When you welcome a dog into your family, you may be excited about your new arrival but unsure how to train a dog to be obedient and polite. At Petco, we teach you how to speak your dog’s language through fun, informative classes that focus on encouraging good behavior and nurturing the bond between you and your pet. Our positive training classes can help new pet parents with kennel training, potty training, loose-leash training and obedience training. We offer a safe environment where pups can learn the skills they’ll need to thrive in real-world situations.
With my dog (Sephy), I try to re-establish as much certainty and consistency as possible. After we moved, I quickly set up a fixed routine and a consistent set of rules. I also increased supervision and spent more time with Sephy, engaging him in various positive and structured activities. We also went on longer walks, in quiet hiking trails. In this way, he gets to explore and relax in a peaceful environment. The structured activities redirect him from his stress, and gives him positive outlets for his energy.
Frequently provide food puzzle toys. You can feed your dog his meals in these toys or stuff them with a little peanut butter, cheese or yogurt. Also give your dog a variety of attractive edible and inedible chew things. Puzzle toys and chew items encourage chewing and licking, which have been shown to have a calming effect on dogs. Be sure to provide them whenever you leave your dog alone.
Lindsay says of this study, "Schilder and Van der Borg (2004) have published a report of disturbing findings regarding the short-term and long- term effects of shock used in the context of working dogs that is destined to become a source of significant controversy ... The absence of reduced drive or behavioral suppression with respect to critical activities associated with shock (e.g., bite work) makes one skeptical about the lasting adverse effects the authors claim to document. Although they offer no substantive evidence of trauma or harm to dogs, they provide loads of speculation, anecdotes, insinuations of gender and educational inadequacies, and derogatory comments regarding the motivation and competence of IPO trainers in its place." [64]
Training should begin in a quiet environment with few distractions. The chosen reward should be highly motivating so that the puppy focuses entirely on the trainer and the reward. Although a small food treat generally works best, a favorite toy or a special dog treat might be more appealing. It might also be helpful to train the puppy just before a scheduled mealtime when it is at its hungriest. For difficult or headstrong puppies, the best way to ensure that the puppy will perform the desired behavior and respond appropriately to the command is to leave a leash attached and to use a head collar for additional control. In this way, you can prompt the puppy into the correct response if it does not immediately obey, and the pressure can be released as soon as the desired response is achieved.
Slip collars (commonly called choke chain or check chains) are made of metal links or rolled material such as nylon or leather. A metal ring is at each end. Historically, slip collars have been used as a matter of course, mostly in North America and the UK. In the last few decades use of these collars has declined. Correctly used, the collar should make a quick clicking not zipping sound when quickly snapped and released to startle or get the attention of the dog and indicate to the handler that the technique was a swift jerk not a choke. The idea is not to strangle the dog, though this can happen if the collar is improperly used.
Often, the sit command will be one of the easiest for your dog to learn first. Next, you can train your dog to lie down. At the same time, work on teaching your dog to stay. In addition, your dog should be trained to come when called as soon as possible. This is one of the most important fundamental commands. Once your dog has mastered these dog obedience basics, you can move on to fun tricks and advanced commands.
Dogs competing in dog sports, such as flyball, agility or Schutzhund, must be trusted in an open field, off leash and surrounded by other people, dogs, hot dogs, and flying discs. This requires more focused attention on the owner and a better recall than that found in most household companion dogs, and more advanced training than that required for formal obedience.
Dogs don’t wake up one morning having decided to be anxious or fearful. Most dogs who exhibit anxiety symptoms have had some event in their past that triggered the anxiety. Dogs develop phobias and fears between the ages of 12 and 36 months or when they reach social maturity. If, during this time, something triggers a strong fearful reaction, they may develop a consistent fear pattern.
If you are training a puppy, you will likely need to teach them not to bite. Puppies tend to bite on everything they can grab with their mouth and this action should obviously be discouraged from the beginning. One way is to firmly say NO every time you see this. Also, replace the fingers, hand or object that is being bitten with a toy that may be bitten. It is not recommended to ever slap the snout of a puppy; this may actually encourage a firmer grip. Puppies bite to ease the discomfort of teething, so you want to try and channel this into areas which are acceptable.
Some dogs with social anxiety act out at every unknown being — both person and animal. They may be fine around family members, but if someone unexpected comes to the door, the dog expresses his anxiety by growling or snapping at the stranger. Other dogs may be loving and calm around strange people and even other animals, such as cats, but be deeply anxious and afraid of other dogs.
