Dog has the intellect of an animal

10.38 in an, animal, Dog, has, intellect, of, the

Remember that your dog has the intellect of an animal. You will be greatly disappointed if you think that they can. Read this article to understand a dogs psyche better, and know how to treat your pet.

When training your dog, always be sure that it feels safe. If your pet feels unsafe, it is more likely they will act out in a negative way. In order to eliminate this, you should ensure that you put your dog in a safe surrounding.



 To be the most successful in dog training, make sure your dogs need for exercise is being met before starting a new training project. Canines were meant to exercise regularly. They need to run and work in order to be healthy and happy. Register for agility classes, run with your dog, and teach him or her to play Frisbee to increase activity levels. Make the activity consistent and stimulating for your dog.

 There are a lot of tricks you can teach your dog to do; a common one is training him to hold a toy in his mouth without chewing it. Whenever he puts the toy in his mouth, give a treat and his clicker reward. After your dog succeeds in mouthing an object a few times, move on to rewarding the dog for picking it up with his mouth. Once he does, click and reward. As he gets even better, only give him a reward for holding the plushie in his mouth for a few seconds.

 Training should be an enjoyable activity for your dog. Try not to make training sessions any longer than 15 minutes. That will keep his attention. Keep your rewards coming and vary what you give them. Make sure you shower praise on your dog when they do well. When the dog enjoys their training, they will listen better.

 Accidents are bound to happen while housebreaking your puppy. Clean accidents right away to speed up training. Animals are inclined to eliminate repeatedly in spots where they can smell urine or feces, and carpets require special care. There are many products on the market that can help with this, so check with your local pet shop.

 When training a puppy or dog that is new to your family, it is a wonderful idea to keep the entire family involved during the training. You may have one member of the family that does much of the training with him, but by having the entire family take part in the training, he will learn that he must obey each person that lives in the home.

 Playing tug-of-war with your puppy makes training less effective. Games, such as wrestling, chasing or tugging, teaches the puppy to nip or bite at your hands. This behavior is very difficult to break, so you should avoid these games while they are still a puppy.

 One of the most basic dog training tips around is to use your dogs name to command its attention. This will direct his attention to you immediately every time, and especially right before you issue a command. Get your dogs attention this way ten times every day. Also, it is very inappropriate for you to call the dog over to you and then punish him, as this will teach him to fear you and discourage him from coming when called.

 Make sure everyone involved in a dogs training uses the same set of commands. Make sure everyone is on the same page with command words; if the command for being quiet is "quiet," dont let anyone use "stop barking." If everyone uses identical commands, the dog will learn much faster and you will have greater success.

 You can try a little bit of ingenuity if you are going with crate training for your indoor dog or puppy. If your puppy seems reluctant about entering the crate, place a chew toy inside and close the door to the kennel. The puppy will want to enter the kennel to retrieve the treat. Once in the crate, let them know they did a good job by praising them.

 Dogs have natural destructive behavior, so provide outlets for them to exercise their natural behaviors. Feed your dog a balanced diet, give them space to run, and provide them with activities that will burn energy.

 Limit the duration of training sessions. Your dog is going to get bored doing the same thing over and over. Try to limit initial training sessions to 10 minutes or less.

 Decide on a single phrase to use when housebreaking your new puppy. If you use the special phrase you have come up with each time you take him outside, you will get him to focus on what he is supposed to do.

 Teething is painful, and providing chew toys helps alleviate the pain. Keep items that are potentially more painful out of reach. Take it away, and give him a chew toy. A frozen washcloth can provide teething relief for your pup.

 Over-training your puppy will expose it to too much at once, rendering the training less effective. Brief, simple, positive training sessions are well-suited to the limited supply of energy and attention a pup has to work with. If you try to do too much, the puppy will probably not remember much except that it was an unpleasant experience, and that will make it more difficult when the time comes for the next training session.

 As with any professional, research their reputation to verify that you are getting the best animal behavior specialist out there. There are a lot of different approaches taken by dog trainers concerning how to correctly train a dog. Understand the trainers philosophy so that you can be sure the trainers approach is similar with your own views of dog training.

 To help you train your dog you should know what kinds of foods your dog likes to eat. Since these will be the rewards for good behavior when you are training the dog, it should be something that really motivates him. Make note of your dogs reaction when the reward is offered.

