Prepare your mental state for training sessions. When you’re working with your dog, be calm and neutral. Any form of agitation and excitement on your part will negatively affect the outcome of training. You should be mindful of the fact that the goal of training is to be able to reinforce good dog behavior and to ignore or not reinforce bad ones. It may sound strict but producing a well trained dog requires the determination and conviction to see it through.
Dogs are highly motivated by praise and rewards. Create positive associations for your puppy when he follows your commands by verbally encouraging him or sharing a bite of kibble or healthy dog treats. Rewards not only make training more fun for your pet, but also give him something to work for. Just make sure that treats don't make up more than ten percent of his caloric intake each day to ensure he doesn't put on any unnecessary weight.
I make sure not to expose my dog to situations which he cannot handle. This is important because I am trying to build up his confidence through desensitization and creating a calm environment. The more successes we have, the more confidence he will build. However, bad experiences will undermine that confidence and significantly set back our progress.
How is it possible to tell if your dog is suffering from anxiety without them being able to communicate that to you verbally? Well actually, it’s quite simple. Dogs are intelligent creatures and are able to express what they are thinking and how they feel through body language and behavior. From there, it is your duty as their owner to be able to depict these cues and figure out what your pup is trying to say.
The Dog Obedience Club of Lee County is located near the Fort Myers area. Founded in 1983, we are an AKC sanctioned, not-for-profit organization dedicated to making dogs better citizens through training. Whether you wish to compete in obedience or just want a well-behaved companion and best friend, we can help you train your dog. Our instructors have all raised and trained dogs from a variety of breeds and have achieved AKC Obedience titles on their dogs. They actively compete in AKC obedience, rally, agility, tracking and more.
Dogs that demonstrate the previously mentioned basic skills, as well as walking reasonably well on a leash and a few other minor tasks, can be tested for and earn the American Kennel Club's (AKC) Canine Good Citizen certification. While not a competitive obedience title, a CGC certification demonstrates that the dog is sociable, well behaved, and reliable in public settings.[1] Some insurance companies will waive breed restrictions on dogs with CGCs, and many states have passed resolutions supporting and encouraging CGC certification as a yardstick for canine manners and responsible dog ownership.
Dog training classes or private sessions can also be an addition to your own training program. The dog trainer can help you improve the program and customize it to your dog's learning style. Try to be as involved as possible when it comes to your dog's training. You and your dog will be a stronger team when you are directly involved in the training process.
Be consistent. Your dog won’t understand what you want from him if his environment lacks consistency. Everyone who lives with your dog should understand and be on board with his training goals. For example, if you are training your dog not to jump on people, don’t let the kids allow the dog jump all over them. This will undermine all the training you’ve done.
The final command that has been extremely beneficial, in my experience, is “leave it.” Dropped a piece of raw chicken on the floor? “Leave it.” Changing baby’s diaper and the scent is intriguing to your dog? “Leave it.” Your dog may not catch on right away, so it’s okay to give a slight tug on your dog’s collar to pull them away from the object you want them to leave. After enough repetition, they will learn the command.
What you have described are exactly same symptoms as my dog. Lady came to my mom’s house one day from the desert. It was clear that someone had abandoned her because she still had on a dusty pink collar with the tags removed. My mom adopted her immediately and kept her for about two years before her she lost her house and partner to a fire. While in transition, my husband and I took Lady in and became so attached to her that she ultimately became a wonderful part of our family. We took her to the vet and found out that she is a German Shepherd/Lab mix and that the closest they can guess her age is “over ten”. She has been “over ten” for four years now. Due to her situation, she has always had some degree of separation anxiety. She also would get nervous during thunderstorms. However, during the last two weeks, her anxiety increased significantly. She started pacing around frequently. My husband and I are both teachers and were on break so we were rarely, if ever, away from the house at the same time. There are rarely thunderstorms in the middle of the winter here. Her anxiety seemed to come from somewhere we couldn’t identify, and it was constant. She has had a very hard time sleeping for the last couple of weeks. She gets into small spaces (corners) and shakes. She positions herself almost on top of me and just trembles. I took her to the vet earlier this week and she tried to find a source of pain that could be triggering the behavior. She couldn’t find any kind of issue that could be the cause of the increased anxiety. Lady does have arthritis, but she has been on pain medication for over a year now. The vet prescribed some valium and instructed me to change her diet slightly. She also administered a drug test and found that one of the kidney levels had jumped from the low normal range to the abnormal range (16 points) in the last year.