In the last 6 months I would say she has “calmed down”, but we feel it’s due to her getting more used to us and her new home (she was a stray and had a couple foster homes before we got her). She still has lots of energy when we go for walks and to the park. She likes to be in the backyard (even in the evenings) and goes for a walk just fine (in the mornings only). It seems to be she only likes going for walks in the morning, and we used to go 3 times a day (morning, afternoon and evening). The only thing I can think of that would have frightened her on a walk is a few times storms have rolled in (usually a thunderstorm). When there is a thunderstorm she gets anxious, paces, pants and usually hides in the bathroom where she seems to calm down after a while. She loves the dog park and plays well with all the dogs she comes into contact with, and LOVES people. We’re really good about keeping her schedule the same, eats at the same times everyday, walks at the same time ect. We live in a new neighbourhood so there are trucks (all kinds) driving around all day. That would be the only noises I could think of.
Other details: I go to work mondays to saturdays, leave the house at 8:30am and come back at 7pm. I am extra affectionate to both dogs, but because Keanu is bigger than his sister I always feed him or pet him first. The girl poodle(Tuna) is hardly ever agitated, but almost always calm and happy and sometimes uninterested in me – never have I seen her staring at me unless maybe i called her name. Both dogs are extremely well behaved, never bark or chew, obedient, pretty timid when seeing other dogs, happy when seeing other humans(Keanu gets agitated seeing other women around my age…)
1. Seek out a PR trainer. In recent years, modern trainers have learned that an overwhelming majority of dogs who lunge at, bark at and fight with other dogs and humans aren’t doing so because they’re “dominant” or because they want to be “pack leader.” They’re doing it because they’re scared. A frightened dog, especially one who feels like she can’t escape, will turn to aggression to “get him before he gets me.” Once we know that aggression is rooted in fear, we know to avoid trainers who “rehabilitate” aggressive dogs by dominating them. Hurting a dog doesn’t stop her from being scared, it just makes her shut down. Change the emotion, on the other hand, and you’ll change the behavior. A dog who isn’t scared of other dogs has no need to bark or fight. Find a good trainer, ideally one who follows positive reinforcement principles and is certified by CCPDT, and you can work wonders together.
If your toddler was repeatedly sticking her fingers into open electrical outlets, what would you do? Would you sit her down and try to explain why that’s not a good idea? Would you smack her every time she did it? Nope, you’d probably buy some outlet covers. Voilà! Problem solved. Prevention is sometimes the best solution. When training a dog, the easiest way to deal with a behavior problem might be to simply prevent the undesired behavior from happening. If your dog raids the kitchen trash can, you could spend weeks training a perfect down-stay in another room-or you could move the trash can to a place where your dog can’t get to it. Prevention is also important if you’re trying to train your dog to do one thing instead of another. For example, if you want to house train your dog, she’ll learn fastest if you use a crate to prevent her from making mistakes inside while you focus on training her to eliminate outside.
Are you thinking of adding a new dog to your life? Would you like your current dog to be better behaved? Would you like to train your dog to serve your needs instead being trained to serve its needs? Attending dog classes led by a professional trainer is the best approach, but not everyone can afford classes. These tips are a good start to training your canine companion. There are many philosophies and approaches to dog training, so do your research and learn what works for you and your dog.[1] Regardless on which approach to training your dog you take, building a good relationship with your dog is essential to being able to train effectively.
This was probably the most tedious thing because it means you have to go outside with your dog for them to go potty, you have to take them to their water dish, etc. Your dog does nothing without you by their side. This sends the message to your dog that you are allowing them to go potty, drink water, eat food, rest on their dog bed, etc., which in turn helps you establish pack leader status.
Dr. Patricia McConnell recently spoke to Hannah Brannigan on her podcast about this subject. Dr. McConnell emphasized the importance of being a safe space for your puppy. Your puppy, she says, is actually likely to become braver more quickly if you offer backup. So go ahead, give your pup a cuddle during the next thunderstorm! It’ll help far more than it hurts.
