Understanding When To Reward And When To Punish Your Dog

There are certain things which should be kept in mind while training one's dog. There are different techniques of dog training.

Some of these techniques are quite useful, while some others can bear negative results. It is therefore quite natural to get confused with so many sides of dog training, as it is difficult to tell which one works the best.

The most common confusion, which people tend to have, is when to reward and when to rebuke the dog. If you are such a confused one, the following tips will help you.

Your dog-training instructor will probably tell you that you should always keep a positive air while dog training. But actually you would need to be stern in certain situations.

However, you must not scold your dog too frequently, as dogs always give a better response if they get a positive behavior from their trainer. So it is first important for you to realize when to praise your dog.

Your dog should get a reward every time he obeys you during the training process. You should reward him if he sits, stays, fetches, goes to toilet in the proper place, or does anything he his ordered.

His rewards can be anything - praises or kind words, treats, a rub on his belly, or a pat on his head!

Positive dog training makes the learning process quicker. What your dog actually wants is to please you, and that is why it will respond better with this kind of teaching. But make sure that you do not go on rewarding him even when he disobeys you.

Scolding is something, which should not be used unless it is necessary. You can reprimand your dog if he jumps, barks, growls, pulls at his leash, destroys anything, or excretes where he should not.

However, do not scold him unless you catch him doing something wrong.

Or else, he will not realize why you are reproving him. A quick and sharp "no!" or "bad dog!" should be enough of a scolding.

You should keep an angry condemning tone, and make sure that you are crisp and quick in your scolding. But if you are too frequent in your reproaches, your dog will ultimately start ignoring you. Do not ever hit the dog, as it will only lead to complications in future.

These are the points that you should keep in mind when you decide to praise or scold your dog. Do not forget that your pet has only started learning, and is trying to do his best. So patience is something that you must have.

If you are loving and understanding enough, your dog would find the training easy, and ultimately it will be a wonderful experience for you two!

Excessive Barking (Part 7): How To Trick Your Dog Into Being Quiet (Alternative Methods)

When beginning your anti-bark campaign, it must be remembered that dogs learn by associating their actions with either pleasing or displeasing results. It takes approximately one week for the average dog to learn an average thing.

The solution to the problem when creating the "trick your dog into thinking you are home" plan with so much realism that your pet actually believes you have left the area.

Dogs are like children. For example, a classroom full of a 8-old kids would most likely be on their absolute best behavior if they knew for a fact that their teacher was just outside the door in the hallway. Think back, don't you remember breaking loose and goofing off with the rest of the children in your classroom when you knew the teacher went into another classroom down the hall? Yes, your dog has the same type of mentality.

Other Methods Of "Being There" While Not Actually Being There

I have known some dog owners that recorded their voice into a tape recorder. Periodically, the recording on the tape would say loudly "STOP" or "KNOCK IT OFF." Of course the timing of these shouting commands could be way off and this is certainly not a recommended procedure, with the reasons being quite obvious.

Your dog may not be doing anything wrong when he hears these commands on tape. He may be asleep or actually just hanging around, being a good dog. Although this may work if your dog is known for constant bad behavior, he could eventually learn to ignore these commands altogether and when you are at home, he will still consider your commands to be meaningless, like a game, just like the "tape recording game" you dog has gotten used to.

Thinking Outside The Box

One dog owner was never really successful in being able to sneak back into the house without being seen or heard from his dog. So finally, one sunny morning, the owner had called a friend who lived about a half mile away. On the telephone he said, "I'm coming over but please do not hang up the phone, I'll explain in just a minute." The owner did not hang up his phone either, instead he placed the receiver on top of the window sill.

He went to the back yard, gave his dog a loving pat on the head, and said "I'll be back later buddy." He then got in his car and drove over to his friends house. He then picked up his friend's phone and sat listening for almost 30 minutes before the dog was finally convinced that he was gone.

Soon after, guess what happened - he started barking excessively! The owner then rushed in his car and drove home in less than a minute. He stormed into the backyard and immediately surprised his dog with loud shouting commands and a squirt gun. After about four of these surprise visits, his dog finally got the message and the barking had stopped.

Separation Anxiety - Does Your Dog Stress Whenever You Leave The House?

There are several ways to soothe separation anxiety in your dog in order to help him feel more secure while you are away. For the fastest results possible, apply the following practical tips:

1. Having a new puppy or a new adult dog is an enjoyable experience. It is so easy to give the new member of the family tons of love and attention. But spending all of your time with your new dog can create negative consequences, especially when you return to your normal schedule where you are out of the house all day.

Give your new dog a lot of attention, but also get him use to being alone, even when you're at home. Getting him used to your absence should be done gradually so it doesn't create a traumatic experience.

Start by going to a different room and closing the door behind you, leaving your dog by himself in another room. Do this several times every day. Next, leave him alone in the house for five minutes, then fifteen, and so on, until he is comfortable enough to be left alone for several hours at a time.

2. Being home alone should be a good experience for your dog. This can be done by linking a positive association with that of you being away. Give your dog a new toy before you leave the house. Provide him with different toys when you are home so he doesn't associate the toys with you going out and leaving him. Another strategy is to give him his favorite snack or a hollow bone filled with tasty treats that will take the dog a while to finish. These are two pleasant activities that your dog can engage in that will relieve him of the feelings of anxiety and fear.

3. Sometimes it is necessary to confine your dog when you're not home. If you must do this, be sure to create a positive association with that room. Make him feel that he is going to a fun place. Do not put your dog in a crate because this will only increase his feelings of loneliness. Instead, pick a safe room where he feels secure. And when you are home, make it a point to spend some time and play with him in that room so he can associate the area with fun.

