Sunday, March 25, 2007

Dog Obedience

Dog Obedience Training is a fundamental part of raising a happy and healthy dog. All dogs need to be trained and a great place to start is training them to walk on a leash and to be housebroken.

Some people prefer housebreaking a puppy by training it to urinate and defecate on newspapers, which are laid flat in a small area such as a foyer. The puppy is rewarded each time it voids on the paper; then the newspapered area is gradually reduced and finally eliminated altogether. However, crate training, in which a dog is confined to a crate for limited periods, is more effective because dogs will avoid soiling their own living quarters. Whichever method is chosen, housebreaking should begin as soon as a puppy comes home with its new owner, who should provide the puppy with frequent opportunities to urinate and defecate outside. In general, pups are not completely housebroken until they are at least 12 weeks old.

Most puppies are set to begin dog obedience lessons at six to eight months of age. The first lessons should be relatively brief, about 10 to 15 minutes a day, and gradually increase to 30 minutes, depending on the dog’s level of focus. Obedience training is best accomplished with lots of praise and a stern “no” for corrections. The trainer should always be consistent in reinforcing good behavior and correcting bad behavior and should never strike a dog.

Many dog behavior trainers use a leash and chain-link collar, known as a choke collar. Despite its name, the collar is never meant to choke a dog, but is used to deliver quick snaps to gain and direct a dog’s attention. This obedience training collar is useful in teaching basic obedience commands, such as sit, stay, heel, come, and down.

Anytime you're teaching your dog a command, you need to make it interesting and fun for them. Find out what their all time favorite treat is and use it when you're teaching them to come when called.

If your dog loves to play tug-o-war, use it to improve her obedience commands. When you make obedience interesting and fun, your dog's performance will improve.

Here's a little exercise you can do:

Grab some treats and go to a quiet place with your dog. Say her name and hold the treat up by your face. Wait until she looks in your eyes and then quickly give her the treat.Once she starts to respond on a consistent basis, start to do it with her favorite toy. Hold the toy up by your face and wait for her to make eye contact. Once she does, quickly reward her by playing with him.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Dog Obedience

Welcome to my dog obedience blog. Here you will learn about dog obedience and how to train your dog or puppy. Look here for dog obedience articles, dog behavior training or training your puppy as well as learning about dog food and dog biscuits.