How To Plan For Training Your Dog - Motivation
Now that we’ve established a good understanding of how the relationship between you and your dog should work, let’s take a look at the motivating factors behind most dogs. For example, many dogs will resort to chewing not because they’re difficult and out of control, but because they’re experiencing a degree of separation anxiety. As you can see, identifying the source of a problem behavior is the first and most important step to eliminating the behavior.
The more you work with dogs, the more likely you’ll encounter stress as a contributor to unwanted behaviors. Be aware of the stress in your dog’s life, as well as his or her ability to cope with that stress. The goal of a good dog training program is to help your dog tolerate greater levels of stress without becoming a problem animal.
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
Next time out we’ll take a look at how to communicate with your dog.
How To Plan For Training Your Dog - Your Relationship
When planning a dog training program, it’s important to remember that dogs are pack animals. In wild dog societies, packs are formed, and each member of the pack quickly learns his or her place in the pecking order. Except in the event of death or injury to the alpha dog, the hierarchy never changes once it’s been established. The lower dogs know better than to challenge the alpha dog, and the alpha dog understand his place as leader of the pack.
This is why it’s essential for you to fulfill the alpha position in order to properly train your dog and gain its respect. A dog that sees its owner as a superior leader will follow commands without question. This relationship will form the basis of all subsequent training.
Understanding your relationship with your dog does not mean you should confuse human behavior with dog behavior. While there is a great temptation on the part of dog owners to see their dogs as almost human, in reality dogs and humans have very different motivations, and very different reactions to similar situations.
Next time out we’ll take a look at your dog’s motivation.
How To Plan For Training Your Dog - The Foundation
Just as a parent has the responsibility to teach his child proper social behavior, a dog owner has the responsibility to teach his dog proper behavior. Why? Because dog behavior training can be vital to such life and death issues as preventing aggression, both toward people and toward other dogs. But primarily it teaches your dog how to properly interact with both you and with the other members of your family.
Understanding how dogs evolved, and how dogs interact with each other, is the first step to properly training your dog to be a devoted, loyal companion.
We’ve covered some of this material earlier, but let’s hit it again since it’s vital to understanding any dog training process. The original dogs were probably wolf pups adopted by early humans. These wild dogs likely learned to perform behaviors that their human protectors valued, such as guarding the cave or scaring off predators. In exchange for these valued behaviors, the humans provided their new companions with foods, protection and shelter.
That kind of relationship still exists today, of course, and dogs still can, and do, perform valuable jobs for their human benefactors. Those jobs include herding and guarding livestock, guarding property, guarding people, and finding game.
How To Housetrain A Puppy
An adult dog will need to relieve himself once or twice a day. And he’ll generally have no trouble finding a way to let you know when it’s time.
A puppy, on the other hand, will need to go outside as many as eight or nine times a day. And if he can’t make it, he’ll pick the nearest convenient spot to do his business. Usually the carpet or a corner of the hardwood floor.
That should be all the incentive you need to get your puppy house training completed as soon as possible.
Here are some secrets to help make that happen:
Finally, you’ll do yourself a favor if you go into this process with the understanding that your puppy is going to have accidents. It’s almost inevitable. When they happen, clean them up thoroughly (a puppy will be tempted to return to that same spot in the future), and continue working the routine you’ve established.
If you follow these puppy house training suggestions, using praise at every opportunity, you’ll find it won’t be long at all before your puppy is completely housebroken.
The Pack Hierarchy
All potential dog owners and would be dog trainers should understand how dog society works in the absence of humans. You’ll want to understand the pack hierarchy, and use that understanding to your advantage as you train your dog. Here’s a quick overview: all pack animals have a lead animal. In the case of dogs, it’s the alpha dog. All other members of the pack look to the alpha dog for direction and guidance. In turn, the alpha dog provides leadership in hunting, fending off other predators, protecting territory and other vital survival skills. This pack arrangement is what has allowed wolves and wild dogs to be such successful predators, even as other large predators have been driven to extinction. How does this aid in training? By being perceived as the alpha dog, you immediately gain the respect and obedience of your dog.
Dog Training Equipment
It’s not entirely necessary to have special equipment to train your dog. However, depending upon the type of training you’d like your dog to receive, there are some situations in which good training equipment will make the process both easier and faster.