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The essential thing Sally learned in her training was the commands sit and down stay. The trainer had us work on sit-stays and down-stays for 30 minutes each day for a few days. Start your dog on-leash and have them sit-stay by tugging the leash towards their back to help put them in a sitting position and then telling them to stay. When you tell them to stay, hold your hand out in front of yourself towards them.
I have a 4 year old Yorkie that has been crate trained since she was a puppy. We only crate her when we are at work. If we leave for a few hours to go eat or to the store we let her run the house. We have done this since the beginning. My routine every morning was to take her outside for her potty break before I went to work. We would get back to the front porch and I would let her off the lease and she would run and get in her crate with no problem. However, our house was broke into a year ago and she was of course in her crate in the living room when this happened. After this happened she would shake and not want to go in her crate, she would run to the bedroom and sit on the bed and shake. I had to start picking her put and putting her in there when we got to the porch. I tried a new approach, as soon as I get up I started taking her for walks in the morning. After our walk I come back and get ready for work then take her outside one last time before I leave. This helped as she did stopped shaking however I still have to pick her up and put her in the crate. I thought to myself I could deal with that as long as she was not shaking. We went to my in-laws condo on vacation in July and we do not crate her at all while we are there. When we came back she had stress colitis. Now I am back to her shaking again since we came back from vacation. Sometimes she pees and sometimes she does not. I am not sure what to do or how to handle this issue. I hope that you might have some suggestions for me.
i love your dog hubs,,, and i love the “eye makeup” for the young siberian,, we had a female sibe (who lost her makeup after a year) and she was so loving to everyone except neighbors pet rabbits and our pupplies. she ran away so often (even over 7 foot fences) that we had to build a kennel..also, she ripped up our young female newfie until the newfie got big enough and took her down,, she was a great dog tho
Some people believe that the only way to transform a disobedient dog into a well-behaved one is to dominate her and show her who’s boss. However, the “alpha dog” concept in dog training is based more on myth than on animal science. More importantly, it leads misguided pet parents to use training techniques that aren’t safe, like the “alpha roll.” Dogs who are forcibly rolled onto their backs and held down can become frightened and confused, and they’re sometimes driven to bite in self defense.
For a new puppy, a crate helps with housebreaking and provides a safe den for sleeping. When your puppy is used to his crate, it will be easy to take him visiting, or for trips in the car, or to the vet. When we watch TV, we sit in our favorite chairs and our dogs typically choose to lie down in their crates (doors open), watching the same shows we watch (well, sort of!).
Encourage him to enter the crate. Once you've made the crate an inviting space, use treats to lure him inside. At first, place some outside the door so he can explore the exterior of the crate. Then, place treats just inside the door, so he will poke his head in to retrieve them. As he grows more comfortable, place the treats further and further inside the crate.
Every puppy needs a calm, fair leader. They are happiest when you understand this and take the leadership role. Dogs only know two positions; leader and follower. If you do not take the leader position, then you leave the dog no choice but to take on that role. This is where all the problems begin. Remember, dogs are experts at reading body language. Their language is silent, so concentrate more on what you do, rather than expecting them to understand what you say.
Proper socialization entails exposing a pup to as many sounds, sights, people, places, animals, and locations. Some suggestions include; the park, pet store, school yard when children are playing, in the car, shopping malls, busy streets with garbage trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and skateboards. Takes kibble everywhere you go and ask people to toss or hand feed a treat to your dog. Search out people who walk slowly or with a cane, in a wheelchair, strollers, men with hats on, large men, children of all ages. The more things your pup sees at an early age the easier it will be for them to adjust to new things as they grow up.
Every dog needs to learn to walk on a leash. Besides the fact that most areas have leash laws, there will be times when keeping your dog on a leash is for his own safety. Learn how to introduce your dog or puppy to the leash, then teach him how to walk properly on the leash. A loose leash walk teaches your dog not to pull or lunge when on the leash, making the experience more enjoyable for both you and your dog.
