Feb 20 2010

Easy Techniques For House Training Your Puppy

It takes more than a few stacks of newspaper to house train a puppy. Patience, commitment, paying attention and consistency are needed.

By following the steps listed below, the chances of accidents in the house will decrease. Expect your puppy and dog to have an accident occasionally. This is just part of having an inside animal.

Be patient and consistent when training your puppy as this training period can last a couple of weeks or more.

Create a routine.

Having a routine works just as well for puppies as it does for babies. Developing a schedule will help him learn that there are times to eat, times to play and times to go potty.

For every month of age, a puppy can control their bladder for an hour. So, if the puppy is two months old, then he can control his bladder for two hours. Remember this when taking your puppy out for potty breaks. Hiring a dog walker might be necessary if you work away from the home to keep the schedule.

Your puppy needs to taken outside when he wakes up, after he eats or drinks, and during or after playtime. Use the same spot each time you take him out and make sure to use a leash. Teach him to associate words like “go potty” with using the bathroom. Use the words while he using the bathroom.

Rewards are one way to teach your puppy. When he has finished using the bathroom praise him or give him a treat before he goes back into the house.

To help regulate his bathroom schedule, a regular feeding schedule should be use too. Eating three to four times a day is normal for puppies. By feeding him at the same time each day potty training him will be easier as well.

Always put your puppy’s dish up at least two hours before bedtime. This will help in keeping him from needing to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. Even he does wake up, remain calm, so he won’t think that it is playtime. Turn a few lights and do not play with him. Go straight to bed after taking him out.

Supervise.

Watch your puppy carefully when he is in the house so he will not have an accident.

When the puppy is not being trained or played with, have him on a six foot leash beside you. If he begins sniffing, barking, circling, scratching at the door or becomes restless, he may need to use the bathroom. Take him outside immediately if you notice this behavior. Use praise or treats to reward him when he is done using the bathroom.

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Feb 19 2010

Effectively Socializing Your Dog

Dogs are a lot like human beings. They love to interact with just about anyone. You would actually be quite amazed at the way they take to different animals, such as other dogs, or even reptilian creatures. Of course this isn’t the same for all dogs. You will find that some dogs are very hostile, even to their own species. It’s strange, but it is quite factual. Like people, all dogs are different.

If you are an animal lover, then you know the value of having several dogs, regardless of their species. This makes it very difficult to keep your house in order, and then you have the fact that your dogs will want to defend their territory. If you have ever seen a canine territorial conflict, then you know what a headache can be. We’ve all had the experience of walking the dog in the middle of the night, and watching a rival dog wander into the yard. Have you ever managed to make it back inside without the entire front of your body covered in wet grass?

There are ways to remedy this. Your dog needs to be taught social behavior as soon as humanly possible. They’re like children, and as children, their minds are more susceptible to learning. You remember how easily you accepted things when you were a child, right? They have not established the line between a friend and an enemy; they’re just trying to learn, and you need to take advantage of that.

When you only plan to have one dog, you need to introduce it to other dogs while it is a puppy. This helps the dog understand that not all dogs are its enemy. You also need to touch and pet the puppy in order for it to become used to being touched. This makes for a friendlier dog, while reducing the chances of biting.

Now when you have decided to introduce your puppy to other dogs, you need to make sure you keep a tight grip on their leash. Do this until you’re absolutely certain they aren’t going to kill each other. It sounds a little controlling, but just like children, they need to be taught the difference between right and wrong.

Puppies and dogs love to play, which includes biting, jumping and shoving one another. However, you can teach them not to do such things. They do these things while playing with one another; it is part of their nature. You just want to be sure that they are not really, hurting one another while playing together. Another distraction is having your dog or puppy jump on you continually, whether or not it is a lap dog.

Barking is a part of the nature of a dog or puppy. However, it can be nerve racking when a dog continually barks. Teach the dog not to bark continually by distracting it with a doggie treat. Keep trying even if it does not work the first few times, the dog will learn to stop barking, if you only give it a treat while it is being quiet. Using this method repeatedly will help you teach your dog to bark only when necessary.

