Dog Training Ultimate Guide

Whether you have a new puppy or an old dog, it makes good sense to invest a little time training them. And while there is an abundance of information available about how to train your dog, you can go wrong with dog training tips from the experts.

What does a well trained dog act like? First, he is aware of his owner’s command and follows each because he likes to please his owner. He is not running around like a tornado and does not cause commotion, but behaves in a way that is likely to be helpful and cause pleasant thoughts regarding his presence. He does not jump on a person, he does not bark incessantly, he does not lick a person, he does not try to take food from their hands, he does not try to sit in a visitor’s lap, he does not nip or bite at fingers or hands, and he will lay down at the owner’s request. He is also well trained to expect his daily walks to relieve himself and will not, only in dire and unusual circumstances, relieve himself in the house. A dog owner has the responsibility to let his animal know there will be ample and regulated breaks for him outside and that the owner will be there when needed.

Positive reinforcement is essential: While there are many theories on how to train your dog, most dog training experts agree that positive reinforcement works best. Positive reinforcement involves rewarding your dog with verbal praise “good dog”, physical praise like a pat on the head and food rewards. It doesn’t involve yelling at your dog, hitting or punishing them. Positive reinforcement works because it builds a bond of trust with your dog. Dogs are motivated by rewards especially food rewards.

Always end on a positive note: Learning a new trick is hard work. End each training session, no matter how frustrating, on a positive note. Always give your dog a trick or behavior to perform that they know how to perform and end with a food reward and plenty of praise

Keep your dog healthy: One of the most important dog training tips from the experts recommends feeding your dog a quality dog food, giving them plenty of fresh water and making sure they get enough sleep. A healthy dog is a happier dog and will learn desired behaviors much more quickly.

Chewing: Socks, shoes, belts, electric cords, candles, dog dishes, the kids toys… these are all just waiting to be enjoyed if your dog is a chewer. Some of these are also very dangerous for your dog. Take steps to minimize what your chewer can get to while training them to leave your things alone.

When the dog has learned some of the basic commands, a couple more commands like GET IT to retrieve an object or maybe JUMP to go through an exercise routine with hoops can be added. It is very pleasurable to train your dog and to give him rewards as he completes each task. Take the time to teach your dog some cool tricks. Yes, they’re fun for you and you’re able to show off your dog, but your dog likes them too because you’re giving him tasks to do and quality time with you.

Your guests will be in awe if you teach your dog to sit down and shake hands with them. Dog training experts say that this is the easiest of tricks to teach your dog. After you teach your dog how to sit you can start teaching him how to shake hands. This can be done by saying the word “shake” while holding his paw and shaking it. Be sure to reward him. If you repeat the word while you hold his paw he will start putting two and two together and associating the word with the action. Repeat the action everyday and he will be able to do it on command anytime you’d like him to.

A dog usually chews and digs when it’s bored. This is often the result of the owners working long hours away from the home, leaving the dog to entertain itself. One solution is to purchase a second dog, which will keep the first dog company. But this can also lead to two dogs chewing and digging, especially if they are only pups. A better solution is to keep the dog entertained by giving it something to do. This can be achieved by hiding treats in the yard, designating a play area (like a small sandbox) or by giving the dog special toys.

An extra step that enhances the use of dog toys as a dog training reward, or to break dog boredom, is to alternate or swap toys on different days, so the dog thinks it is getting a new toy to play with. Yet another option is to smear some edible paste onto the toy, like Vegemite, Marmite or Promite. This is a method used by many animal shelters to give dogs something to do whilst confined to their kennels.

It may seem an impossible task now, but if you’re consistent with the above exercise, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly your puppy gets the message that learning his lessons and obeying your commands is what will get attention.

To make sure your dog is healthy and happy you should check out our dog care tips guides and make sure he has plenty of dog toys to stop boredom.

Most owners of Cocker Spaniels look forward to returning home and being lovingly greeted by their dog. This usually takes the form of the dog rushing up and jumping up with a tail wagging fast and a wet tongue full of licks for you. We feel so warm and fuzzy with this enthusiastic show of love.

The puppy isn’t actually trying to tell you how much he loves you but is, in his language, trying to show you he wants to dominate you. Pack animals always greet each other in ways to show and reinforce who is the leader.

When jumping up is allowed to become a regular behavior it is very hard to change.

Instead of being lovely this behavior can develop into a very annoying and even dangerous activity. You can easily be caught off guard and knocked over or more often have something knocked from your hands by an over excited dog. Getting muddy paws all over your clothes can be yet another negative outcome if your dog greets you at the gate.

Not all children and visitors appreciate being enthusiastically greeted buy your dog either. It can be very embarrassing trying to grab your dog while trying to convince them he’s just being friendly. Small children can easily become fearful of dogs for the rest of their lives after being frightened in this way.