 When training a dog it should always be done in a positive, motivated environment. Remember to reward desired behavior achieved by your dog while training, especially in response to specific requests. Using training techniques that are negative and based upon punishments will likely make your dog afraid, disobedient, and unhappy.

 A clicker works well when training most dogs. Using a clicker is as simple as showing your dog that good things happen when the clicking noise is heard. Try using this technique right away, doing it frequently over a span of a few days. Your dog will soon know that the clicking noise means that they are doing a good job.

 After learning some helpful hints on how to get through to your dog and train it to behave to your expectations you simply need to follow what you have learned. After changing your dogs behavior to fit with the tips suggested you can properly train your dog..

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Why has training not worked for your reactive dog

10.00 in Dog, for, has, not, reactive, training, why, worked, your

Why has training not worked for your reactive dog ?

There are lots of reasons why our dogs might be slow to respond to training or behavioural modification. By incorporating the tips and training methods found in this blog and from the trainers at Sussex County Dog Training your dogs behaviour can improve. Your daily interactions with your dog and your dogs interactions with the world around them will become as you understand your dog more and are able to better shape your dogs behaviour.

There are several barriers to improving your dog’s behaviour these include:

Using the wrong methods - to improve a behaviour on a permanent basis the root cause of the behaviour must be addressed. If the diagnosis of the cause is incorrect or training is simply addressing the symptoms then the real cause will go unresolved and the behaviour problem will continue. Common incorrect diagnosis often include dominance, guarding the owner and being a "bad" dog. Finding out why the dog is behaving in a certain way is step one, identifying the reward to the dog (the dogs reinforcement for performing the behaviour) is step two. Once we have done this we can look at how to reduce or prevent the dogs reinforcement and use appropriate methods to treat the dogs behaviour based on the root cause (such as fear).

Lack of Practice – our dogs may need more practice to become fluent. Dogs need far more practice than most of us realize to really ‘get it’. And, they need to be trained in a variety of environments with a variety of distractions before they understand how to apply knowledge to any situation, this is called generalization.

Lack of Relevance – our dogs can question the relevance of our requests. We need to help them understand that our requests have meaning and consequences to the dog. This may be that a word that means reward or a behaviour that leads to a consequence.

   

Punishment - our dogs may have been consistently punished when s/he behaved in a set way. A good example of this is when your dog barks at someone we punish the dog with a lead jerk and a firm “NO” – if the dogs outburst was caused by fear we have paired an aversive or negative feeling with the person the dog had barked at –not improving but damaging the dogs expectations of future encounters with people. Even if the dog stopped barking it has probably only suppressed its feelings rather than learnt not to do it in the first place. Be aware that using "training" tools which also punish the dog such as check chains, prong collars, citronella collars and electric or e collars will also suppress the behaviour of a dog without curing it. They can cause further mental and physical damage to the dog and carry a heavy negative moral burden.

Lack of Focus– our dogs may not be focused on us enough to hear our requests. They may be under too much stress, suffering from sensory over load or worried about what is going to happen next.

Lack of Impulse Control – our dogs may not have learned how to control their impulses (or self control) around certain distractions yet. If we can improve impulse control we can often reduce reactivity.

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Being a Politically Correct Responsible Dog Trainer Has a Price Humiliation

02.14 in a, being, correct, Dog, has, humiliation, politically, price, responsible, trainer

What a lovely weekend its been here in Ventura. Just got home from an ocean swim with my friends Terri and Mary, along with the other great folks of the Rincon Tri Club. Nice way to start a Sunday...I thought it would be even more fun if Nolan and Poncho came down so we could practice some loose leash walking along the promenade together. Unfortunately it ended with a stranger, poor communication, and me being the target of unintended hurt feelings. 

I know my dog. I know Poncho; what triggers cause which effects. Trucks = increase predatory drive. Loud noises (e.g. fireworks) = barking. Even with the socialization exercises Ive done with him, just like the ones I have my private dog training clients and puppy and adult dog training class students do, it seems sometimes tall men wearing hats and sunglasses approaching head on or "sneaking" in from behind to steal a quick pet can sometimes result in a redirected snark... But hey, if someone did this to me, Id snark too! 

So here I was, with Poncho, standing on the bike path. Poncho was doing his doggy thing, sniffing around some grass and pole. A gentleman wearing sunglasses and a hat came walking by to cross the street and asked "Is that a Chihuahua?" "Yes, he is part Chihuahua." This stranger then started to reach out to touch Poncho, without asking first, while Poncho was still sniffing. 

