Dog Training
You see in the headlines everyday, dogs, running out of their houses and biting a stranger walking by, children getting mauled by dogs, dogs being abused, and abandoned. Are these bad dogs? No, they just have not been trained. It is imperative to be a good owner, to make sure that they can mesh with civilized society. Dogs are very wonderful additions to a family and can provide years of loving devotion and friendship.
Training a dog, takes a few things, time, consistency, loads of patience, and persistence. Its optimum to train a puppy before it has had a chance to learn bad habits. Unfortunately, many people don’t adopt puppies. The myth that “you can’t teach old dogs new tricks” is just that. Dogs can learn at any age just as humans can, but it again takes time, consistency, persistence and patience.
The most common complaint of many dog owners is barking. Barking when a person comes into the house, for attention, at nothing, it can get extremely annoying, and affects more than just the owner. Dogs bark for many reasons, it’s very instinctual. It helps to relieve stress by releasing endomorphines into the bloodstream. So if a dog is stressed, he may bark to ease that stress.
Dog training is best when positive. They are very intelligent animals, which are probably why humans love them so. They understand that every action has consequences. This is very important to remember. If you have a dog that is demanding attention by barking, and you begin yelling back he is getting what he wants, your attention. So with that premise in mind an attention seeking dog must have a different consequence when barking for attention, one he will not want. One suggestion was to put puppy on a time out. If there are no negatives connected with the crate, if he barks for you to throw the ball, you don’t throw the ball you end the session and put him in his crate, and say quiet to him. After two minutes start playing ball again, but if he barks for the ball repeat this action. Realize however, he may bark, whine, scratch at the crate and howl at first. He is trying to get what he wants, your attention. With persistence, he will see that it doesn’t work, and stop. It may take a long time for some dogs, for others only a few times. The key is consistent application of consequence every time he barks.
Another way to deal with barking is a citronella collar. This collar is for someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to deal with barking. It’s consistent, in delivering an undesirable result to the dog if he barks. This collar, sprays a citronella scent that is unpleasant to dogs, they then associate barking with this scent. The collar must be worn constantly for a month or more until the barking has stopped because they learn if the collar isn’t on then there are no consequences for barking. Just make sure that every time a dog has an undesirable behavior, which you deal with it exactly the same way. If you don’t you confuse the dog, and it makes it harder to deal with the undesirable behavior next time.
So to have a dog, is to train a dog. If you buy a puppy for your kids, realize you will have to take it to a trainer, or train it yourself, for it to become an integral part of your family. Many large pet chains now have dog obedience schools right in the store, the lessons are inexpensive, and worth the years of enjoyment you will gain from having a dog that is well behaved and welcome where you take him.