Hi is like some advice. We bought home our beautiful husky puppy 3 days ago. I know not long. And she is gorgeous :). She was displaying. Nervous behaviour towards my 5 year old daughter growing and Nipping at her. She seems to have calmed a bit my daughter is still a bit scared of her. Today we took her for her first set of jabs and her microchip. When we went in the room she instantly started whining and backing up. When the vet went to run the chip machine over her and she freaked out and tried to bite the vet. She hadn’t even touched her. The vet said she was very worried about her behaviour and asked me questions about the breeder. We met them a few times with the mom and dad and they all seemed fine I never saw any nervous behaviour in her. They did tell me she was a little shy since all the other pups left (she was the last to go). The vet even asked if I could give her back As I have two young children. I said we really didn’t want to and want to try and work with her. In the end we didn’t do the micro chip as our pup kept going to bite the vet. And we just quickly did the vac so she is started her protection. She seems ok at home and very calm when it’s me and my partner. I realise we’ve only had her a few days but I really don’t wan her to bite my kids cause she is scared and need to fix this ASAP. Help please
You can start your puppy off on the right paw by teaching good manners from the moment you bring him home. Every interaction that you have with your puppy is a learning opportunity, and with gentle guidance, you can help him understand important lessons like how to greet new friends without jumping up, how to wait quietly for dinner and what to do with those puppy teeth.
Prong collars (also called 'pinch collars') are a series of chain links with blunted open ends turned towards the dog's neck. The design of the prong collar is such that it has a limited circumference unlike slip collars which do not have a limit on how far they can constrict on a dog's neck. The limited traction of the martingale chain combined with the angle of the prongs prevents the prongs moving close enough to pinch. The collar is designed to prevent the dog from pulling by applying pressure at each point against the dog's neck.
Taking part in an obedience class with other pet parents can also be helpful in that you will have someone to commiserate with as well as measure your progress against. If obedience classes are not for you, never fear, you can always begin to teach your dog at home yourself or hire a one on one trainer to teach you and your dog obedience in private lessons.
Pups between the ages of 9–12 weeks who were permitted to observe their narcotics-detecting mothers at work generally proved more capable at learning the same skills at six months of age than control puppies the same age who were not previously allowed to watch their mothers working.[54] A 2001 study recorded the behaviour of dogs in detour tests, in which a favorite toy or food was placed behind a V-shaped fence. The demonstration of the detour by humans significantly improved the dogs' performance in the trials. The experiments showed that dogs are able to rely on information provided by human action when confronted with a new task. Significantly, they did not copy the exact path of the human demonstrator, but adopted the detour behavior shown by humans to reach their goal.[55] A 1977 experiment by Adler and Adler found that puppies who watched other puppies learn to pull a food cart into their cages by an attached ribbon proved considerably faster at the task when later given the opportunity themselves. At 38 days of age, the demonstrator puppies took an average of 697 seconds to succeed, while the observers succeeded in an average of 9 seconds.[56]
With the approval of your veterinarian, you can give your dog anxiety medication to help ease his anxiety. Benadryl is commonly prescribed to help alleviate symptoms of anxiety in dogs. The antihistamine is known to serve as a mild sedative. When administered correctly prior to the environment or activity that may cause heightened anxiety in your pet, it can help him remain calm and relaxed.
An abrupt change in schedule in terms of when or how long a dog is left alone can trigger the development of separation anxiety. For example, if a dog’s guardian works from home and spends all day with his dog but then gets a new job that requires him to leave his dog alone for six or more hours at a time, the dog might develop separation anxiety because of that change.
Understand the purpose of the "listen" command. Also known as the "watch me" command, the "listen" is one of the first commands you should teach your dog. You'll use it to get your dog’s attention so you can give him the next command or direction. Some people just use their dog’s name instead of the "listen." This is especially useful if you have more than one dog. That way, each individual dog will know when you want it to focus on you.
Aim to develop a behavior in our dog that reflects the harmonious partnership you both share. He should have enough confidence in himself and in your leadership. This way, he can be confident in situations, such as being left alone, because he knows that you will always provide the leadership and guidance required. He trusts and knows that you will come home.
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.
If he's an older dog, he's probably used to his name; however, changing it isn't out of the question. If he's from a shelter, they may neglect to tell you that he has a temporary name assigned to him by staff. If he's from a breeder, he'll come to you with a long name, which you may want to shorten, or change. And if he's coming out of an abusive situation, a new name may represent a fresh start. But we're lucky: dogs are extremely adaptable. And soon enough, if you use it consistently, he will respond to his new name.