Poncho didnt see this person, or at least didnt take notice of him. I mentioned that sometimes Poncho will turn around and snark if he isnt expecting it, and doesnt know the person. "So, please dont touch him. I wouldnt want you to get bitten." To me I was being very responsible, concerned with the welfare of the public, and politically correct. I even apologized for not allowing him to pet him. I certainly didnt mean to insult him. 

So off we went, while this other person went on his way. Well, the next thing you know this stranger is driving by, and yells out a phrase that was quite rude, insulting, and too offensive to post in this G-rated family friendly dog training blog. Needless to say, I was quite exasperated and downright hurt. 

By this time Ive gotten over it. I do understand its not me, but the other person. Insecurity? Poor coping skills? Would I have done anything differently? Hmm, maybe would have managed my environment by walking faster - but I didnt want to ruin Ponchos sniffing time! Obviously this person hadnt learned to ask before doing. This is one reason I include the following statement in my class policies at the inquisitive canine dog training studio:

• Approaching and petting dogs: Some dogs are not friendly toward or comfortable around people they do not know. Please do not approach or pet any other dogs in class. If your child wants to meet another dog, they may do so after obtaining permission from the dogs owner and only during non-classroom teaching time.

I always ask dog guardians if I may pet their dog BEFORE actually doing it! Not while Im reaching out. Its always best to ask first. You never know what might trigger a dog. Its also important to read a dogs body language, and what they might be communicating. They may be "saying" please dont touch me, or "Yes, please come say hello to me." 

Dogs are living breathing creatures that have their own likes and dislikes. As individuals we dont like strangers coming up to us and touching us without asking...and even if they do ask, we might not want them to. Parents of human children dont allow strangers to just reach out and touch their kids, why do we treat our dogs differently? Is it just because theyre dogs they should like it? I think not. 

Situational awareness, being politically correct, respecting the safety and welfare of the public, and respecting the safety and welfare of your own dog all add up to being a responsible pet guardian! Too bad there are those times when it doesnt go over well...but thats human behavior for ya. 

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Impulse Control Issues this dog trainer has them too

06.47 in control, Dog, has, impulse, issues, them, this, too, trainer

Okay, so my lovely sidekick Poncho has totally busted me! He was just posting one of his great answers he adapted from our Noozhawk advice column, and mentioned the "Sees" incident, so I guess I need to come clean. 

Yes, I admit it, similar to dogs and counter-surfing, I have impulse control issues too... Although, Ive been able to restrain myself most of the time, once in awhile, my morals breakdown...as both my husband and dog have pointed out. 

We were out and about on my husbands birthday - enjoying our time in Santa Barbara (Poncho wrote about this too), and I thought Id stop for a Sees lollipop on our way home - this is my dessert...they last longer and taste good. I know, it was my hubbys birthday, but he wanted to be nice...and didnt mind stopping. 

Now, just to make it clear, my husband doesnt like chocolate - or any candy for that matter. I know, at first I thought this was weird, but then I realized "more for me!" Anything he gets, he gives to me... Yea!!! 

If youve ever been to Sees you know they give out samples - wow! Talk about positive reinforcement!!! HELLO??? How great is that!? And how smart are they!!! The perfect positive association, right? No wonder they do so well! 

Anyway, I only buy the lollipops, nothing else, although my favorite treat there is the chocolate covered ginger...and hey Ill eat most every sample they give me - I dont though, not usually. But that day, yes, that day was different. Celebrating birthdays, outings to Santa Barbara, ran a lot over the weekend...I deserved it gosh darn-it. So I lied! Yes, me, the always responsible, always truthful, lied! 

They were giving away the chocolate covered vanilla cream, which I took ever so easily, AND asked for a sample of the ginger...my favorite - saying it was for my husband who was outside with Poncho! OMG I totally used him as my excuse knowing full well that he wasnt going to taste one miniscule drop! 

This wasnt pre-mediated... just impulsive on my part. I was going to wait until after dinner...but lo and behold there was a traffic jam, so to help with my mood in the car, I ate them...both of them! Once again, impulsive behavior... And ya know what? They were great! Totally hit the spot! It was worth every impulsive act, every lie, and every calorie!

Impulsive? Yes. Normal behaviors of humans? For many of us, yes. So there ya go Poncho, I confessed. As Ponchos dad has pointed out, my morals finally broke down... I guess we all have our moments...at least no one got hurt. 

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