Posts Tagged ‘Puppy Dog’
Leash Training 101 – Do You Have The Right Mindset
Leash training your dog is much more than actually following a few steps and guidelines.
It’s the actual mindset of the owner that is the single most important element.
Success or failure, joy or frustration – all depend on how you approach your dog’s leash training sessions.
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Start your leash training off on the right paw, so to speak. If you have a puppy that is unaccustomed to a leash and collar, let it first adjust to the feel of a buckle collar only.
Once it is comfortable wearing the collar, snap on a short, light line and watch while it drags that around. Leave the line on for 10-minute leash training sessions a couple of times a day until your puppy no longer pays attention to it.
For an older puppy or adult dog that you have had fitted for a head collar or prong collar, again, let it have time to adapt to the feel of this new device before snapping on a leash.
Do not leave specialty collars on an unsupervised dog. Because both prong and head collars tighten with pressure, a dog can suffer serious injury if the collar catches on an object. Pay close attention to your dog during these get-comfortable sessions.
It’s important that you approach training with the right attitude, because teaching leash manners requires absolute consistency on your part. Every walk becomes a training session, whether you plan on it or not. There is no such thing as “We train when we walk after work, but all the other walks are just walks”.
This is a difficult concept for people, as we are impatient, hurried, and often doing something other than paying attention to our dog as it walks.
While your dog is learning, there should be no rushed walks, no stops to chat with neighbors, no using the time to make a call on your cell phone, etc.
You can’t expect your dog to become mindful of you during a leash training session if you consistently ignore it.
Likewise, recognize that your dog doesn’t pull on the leash to aggravate, annoy, punish or get back at you – it’s simply a matter of cause and effect. The dog is thinking: I pull, you follow, and therefore, I get to where I want to go.
You must reshape this thought process. Put emotions aside when leash training, view your lessons as an opportunity to forge a new relationship and decide that from this day forward you and your dog will learn how to enjoy your walking time together!
Dog Health – 3 Ways To Feed Your Puppy
To meet the continual nutritional demand of your puppy’s growing body, he must have food available to him all day long sustaining proper dog health.
There are 3 common techniques to feed your new puppy that affect dog health.
These are: Meal feeding, portion-control feeding, and free feeding.
Meal Feeding For Optimal Dog Health
This method of feeding is usually done with mixing solid food and canned food and is ideal for puppies that are being trained to housebreak.
With this technique, your puppy gets his meals at different times during the day.
Many owners prefer for optimal dog health the three meal a day program while others are more comfortable with giving their puppies four meals a day.
Whether you’re feeding your puppy three or four meals per day, the important thing to remember is to divide the meals equally within a 24-hour period and without having to get up at night.
With three meals a day, you have to feed your puppy every eight hours. Four meals a day, food is given to your puppy every six hours. Keep in mind, however, that you shouldn’t give your puppy two meals a day until he is at least five or six months old.
Portion Control Feeding Affects Dog Health
This method of feeding is probably the most common way puppies are fed today, especially for owners who work during the day and have to leave their puppies alone.
It is done by measuring the exact amount of food he requires (depending on his age and type of breed). This amount of food should be modified as a puppy gets older to ensure proper dog health.
The portion is then placed in his food bowl once a day, preferably the same time everyday. This way your puppy will be able to nibble on his food throughout the day.
Most puppies ration out their meals throughout the day and eat only a small portion at a time, while some puppies will empty their bowl in one sitting.
Studies have shown that puppies that are brought up with this feeding method will not over eat when they turn into adult dogs.
However, if you are having a difficult time housebreaking your puppy, then this method of feeding will probably not work for you.
Dog Health And Free Feeding
With this feeding technique, you have to make sure that there is food in his bowl and let him nibble on it throughout the day. Although this is the simplest way to feed your puppy, this method is also the least recommended by most vets and breeders because of it’s possible affect on dog health..
Feeding your puppy will make it more difficult to house train him because you do not know exactly when he eats.
In addition, it is also difficult to know how much he eats on a daily basis, so becoming consciously aware of this will promote good dog health.
Puppy Training – Teaching Your Dog To “Leave It”
Along with many crucial commands used in puppy training, there is one command that your puppy needs to learn for his own protection, and that is the safety command of “Leave it.” You are out for a walk and puppy comes upon a roadkill or carelessly discarded garbage.
For the sake of his health, you puppy training command, “Leave it!” and you will need to enforce it with a gentle snap-and-release of the leash.
If he does not hear (or understand) the “Leave it” command, get his attention followed by “Leave it.”
