Posts Tagged ‘Walks’
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!
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Leash – A Great Training Tool | leash training
Leash training is a great tool for distance training. It allows freedom to explore while still leaving you in complete control. As a training tool, you can use it informally during walks to reinforce the following commands:
Name: Call out your puppy’s name enthusiastically: If he looks at you, praise him. If he ignores you, gently snap the leash, say “No,” and then praise him once you have his attention.
Wait: Begin to command your puppy to stop 3 feet in front of you with this command. If your dog continues forward, gently snap the leash and say “No, Wait.” Increase your distance to 6 feet, 8 feet, 12 feet, 16 feet, and 26 feet in front of you.
Sit-Stay: Use the Flexi-Lead to increase your distance control. Increase your distance incrementally.
Heel: Use this command to call your puppy back to your side. Call out his name and then command “Heel” as you slap your leg. Praise your puppy as he responds; then walk a short distance before you stop to release him.
No: Whenever he is focusing on something he should not be, gently snap the leash and say “No!” Immediately refocus his attention with a toy, stick, or command. This will make leash training more enjoyable for both parties.
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Dog Training – How To Train Your Dog To Get Her Own Leash
When it comes to effective dog training, remember dogs love to go for walks.
Though as a dog training technique teaching them to get their leash might encourage some late night deliveries, this trick is really neat to watch.
1. When your dog is not wearing her leash, encourage her to take it in her mouth.
2. When she’ll do it readily, say “Get Your Leash!” and praise/click and treat.
3. Fold the leash neatly and secure it with a rubber band or string. Place it on the couch and encourage your dog to get it by saying “Get Your Leash!” and pointing to it.
4. If your dog grabs the leash, click and treat. If your dog’s not interested, encourage her by running over and making a fuss over the leash.
5. Repeat Step 4, but reward only when your dog brings the leash to you.
6. Remove the string and let your dog grab the leash on her own. The weight and pull of the leash may seem awkward at first, but praise your dog as you encourage her to come to you.
7. Go to the area where you keep the leash and place it in an obvious spot. Stand just a few feet away and encourage your dog’s delivery.
8. Extend your distance from the leash as you repeat the request, and reward good deliveries.
Now how’s that for a neat dog training technique!
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Settle Down Little Pup!
A dog is not like a television or a video game – you can’t just pull the plug or temporarily remove the batteries from a rambunctious puppy. Instead, you must teach him to settle down and shush. Right from the outset, make frequent quiet moments part of the puppy’s daily routine. Following a proper confinement schedule will help your puppy train himself to settle down. Additionally, encourage your puppy to settle down beside you for longer and longer periods. For example, when you’re watching television have your pup lie down on-leash or in his crate, but release him for short play-training breaks during the commercials.
When playing with your pup, have him settle down for frequent short interludes every fifteen seconds. Initially have the pup lie still for a few seconds before letting him play again. After fifteen seconds, interrupt the play session once more with a three-second settle-down. Then try for four seconds, then five, eight, ten, and so on. Although it’s difficult at first, being sent back and forth between “Settle Down” and “Let’s Play”, the puppy soon learns to settle down quickly and happily. Your puppy will learn that being asked to settle down is not the end of the world, nor is it necessarily the end of the play session, but instead that Settle Down signals a short time out and reward break before he is allowed to resume playing.
If you teach your puppy to be calm and controlled when told, you will have years of fun and excitement ahead. Once your puppy has learned to settle down and shush on cue, there is so much more your dog can enjoy with you. Your well-trained dog is likely to be invited for many walks, trips in the car, picnics, visits to the pub, or to Grandma’s, and even on incredible journeys to stay in ritzy dog-friendly hotels. On the other hand, if you let your dog play indiscriminately as a puppy, he will no doubt “want to play indiscriminately as an adult. Your dog will be hyperactive and uncontrollable because you have unintentionally taught him to act that way. If your pup has not been taught to settle down by the time he reaches adolescence, he will be unfit to be taken places. Your pup will begin a lifetime of confinement and isolation at home while the rest of the family go out to have a good time. That folks, is not fair!
Until you have trained your puppy to enjoy spending much of his day at home alone, you might recruit a puppy sitter. Just a few houses down the street, there may live an elderly person, for example, who would just love to live with a dog. He or she might be willing to come over during the daytime and sit and enjoy your TV or the contents of your fridge, maintain your puppy’s confinement schedule, regularly reward him for using his doggy toilet periodically play with the pup, and teach him household rules.