If jumping up becomes an established behavior you will find it also happens when you are out walking. Many dogs, especially friendly, people loving Cocker Spaniels, start to jump up to greet everyone they pass on their walk.

How is it possible to prevent or stop this behavior?

For owners who love being greeted in this way it may seem hard to try and stop using the following technique. But you want a well trained dog that won’t embarrass you anymore it is well worth the effort.

Basically you must practice ignoring your dog when you reunite from any parting. This includes, in some cases even returning from leaving a room. You must make sure you ignoring includes not speaking, no eye contact and not touching the dog. Any acknowledgment only reinforces the jumping behavior.

It takes some practice and if the dog is big it can be quite physically demanding to achieve. When the dog rushes up to jump at you, you need to make sure you don’t speak to or look at the dog. You need to position your body so that when they do jump it will be onto your side or better still your back. Pushing your knee out towards the dog then removing it quickly also tends to make his jump unsuccessful.

This doesn’t mean you don’t greet your dog. The signal you are giving to your dog is that a greeting takes place when you are ready because you are the “pack leader”. Once you have moved away from the area where the first meeting takes place do something else like taking off your coat. Then you call your dog and command him to sit before you pat and greet him. The greeting is being initiated by you. Make a fuss of him and tell him how much you have missed him and how good he is.

This process needs to be done consistently and by everyone in the house, even visitors, for as long as it takes for the dog to get the message that it is not his place to try and be the dominate one.

For owners of Cocker Spaniels jumping up is only one of the undesirable behaviors you will find yourself having to deal with. Good training is what makes a huge difference to your experience as an owner. You can relax, enjoy and always trust a well trained dog.

Don’t let your Cocker Spaniels behavior embarrass you and stop your full enjoyment of owning a wonderful dog. Learn how easy good training can be. Check out www.squidoo.com/caringforcockerspaniels. today.

Want to know 3 easy steps to clicker train your Vizsla fast?

I feel your pain… I spent 12 months with an ‘out of control’ dog before I found relief.

Whatever kind of dog you have, clicker dog training is one of the most effective and impressive methods for controlling and dictating a dog’s behaviour when trying to teach them basic commands. It takes very little time to master clicker training and with a well operated clicker, you can teach your dog nearly anything.

Clicker Training – The Theory Behind It

The concept behind clicker coaching is that you are training the dog to link the sound of the clicker – a robust, pointed sound that they can hear from 20+ yards away – with a particular command you give. The point of the training is to mark particular desirable behavior and then reward it with the sound of the clicker.

Of course clicker dog training does not start with a clicker. You must first teach your dog that the clicker is a reward for good behaviour. This can be done with a bag of treats and a simple, two dollar clicker from your local pet store.

Why should you follow this method?

* Your Vizsla will connect the clicker with ‘doing a good job’ and ‘receiving a treat’ only

* Verbal commands are given in many different situations – this can cause confusion in your dog’s mind and therefore verbal commands are often not as strong as a clicker response

The Method Behind Clicker Training

There are 3 very simple steps to train your dog to respond to a clicker.

Step 1. Entice the behavior – ask your Vizsla to do something you desire. It can be sitting, heeling, lying down, or whatever other behaviours you are attempting to teach.

Step 2. After you’ve gotten them to perform their behaviour, mark it with a click.

Step 3. Offer a reward.

It generally takes only 2 or 3 markings before your dog learns the connection between the behavior and the click.

Once the dog has done the behavior and received their reward, continue doing it to buttress the behavior as much as humanly possible. You don’t need to use treats ever single time. Praise and petting work just as well and can at last replace the behavior.

Clicker obedience training is effective because of the speed of the connection between behaviour and click in the dog’s mind. An oral command on the other hand can take a little longer to train.

Transitioning to a Command

Once your Vizsla has associated the new behaviour with the click – it is time to transition to a command.

Step 1. Give the command Step 2. Click Step 3. Give a Reward

Your dog will quickly learn to associate all 3 steps.

Ultimately, with good clicker training, your Vizsla will respond to oral cues and praise for behaviour without the need for treats.

As you might imagine, clicker dog training has a number of applications. It can make training your Vizsla so much easier in many ways. With a simple, sharp command, you can mark and reinforce nearly any behaviour.

The question is, can you change your Vizsla’s annoying behaviours for good? Yes you can! Check out my free e-book on How To STOP Your Vizsla’s Obedience Issues For Good!, and become the APLHA dog.

Clicker training is among the most gratifying and simplest approaches for training your puppy. Considering that clicker training uses positive reinforcement, your canine, or pet will rapidly discover the behavior you are training. Here are a handful of points you need to comprehend about clicker training.