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This one is so important that at four to six months of age you can even use an entrapment as a teaching tool. When the puppy cannot see you do it, plant a piece of trash, maybe an empty cereal box, on the floor and stick around until the pup goes to investigate. As he goes to sniff it, shout “Leave it!” and as he retreats at the force of your voice, say “Good dog.”
It is an extremely versatile and useful command. It also has an amusing side effect. Many young puppies respond to the extreme urgency in your voice and not only “Leave it” but do an instant Down flat on the ground! It’s a two-for-one in puppy training!
Dog Training: How To Make Dog Training A Family Affair 2
Making dog training a family affair is a fun and rewarding experience for everyone. To start, you must commit to declaring the rules that will govern your dog’s behavior, and let everyone know that these rules must be followed by everyone – because family-wide consistency is essential to achieve good results from training.
Establishing The Rules
Make sure everyone knows and follows the same rules with your dog, or your best-laid dog training plans will unravel. If one person allows the dog to jump on them or play rough games, for example, your dog will try these behaviors with other people. And when your family isn’t consistent about keeping the rules, don’t expect your dog to either!
The best time to establish rules is before you bring your puppy or adult dog home. That way, everyone can be consistent right from the start. Chances are pretty good, however, that if you’re reading this article now, you probably already have your dog at home with you. So the best thing to do is to start right away – establish your “good dog rules” today, make sure the whole family knows what they are, and have everyone agree to follow them, starting immediately.
Family Meeting Time
Call the whole family together to create a list of the important rules regarding the dog. Encourage each person, including the children, to offer ideas and describe how they’d like the dog to behave so everyone will feel included.
Discuss reasons for each rule you decide to implement so its importance is understood. Big rules – such as not feeding from the table or the types of play that will be allowed – must be the same for everyone.
Write down your list of agreed-upon rules and let the children illustrate the page by drawing pictures of your dog being good. The more personal involvement each family member has with the list of dog rules, the more likely everyone will be to abide by them. When your list is finished and illustrated, post it in a central location, such as the refrigerator, so no one forgets the rules (or pretends to).
I cannot stress enough just how important it is for your children (and everyone else in the house) to all have the same mindset and understanding of how you want your dog handled during training.
In the next article we will discuss how to teach the rules, how to initiate training games, and how to keep dog training consistent – all of which will fail if you do not set the entire family on the same path.
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Click Here Now to watch Chet’s Free Dog Training Video.
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Dog Training – Use The Right Body Language So Your Dog Understands
Dogs are highly intelligent creatures and many owners do not give them enough credit when it comes to dog training and how they can read and understand our body language.
Some people have no idea that the body language that we display has a major impact on how well a dog will listen to us and obey our commands. Using the correct form of body language can also quickly stop your dog from displaying an improper behavior.
Let’s use a very common example, such as the overexcited dog who likes to jump on every guest that comes to your door. We all go through this with our puppy or adult dog at some point in time. As soon as the guests arrive your dog is overwhelmed with happiness and excitement about who is at the door and whether or not they are going to play with him.
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Click Here Now to watch Chet’s Free Dog Training Video.
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Do they have dog treats? What do they smell like? Do they want to play? How about I just jump all over them and see? This is exactly what your dog is thinking if we were to decipher his emotional behavior.
And meanwhile, you are giving every command possible to get your dog to stop being so excited and jumping on everyone. You try shouting but it only makes him more excited. You try giving harsh and loud “Off” commands but it’s not working. Eventually, you are so stressed with yelling and trying to pull your dog off that it turns into one big chaotic party.
And yes, the term “party” is a great way to explain it because to your dog you are just joining in on the fun and excitement that he is feeling. Can you see now how your body language and the way you are communicating with her voice comes across to your dog? You are only adding to the situation as opposed to changing our dog’s behavior.
Communicate better with your dog by using the following body language tips
In the above example of the overexcited dog who can’t seem to stop jumping all over the house guests, you understand now that your body language and excitability only made your dog feel more enthused about what it is he was doing. Therefore, you must take a different approach to the situation, regardless of what action you are trying to communicate with your dog. Below are a few basic body language tips that you can use:
1. When you’re angry at your puppy or adult dog, do not chase him around the house. You may be upset with them, but to your puppy, he thinks you’re playing a game and he will run around forever.
2. When you give your dog a command, display a very bold and upright body position. Stand up, chest forward, and head back. Your dog will have more respect and a slight bit of intimidation, which can help with training him.
3. If your dog is extremely excited then do not add to the problem by getting feisty. Instead, move slowly and talk in a soothing tone of voice. Display the same behavior you wish him to use.
Doing so will calm him down and it will be much easier to change his behavior. during your dog training