Dog Training

A dog owner should set his mind in the right frame if he wants to train his dog. This would prevent him from violating any dog rules, an act that could really detriment the dog’s interest on learning.

Following the rules of training will also prevent the owner from doing the things that could harm his relationship with the dog. There are certain rules in collar dog training that must be followed including the following:

Stay focused

Incompletion of a task usually leads to confusion. Ensure to it that every time you give the dog a command, both of you will follow through it. Try not to be distracted whenever you order a command.

If you are commanding your dog to sit. Once you give this command, be sure that both of you will see the end of it. Do not tug on the collar of your dog and stop halfway and be distracted. Always finish one command first then move on to the next.

The dog should sit completely and not just bend his rear legs. If you do not make this happen, the dog will think that next time you give the command it would be okay for him not to complete the task or to ignore it completely. Always stay focused, this way, you would eliminate the possibility of confusion and maximize the obedience to a command.

Rewards and punishments

Many owners are anxious to let their dogs hear a string of praises or be rewarded with several cookies instead of one whenever a command is accomplished. On the other hand, a lot of owners give too many punishments on a single wrong thing that the dog did instead of punishing him just once. Both may affect the training of the dog.

Don’t over emphasize the rewards or punishment due to the dog’s behavior. If you are using praises as reward, do not over praise the dog. Praising your dog will make the dog realize that you are in favor of his abilities. This should be said immediately after the command is accomplished.

In the same way, a single pulling of the check cord will be enough if the dog did not follow your command. A signal will be sent to the dog to inform them that something is wrong.

Overdosing the dog with either rewards or punishments will distract him from learning. He would only remember the praises or the punishments and not the thing he did or he did not do.   

End with a positive note

For every training session, make it a point that the training will end with a positive praise. The dog will welcome the next session as they will feel the need to please you. Also, ensure to it that the last command was accomplished correctly so that the dog is oriented properly to following commands.

Never lose your patience

Often when trainers don’t get the results they want, they get impatient with the dog. Then they do something really stupid that could spoil the training.

Small dog training should be an enjoyable experience for you and your pet. You should try to determine your pitfalls if you begin to lose your temper and your dog remains disobedient.

Dog training is really a difficult business. If you are not prepared for it, you could get help from dog training classes and instructors.

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Good timing is critical to success. When we wait and then react to a dog’s behavior, we are always going to be behind the eight ball. On the other hand. influencing a dog’s emotional process before he acts is an incredibly efficient manner in which to train him. When timing is correct nervousness is inhibited and drive is reinforced.

Also, since we’re affecting the internal emotional process, the dog in effect “chooses” to be calm rather than being forced to be under control. A dog so trained will be mannerly or mindful of domestic restraints even when his handler isn’t near.

The key to proper timing is not quickness, although that is a valuable asset. Rather, the key is anticipation. The handler should always be thinking ahead and anticipating what the dog might do next. It is a skill easily acquired if one becomes disciplined enough to pay constant attention to the dog. Without good timing, training degenerates into a question of strength.

By being relentlessly focused on the dog, the handler will start to sense the dog’s rhythm of actions and be able to anticipate what the dog is about to do. Then, before the dog acts, the handler can already be in gear taking steps to predetermine what the dog will do next. The dog will be choosing to obey; however, since we’re controlling his instinctive emotional process, there won’t really be any choice involved.

For example, if you are training a dog to heel you should watch his head very closely. When you sense he is about to shift his attention away from you then make a shock on the collar and begin to praise the dog at the same time. Additionally, pick up your pace, and to complete the process, throw a ball for him to chase or give him a food treat.

In this sequence of events, I’m not correcting the dog for being disobedient, I’m shocking the nervousness that I feel is about to influence the dog’s behavior and disrupt his focus on me. The praise, food, and the ball then serve to convert the shock to a stimulation. Since I’m the source of the excitement, the dog’s calm focus on me from which he was about to stray is renewed and reinforced.

I like to emphasize the point about timing with the following analogy. Suppose you were a therapist assigned to help a heavy drinker recover from alcoholism. When would be the best time to influence this person’s pattern of behavior - before, or after he decided to gulp down a drink? The very same question is before the dog trainer: Is it best to react to a dog’s behavior or is it better to take the initiative and ensure that the dog always performs appropriately? Why wait for a negative behavior to express itself?

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Before you begin training your dog, settle who is in charge of your “pack.” Address that issue with leadership exercises so that the actual training can truly be as much fun as it is supposed to be. You may do a simple four-week leadership program that consists of the thirty-minute “Down” and the ten-minute “Sit,” each done three times a week, on alternate days. Both can be practiced at any time of the day, so long as you keep an eye on your pet.