You can train a puppy to be quiet by placing them on their back and then yelling in their face. It may not look so nice to others; however, it is a working method of many professional dog trainers. You can use this method with rescue animals as well to teach them to be quiet.

Take the time to train a puppy early. Doing so will make a much better pet of your dog or puppy. You will be able to enjoy your pet for years to come if you remember to do these things while dog training.

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Nov 09 2009

Teaching a Insubordinate Dog To Respond To ‘Down’

“Nature to be commanded, must be obeyed” was a well-known expression of Francis Bacon. This idea is nowhere more true than when it comes to teaching dogs. Dogs will have a natural predisposition to search for and stay with a chain of command structure with a leader (alpha) at the uppermost of the pack and all the way down to an omega at the bottom. That is why the ‘Down’ command is unquestionably constructive for enforcing your status as alpha.

Functionally, it is good for your dog to know and obey the down command. This can save your furniture from getting battered about and small children from getting knocked down. It’s also a good start for your dog to learn additional commands such as “crawl” or “roll over” or even tricks.

Training your dog to obey the down command is actually pretty straightforward. Your dog will naturally lie down when he is tired or relaxing. So the first thing to do is study your dog and learn to recognize when he is about to go from a sitting position to a down position.

When this transition is about to occur, you want to give a specific and unique voice command and a hand gesture at the same time. This hand gesture needs to be something you don’t normally do the rest of the time so you don’t confuse the dog. Every time you want to teach a dog a particular behavior, you want to have a distinct and exclusive hand gesture that accompanies that command. Always use a consistent, clear tone of voice so the dog will learn to recognize it.

After you make the command and gesture combination, and as soon as the desired behavior occurs, give the dog lots of praise. Initially, the dog won’t really understand why he’s getting praised. But this is actually irrelevant. As you repeat this consistently, the dog will learn to associate the praise with his action following your command. And this desired behavior will be the link to that praise.

At first your dog probably won’t obey as commanded because he’s not certain what you want. So you will need to be patient and consistent. The best way to teach a new behavior is to work with the dog alone, away from other people and voices and distractions.

Another way to help your dog learn the down command and reward him is to do the following. When your dog is in a sitting position, place a toy or treat on the ground right near the front of the dog’s nose where he will naturally want to lie down to engage with it. At the same time, simultaneously give the down command and then reward the dog with praise when he complies.

Helping to focus your dog’s attention with the toy or snack, use a ‘waving down’ hand movement, with your palm towards the floor position. Be sure to avoid rewarding any dog with praise or a treat unless the behavior is complete and totally correct. However, if things don’t go the way you want them to, be careful not to become upset with the dog.

Some dogs require complementary training with a leash and collar to assist. To do this, get a short leather or nylon leash-a maximum of 4 feet long. Place the dog in the sitting position and kneel so you are in front of the dog facing him.

Now make the command and unique hand gesture you will use for this command while also moving the toy or treat from a spot near the chin of the dog down to the ground. At the same time, calmly and slowly pull down on the leash to nudge the dog into the downward position you desire. Do not jerk on the leash or punish the dog or give any negative feedback. Again, follow up with praise when the dog completes the desired behavior.

Sometimes a dog simply will not get it. So here’s another thing to try. Loop the leash around one of the knees on the dog’s hind legs. Bring the other end of the leash under your foot (on the opposite side) where you can move it with your foot. While giving the command and the gesture, slide the leash with your foot so it buckles the dog’s hind knee and gently pull the dog’s two front legs toward you so the dog gently slides into the down position.

At the Point the dog is in the correct position, you should praise the dog lavishly even though you were the one who initiated the movement and not the dog. The idea is to get the dog to associate such a position with good feelings: both his feelings and yours.

Learn to pick the correct Dog Bedding for your dog. Do not let Puppy Potty Training become a time consuming or tedious affair. You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.