More Dog Training Tips
Why House Training Shouldn’t Be Difficult
What you may or may not know about dogs, the single factor that make house training much easier, is that dogs are instinctively very clean animals. They prefer to keep the areas where they sleep and eat clean. Additionally, dogs will quickly and easily develop preferential areas where they urinate and defecate. For example, a dog that is used to eliminating on a concrete or gravel surface, will naturally gravitate to those surfaces to eliminate rather than to use the nearest patch of grass or dirt. When house training your dog, you’ll want to use these natural canine habits to your advantage by quickly establishing a designated area for him to do his business.
Controlling Your Dog’s Leash Pulling
Leash pulling can be found in adult dogs as well as puppies. Sometimes it’s due to excitement. For instance, when your dog first realizes that he’s going to get to go on a walk with you, he may become overly excited and immediately start tugging on the leash. If this is the case, it usually only requires a few minutes to calm your dog down before the leash pulling will subside. Stand with him on leash for a minute or two until he settles down, and then continue on your walk.
If the problem is one of control, however, some retraining may be required. In this instance, settling your dog down won’t do you any good. What’s missing is the sense of hierarchy we spoke about above. You haven’t clearly established yourself as the alpha dog in your dog’s mind. So what you’ll most likely want to do is take a step back and return to training your dog to obey the basic obedience commands. The structure of a formal dog obedience school might help as well. Just be prepared to receive as much training as your dog does.
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