Clicker training is made up of several concepts including positive reinforcement, clicker conditioning, often called charging the clicker, proper timing and marketing and repetition. It’s through these concepts that you can quickly begin training your dog with a clicker with great success.

Positive reinforcement signifies that you’re treating your canine once they perform a behavior or motion you want them to execute. This is different than luring or bribing your puppy to execute a certain action. Using positive reinforcement with clicker training, we’re really enabling the dog to execute the action independently, and then click and treating them when they do it properly. Positive reinforcement is quicker and less complicated than correction based training where we are attempting to cease the dog from doing something, like leaping or nipping. An instance of positive reinforcement could be when a puppy sits down independently when we are training a “sit” order and we encourage them for that action.

Clicker charging is the method of training your canine the noise of clicker and that a reward will be provided at the noise of the click. The first few training times may require you to charge the clicker, but after the third or fourth period it won’t be necessary. To charge the clicker you simply click the clicker and then provide a reward to the puppy. Repeat this 10-15 times until the clicking sound leads to your puppy to search for the treat. As soon as the puppy realizes that the sound of the clicker “represents” whenever they will get a treat the teaching can start.

Proper timing is essential with clicker training. In order to tie in positive reinforcement while using a clicker, we need to time the click, or “mark” the behavior. For example, when training the “sit” command we can click the minute the puppy is sitting down. This means the second their butt touches the ground, you click. This “marks” the behaviour so you would then instantly treat. If you ever click a second or two later the dog might not know what they did. Should you treat and then click, you’re reinforcing the incorrect action. So, timing is everything. Again, with this example, we’re permitting the dog to sit on their own, then we’re marking the actions with a click after which treating.

Repetition and ongoing training will help you clicker train your dog with more accomplishment. This permits your puppy to easily understand and start learning on their own precisely what conduct you want them to execute. You can then begin combining behaviors. For instance, you might start teaching a sit behavior. After understanding the sit order, you would move on to the “lay down” command going from the sit. You can then command the puppy to sit, then lay down and click.

Once you master these four main concepts of clicker training it is easier to begin teach other types of behaviors and actions. More complicated behaviors can be chained or bundled together and the use of target training can be introduced to allow your dog to focus on specific items or positioning to create a behavior. These four concept in addition to four secrets that every trainer should know can be found at the http://ClickerTrainingSystem.com website.

Want to find out more about Clicker training, then visit Jeff’s site and get instant access to two Clicker training videos and get started training your dog today.

You can find all kinds of dog obedience classes that claim to be the best. It can be difficult to know who has the best system. Sometimes, it doesn’t really seem to matter which program you jump into because your dog just doesn’t seem to be interested in cooperating with the training. It’s not uncommon to have to look at the individual dog to figure out what is best.

It’s not just frustrating to have a dog who can not behave. It’s dangerous. You can find you or your dog can become injured, that you can’t develop a good relationship, and that you end up resenting the dog and potentially dropping him off at the shelter where good things usually don’t happen. Your whole life can be hampered by a disobedient dog.

Dog obedience is developed from consistent efforts and communications. It’s best to stick with a program that offers him rewards for doing well rather than punishment for not doing well. This is your education as well as his education. You can’t expect that yelling at him or becoming physical with him will really teach him to do the things that you want him to do. Learning to communicate with your dog is a process.

Remember that while there are basic standards for all dogs and training, dogs also come with their own personalities and their own histories. Some dogs are very emphatic about pleasing you while others really don’t seem to be bothered to notice if you’re happy with them.

This can usually be traced back to the bonding that you and he share. Dogs that have a sordid history of broken bonds and have experienced some of the drawbacks of being dependent upon humans are not as fast to bond with their humans as dogs who have only experienced love and a feeling of safety. You might have to recognize that his history and his emotional attachment to you needs work.

It’s not unusual to simply forget that your dog does not think the way that you think. He is not really considering whether you’re going to be mad if he charges after the squirrel but rather he is simply reacting to the fact that he has not been taught that he is not to charge after the squirrel. He is a reactionary creature more than he is a thinking, reasoning one.

Regardless of the difficulties that you might be having, it is possible to learn how to communicate with any dog. Even blind and hearing impaired dogs can be taught through reward systems. Thus, a sighted and hearing dog with a dedicated human can learn the rules, learn the commands, and learn what it is that you’re expecting from him. The more you understand how to create the bond while also establishing leadership the easier the process will become.

If you and your dog are struggling to reach a level of dog obedience that you can be proud of, then perhaps it is time to call in the pros. You will find that the more you and your pup master the art of training the closer the two of you become. If you really want a good relationship with your dog, go for solid positive reward training methods that help you maintain consistent behavior as well.

Having problems with dog obedience? Check out our online guide to top class dog obedience training for the ultimate inside scoop on the best training in town.