For instance, dog obedience training can utilize such simple equipment items as clickers, treat balls (which are amazing), extendable leashes and other similar equipment. These are all relatively inexpensive and easy to find. Agility training equipment, on the other hand, can be a little more challenging to find and definitely ring up the credit card bills. Agility equipment can include everything from mini-teeters (just like they sound … little teeter-totters for training) to Buja-Boards, weave poles and much more.
If you’d like to get an idea of the dog training equipment involved in agility training, check out Affordable Agility. Here’s their description of a neat agility equipment set that sells for only $159.00 …
The Agility-in-a-Bag Set weighs only 18 lbs in the bag, and is made of furniture-grade UV-stabilized plastic, and the tunnel & chute is made with ripstop nylon. It features some of the most popular obstacles, including:
- 6-pole weave set - with it’s own free-standing base. Unit pops together, and the poles can be slanted for training the popular “weave-a-matic” method.
- Adjustable jump - with a displaceable bar (for safety) that adjusts to any height by sliding the 2 jump cups up and down on the side bars.
- Adjustable Tire jump - 24″ diameter hoop that slides up and down on the side bars.
- Pause box - Great training aid and substitute for the pause table. Dog must stop and either sit or lay down for a 5 second count.
- Tunnel & Chute - 3′ tunnel with 22″ diameter and attachable 8′ chute. Use the tunnel by itself, or attach the chute for extra challenge. Color is subject to availability only.
- Carrying Bag - sturdy canvas-like material with wide strap. (bag is blue and yellow as shown, and has a pocket on the outside).
- Instruction Manual, that includes pictures and training tips for each obstacle.
It’s a very cool set. Well worth checking out.
There are numerous other Internet sites that carry good dog training equipment. If you do any shopping around, you’ll quickly discover that the Internet provides you with more options and cheaper prices than you’ll generally find in town. So, don’t hesitate to shop around on the Internet first.
The nice thing about dog training equipment, whether it’s for obedience training or agility training, you can use it nearly anywhere … at home, in a friend’s backyard, at the local dog park, even in a field out in the middle of nowhere. Training equipment is generally lightweight, portable, and easy to pack. Plus, it doesn’t have to be stuffy. Dog training equipment can be funky or old fashioned, bright or dull. It’s all up to you.
Finally, you can also use dog training equipment for fun instead of training. For instance, if you want to teach your dog to come, sit and stay or other basic commands, you’ll find that toys can be a great help. Training need not, and should not, be all work and no play!
Dog House Training, Part Two
In our last post, we talked about setting up a training area for your dog. Now we’re ready to take the next step toward house training your dog.
Setting Up The Toilet Area
The second part of your dog’s house training is to establish his toilet area. Your dog must have access to this place every time he or she needs to eliminate. It’s also important for you to accompany your dog each time he does his business until he’s in the habit of eliminating in the toilet area. This will help ensure that your dog uses only the established area.
Hand in hand with this, a regular feeding schedule will help create a regular schedule for your dog’s toilet habits. Once you understand his typical elimination times, then it becomes much easier to give him the opportunity to do his business in the designated area.
Once your dog is familiar with his toilet area and using it on a regular basis, you’ll want to make sure not to confine him without access to the area for extended periods of time. If he accidentally eliminates in his training area because he can’t hold it, then the entire housetraining process will be set back and become that much more difficult.
Continuing The House Training Process
Once your dog is consistently using his toilet area, it’ll be time to extend his confined training area to the rest of the house. This process should be done slowly, starting with one room at a time, and should only be extended once you’re sure of your dog’s ability to control his bladder and bowels. Allow your dog to eat, play and sleep in the new room only when supervised. If you’re unable to supervise him, place him back in the original training area.
Speeding Up The Process
If this process is too lengthy for your needs, it can be shortened if you proceed cautiously. Remember, though, it’s easier to take your time up front than to have to retrain a problem dog later. With that in mind, there are a couple of ways to speed up the process of house training your dog. First, use lots of praise and rewards when your dog does his business in the established toilet area. And second, don’t punish him for his mistakes. Punishment will only confuse him and slow down the house training process.