On the first week, sit your dog at your left side. Kneel next to him, both of you facing in the same direction. Drape your left arm across his shoulder and hold your hand, palm up, behind his left foreleg, just below the elbow. Place your right hand behind the right foreleg. Supporting your dog’s forelegs on your palms, lift him into the begging position and lower him onto the ground with a “Down” command.

When you lift him into the begging position, keep your thumbs either up or folded in your palms so that you cannot accidentally apply pressure on his forelegs. Take your hands off him and keep still. Every time your dog gets up, put him back. After thirty minutes, give the release word “Ok,” even if he has fallen asleep, to let him know the exercise is over. Practice this exercise three times during the training week, on alternate days.

Most dogs, after several attempts at getting up, resign themselves to remaining in position for the thirty minutes. Some, on the other hand, literally kick and scream almost the entire time. It is the latter who need this exercise the most, and you will have to remain patient and calm. Increase the frequency of this exercise, and do it every day. If your dog is really bouncy, you may want to teach this exercise on a leash. Sit in a chair next to the dog and then sit on the leash so your hands are free to put him in position.

The purpose of this exercise is to teach your dog who is in charge and for your dog to accept you as pack leader. Your ability to physically place and keep your dog in the “Down” position is an absolutely necessary component of that purpose. Once your dog accepts you as leader, all further training will go smoothly.

On the second week, sit in a chair next to your dog as you practice the thirty-minute “Down”. For the ten-minute “Sit,” place him into a “Sit” as follows: With him standing at your left side, both of you facing in the same direction, place your right hand against his chest and your left hand on his shoulders. With your left hand, stroke down the entire length of the dog’s back, over the tail all the way to the dog’s knees. With equal pressure of the right hand and the left, fold him into a sit with the command “Sit.” Take your hands off the dog and keep still.

Every time he moves, put him back. After ten minutes, use the release word “Ok” to let him know the exercise is over. Practice the thirty-minute “Down” and the ten-minute “Sit” three times each, on alternate days during the training week.

On week three, when you practice the thirty-minute “Down” and the ten-minute “Sit”, sit across the room from him. Make sure you put him back if he should move.

On week four,move about the room while he remains in position, but do not leave the room.
After you have successfully completed this four-week exercise, your dog will understand that you are in charge.

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There are three ways to deal with your noisy dog. First, you can do nothing. In this case, the dog will keep barking whenever he feels like it and you may end up enemies with your neighbors, evicted or a victim of chronic headaches. Second, you can correct your dog whenever he goes on his noise-making marathons. You can even pretend to leave and sneak back to the house. Then, when the concert begins, you can break in on him, yelling “No, No, No, No”, while shaking him by the collar.

The third possibility is that you can teach the dog to do what he is doing on command, therefore gaining control of the activity. This is because when you issue a command, the dog focuses on you, and you will readily be able to stop what you have started. Thus the dog who speaks on command shuts up on command as well. The command “Speak” is what turns him on while the command “Enough” will turn him off.

Once your dog looks at you and whines with you, you can add a word to your madness, the word “Speak.” Now, after your dog will “Speak” on command, with and without you, begin to intrude on this activity, whether you have started it or not, with the magic word “Enough.” If your dog continues to sing, grasp the collar, command “Enough” once more and then gently shake him, adding harsh eye contact to your correction.

Of course, you may have unintentionally trained your dog to whine, cry and bark by reinforcing this annoying behavior. To find out, make a checklist of what makes your dog whine and bark and how you respond when he does:

1. Your dog barks. You give him a treat to quiet him.
2. Your dog barks when you’re on the phone. You lean over and pet him to quiet him.
3. Your dog whines while you’re in bed reading a book. You let him up on the bed to quiet him.

Follow the methods above, teaching your dog to bark on command and then stopping him with “Enough,” a harsh eye contact and a shake. Never give your dog anything, including the time of day, when he’s barking, whining or crying for it. Use the long down once a day, tighten up your training and make sure the dog is quiet before you feed him, walk him, and pet him. If the dog bothers you while you are watching TV, reading, or dining, squirt him in the mouth with water or lemon juice and go on about your business.

Noise making may seem a lesser crime than biting or destructiveness, but it can have serious consequences. In fact, it may be a sign of escalation. To stop that, as well as for its pure annoyance, it should be put under control as soon as possible.

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