PET TIP OF THE WEEK, DOG TRAINING

PET TIP OF THE WEEK, DOG TRAINING

Our Miracle

I have a different outlook when it comes to training dogs, then many professional dog trainers that I have met. The closest trainer to my personal beliefs (although I have never met) is Cesar Millian because he promotes understanding dogs and using their natural instincts to train.

An untrained dog is an unhappy dog. It is the dogs instinct to please whether it be you or their pack leader. The first step in understanding how to train your dog is to understand that YOU are their pack leader. You are the alpha. If you do not train your dog and give them an opportunity (something that I call their right) to please you, then your dog is unhappy and will act out. Simply put, if you are not training your dog then you are not giving your dog the attention that he/she deserves.

The first step to training is bonding. Training should be a very loving experience between you and your dog, and never rewarded through treats, ever! Your dog was born with a need to please YOU. Never confuse them with a treat. I'll talk more about when to give a treat later.

I always suggest that when a person adopts a puppy or adult dog, that they spend the first three day just playing. One person should bond with the dog first. ONE PERSON. Even if you intend to have this dog as a family pet. ONE person needs to be the alpha. One person needs to play, give loving affection, feed and take outside for the first three days. Outside should be in a confined area away from other dogs and people. In other words, no walking in public or allowed outside with other dogs that are already in the family for the first three days,. The rest of the family can share the responsibilities later, but for the first three days, one person needs to do the alpha bonding. One more time...ONE person is IT for the dog for the first three days. This is crucial for training your dog with love.

Now that you have established the loving bond through play and affection, your dog now craves to please YOU. Congratulations, you are the alpha! Now you turn that play time into train time and it is so easy to do. You simply introduce a command into the play time. So where do you start? What should the fist command be? Your first command should be “COME.” Why that one first? Because you want your dog to come to you whenever you want, no matter what the dog is doing.

Just like with bonding time, training time is a one on one deal. No other dogs or people are allowed in the training area, whether that be in your living room, outside, in your bedroom, or wherever. Later, after the commands are learned, and your dog understands what training time is, another person or another pet can be in the room as long as they do not distract the session. Remember that training is bonding and your dog NEEDS that time with you.

Training To Come:

The method of training to come may seem harsh to you, but truly it isn't. If you use this method, you will see that it is not harsh or mean, but a quick way to get your dog to understand the command come.

I begin every session with love and affection but not play. I use my gentle voice and scratch the belly, scratch behind the ears, pet on the head and just give the dog a good moment of one on one happy time. Then I slow it down, and firm my voice. By changing the tone in my voice, I am alerting the dog, through practice, that we are going to work.

The next thing I do when training to come is attach a leash to the collar and turn the attachment so that the leash hangs closer to the floor. Position the dog, the length of the collar away from you, then use your command voice, call the name, and say come. Immediately and quickly pull the dog to you. Pull the dog all the way to you, pulling the full length of the leash until the dog is directly in front of you. Now your dog has been through a shocking experience and is wondering what the heck??? Now you praise and love and praise and love and “good dog”, and praise and love. You train with love. Let your dog know that you are thrilled and pleased. Now your dog is thrilled and pleased because you are. Your dog doesn't yet understand why you are thrilled and please but hey, “I'm a good dog.” Once you see that your dog is happy, do it again. Put your dog away from you by the length of the leash. Call the name, and say come, then pull the dog to you. Finish the act with praise and love and praise and love and more “good dog” and praise and love. You are thrilled and please with your dog. Now do it again, but this time, give your dog a test. Instead of pulling after the command, just give a gentle tug and see if your dog will come to you. If not, then command, pull and reward with affection. If he does, then immediately turn that affection into excitement. Use a higher pitched voice, be a bit more aggressive in the affection, give more. Your dog will realize that this is a good thing

If your dog is a young puppy, then I suggest that you stop the session after the third try, simply because of their attention span. Try to limit the sessions to about five minutes, several times through out the day. As the puppy gets older and has learned how to learn then you can increase your training time. The same holds true for an untrained older dog. The dog has no understanding of training time, so keep it simple at first. Give your dog a chance to understand what it is that you want.

After the training session is over, you take the leash off and now its time to play and rough house. Give lots of affection and play hard. Run energy out of your puppy. The training session was good. Now after its all over, you and your dog have played and are tired, if you want to give your dog a treat, by all means do it. You both learned, you both played, now you are both tired. Give your dog a treat to relax with, while you enjoy a latte' for yourself.

During the training session and your dog comes to you with a gentle nudge the first try, then it's time remove the leash. Place the dog a distance from you, then call out the name and give the command, just like every time before. When the dog comes to you without the leash, your dog gets it. Your dog has learned to please. Now this is the command that you will use in every training session. Start by affection, change your tone of voice, call the name, command to come. When your dog gets to you, you say in your commanding tone, “good dog” and start the next training session. In every training session you should begin with come, because that was the first thing your dog learned and already has an understanding that you are going to work.

Whatever command you choose to teach next, remember that your dog wants to please you. Always start with affection and end with play. Whether your dog gets it the first try or the tenth try, no matter what, you are pleased for trying. As your dog gets older and more experienced in training time, the quicker your dog will pick up new commands. You might even think that your dog is the smartest dog in the world because training has become so easy. But remember, its so easy, because you made it that way. You are nurturing your dog through training and love.

Thank you for reading. I hope you find this tip of the week helpful. If you would like to treat your dog or cat to a healthy gourmet treat, please take a moment to visit our store at: www.OLA.com/store/MMKR or contact me at: MarysMiracleKittyRescue@Yahoo.com.

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