out every two to three hours during training but once they are trained and well practiced they should be able to last the full eight hours of the night.
Puppies specifically need to go first thing in the morning, last thing at night and approximately half an hour after eating and these are the times you should base the rest of your schedule around. It also means that firstly you should not leave food down for the dog all the time. You should give set meals at set times and again stick to these times. This will help your dog and it will also benefit you in keeping to the schedule.
Always keep your eyes peeled and if you see your puppy or your dog doing anything that might indicate it needs to go to the toilet then you should take him out. If you happen to catch him in the act then you should pick him up while he is still finishing up and take him out to your designated area. Let him finish and then pet him for going outside. If you come home to find your dog has messed in the house while you have been out it is too late to punish the dog. They will not associate your reprimand with the mess but simply with you coming home.

The Many Jobs of the Working Dog

When someone mentions “working dogs”, most people think of the breed group recognized by the American Kennel Club. This group includes Dobermans, Rottweilers, Akitas, Newfoundland, Bullmastiffs and several other breeds. These dogs were developed to perform specific duties, such as guarding and protection, sled pulling, herding and farm work. They are successful because of their intelligence, strength and determination.

Today, the term “working dogs” refers to a much wider variety of dog breeds because of all the different jobs they have been trained to perform. Naturally, different breeds excel in different tasks depending upon their physical abilities as well as temperament. Now working dogs do many different jobs and assist their human counterparts in so many ways.