Entries Tagged 'Dog Obedience Training' ↓

Relevancy is the key to having a dog continue to obey long after class is over. Dogs usually learn things in context and if not trained under any circumstance will not obey in any circumstance. For instance it’s great if your dog sits, downs and stays in the kitchen, but not very helpful if he won’t do these things when you need him to elsewhere. The key to making the dog obey in all circumstances is to show him how his training is relevant to real life.

The first step is to make a list of what your dog finds enjoyable. Your list might include dinner, playing with other dogs, being let out in the yard, going for a walk. Instead of these pleasures simply being given to the dog, make him earn them by asking him to do something before they happen. For instance ask your dog to sit, before dinner goes on the floor: don’t repeat yourself over and over, if he doesn’t sit, you walk away with the bowl and come back in 5 minutes to try again. If your dog wants to go out to the yard to play, ask for a down before the door is opened. If he doesn’t lie down you walk away and try again later. Pretty soon your dog starts paying really close attention to you and what your asking, realizing for the first time that those things he learned in doggy school are indeed good for somthing. If you don’t make things relevant for the dog and don’t teach him how to use his training you willl have an unreliable and inconsistent dog.

Think of when you were in school learning geometry. Didn’t you wonder what the heck any of this had to do with what you wanted to do ? Well, so does your dog !! Class was great mom, but what’s it got to do with playing ball, dinner and a nap ? Make your dog’s training real for him and you’ll reap the rewards of a well behaved reliable companion.

Getting your dog to come in from the yard is not an easy feat especially since you are probably late for work, cold or ready for bed. There really isn’t anything earth shattering about how to accomplish this feat quickly. Mostly what has to happen is you have to think about what the circumstances are when you call your dog.

Do you ever call him to come in and then release him to go back to playing again ? Do you ever call him to come in and when he looks at you throw him a cookie and let him stay out for a while longer ? If your dog doesn’t like to come in when you call him it’s probably because nothing good usually comes of it.

You call him and put him in a crate and then leave for work, for instance. If he runs around the yard and ignores you when you call him, he gets several more minutes of freedom ! If you were a dog which would you choose ?

To get your dog to come readily try something new. Ten minutes before you need your dog to come in, go out and call his name, then throw him a cookie and go back inside. Go out about 8-10 times before you really need him and toss him a cookie and go back inside. If you are in a hurry and can’t do a training session like this then use a leash to let him in the yard so you can make him come back right away, that way you can prevent him from running off and rewarding himself. Preventing your dog from ignoring you by letting him in the yard on a leash may not directly teach him to come in from the yard quickly but it will prevent him from rewarding himself, making it easier for you to teach him more acceptable behavior.

Put the time in to teach your dog what you expect of him and stop letting him reinforce himself for ignoring you. In just a few short training sessions on a consistent basis you should see a huge improvement in your dogs enthusiam to come in from outside.

In this video the dog Louie clearly loves training and doing tricks with his owner. This video shows what can be accomplished when dedicated owners and their pets work diligently together.  Louie is an amazing dog, but he didn’t learn all of these tricks over night.

Doing agility and high jumps can be fun, but don’t start your pooch too young.  High jumps can be extremely tough on a young dogs skeletal structure.  Let your pal finish growing before you start any jumps. Excessive jumping can cause problems for your dog in his adult years, so be careful not to over do it.

When starting your pet training sessions, you may want to limit training sessions to around 15 minutes.  Keeping your training sessions short and fun will keep your dog excited and wanting more.  It’s not training to your pet, just some outside fun with mom and dad. 

With love and a lot of patience you and your dog will be able to accomplish amazing things together.

The dog in this video was trained by www.unleashedunlimited.com.  You can contact them online or by phone 512-518-8062.