4. Do not make the act of leaving the house a big deal and do not feel guilty about it. Ignore your dog for about ten minutes before you leave the house, and then another ten minutes upon returning home. This eliminates the excitement of you going away and coming back.

5. Another way to ease your dog's feeling of distress is by giving him enough exercise, especially before you leave the house. Taking him out for a jog or a brisk walk will make your dog feel relaxed and tired, ready for a long nap while you are gone.

One of the most annoying things about pet dogs is their habit of answering to calls of nature almost anywhere they feel like it. Your bedroom rug, the drawing room sofa, your Persian carpet; everything seems as good a place as any for your little pup to go cool his bladders on.

If you have just brought your pup home therefore, buckle up and get ready to save your upholstery and carpets by means of a simple method we call Housebreaking.

Now, here's what housebreaking is all about. We humans tend to visit the loo when we feel like we must relieve ourselves, in one way or the other (thank god for that!). However, our pooches don't have mother potty training them at the age of 1, telling them to take a crap at some fixed time on a shiny blue potty, and hence they tend to treat everything like a big ol' lavatory. And that would be ok if we were dogs perhaps but most average human beings tend not to like that sort of thing. So what we have to do is potty train our doggies ourselves. And this training, to cut a long story short, is what we call housebreaking'.

Now, facts first. Remember,

- No pup is able to keep himself from peeing or wellrelieving himself in some other form, till about 12 weeks of age. Your attempts at training your dog therefore must begin before this.
- Most puppies need to engage in bathroom related activities approximately 6-7 times a day
- Every time your dog seems to be following its tail rather slowly, and doing giddy rounds around a non-descriptive area put your shoes on to take it out cause it's getting ready to relieve itself
- Take your dog out every time it has a meal because food immediately puts pressure on its colon and bladder.

The first lesson in housebreaking, communicate with your dog'. Make sure you let your dog know that you don't like him peeing all over the drawing room loud and clear. No there isn't any need to use violence; just a loud "NO' should do the trick. For best results catch him in the act so that he has no problem in associating the rebuke with the exact action.

Keep a keen eye on your pooch. As soon as he looks like he could do with a visit to the good old lavatory take him out. Once he relieves himself at the right place pat him to show how much you appreciate the fact that he didn't pee all over your favorite rug. Give him a biscuit, and an appreciative nod and he'll know.

See, dogs are like politicians, always eager to please. They will do anything to get cuddled and patted by their masters, thus it's always easy to make them do things as per your requirements. You want him to pee outside? Show him how happy you are when he does so and he'll do it always, you want him to crap every morning? Give him a friendly pat and he'll bound off to be at it everyday. For your part make sure you know your dog's habits, build your routine round his, try and find out what his usual urinating or defecating times are, is it after dinner? Before going to bed? Or right in the morning? Take him out accordingly.

Proper communication will ensure your pooch's proper health and your peace, and of course a clean bedroom rug.

I'd like to know how much dog obedience training usually costs

Or even where I could personally learn how to train and influence my dog's behaviors.

Thank you for helping

Does this sound like you and your dog? You've had him since he was a puppy. He is a sweet dog, eager to please, and enjoys being around you and your whole family.

But lately, you've notice that he's become destructive around the house whenever he's left alone, even for just a few hours. You come home and the house looks like it was hit by a tornado - papers scattered everywhere, the trash can was knocked down, and your clothes were chewed into shreds.

Your dog may be suffering from separation anxiety, a problem common with many puppies and dogs. Separation anxiety is a panic disorder exhibited by a dog in the absence of his owner. It is the fear of being left alone that results in unwanted, destructive behaviors.

Dogs are social creatures. As puppies it is natural for them to get dependent and attached to their mother and littermates. This type of attachment is transferred on to you, his owner, when the puppy enters your life. This attachment results in distress whenever the dog is left alone in the house, which is the most common cause of separation anxiety.

Signs Of Separation Anxiety

Your dog is suffering from separation anxiety if he displays the following signs: Destructiveness; excessive crying, barking, howling, whining, house soiling, pacing, depression, self mutilation, excessive salivation, hyperactivity, and scratching or chewing at walls, doors, windows, furniture, and other objects.

Causes Of Separation Anxiety

There are many causes for separation anxiety in dogs. Some were developed with experiences they had before the dog ever became part of your family, such as loss or abandonment of previous owner.

Below are six other causes of separation anxiety in dogs:

1. A traumatic experience such as an injury, thunderstorm, or an alarm system going off that happened while you were gone.
2. A loss or addition of a family member.
3. Premature separation from its mother and littermates.
4. Having a new pet in the house and spending a lot of time with that new pet and less time with him.
5. A sudden change in schedule, lifestyle, or environment.
6. Changes that occur in older dogs, both physiologically and mentally, that results from aging.

Different people have varying ways of enjoying their leisure time in life. There are growing numbers of people who have taken their spare time to help dog owners become more responsible with the care and training of their own animals.

These dedicated band of responsible dog enthusiasts are now working hard to instill that same sense of responsibility into other pet owners and to prove, by example, that a "trained" dog is not only a "happy" dog, but is unlikely to prove a menace to others.

There are thousands of dog training clubs located all over the world, especially throughout the United States and Great Britain, and new ones are continually being established. Owners attend one or two evenings each week and take part in elementary, intermediate, or senior grades. The classes usually begin at specific times, although dog owners often like to sit and watch their less experienced (or more advanced) colleagues go through their paces.

Beginners learn to teach their dog how to walk at "heel", to "sit", "come", and to "stay." Seniors aspire to more ambitious exercises such as scent discrimination and dumbbell carrying, then go on to competitive obedience trials on weekends - and perhaps finally, the honor of competing in annual obedience championship contests.

People of all ages attend dog training classes, and for a variety of reasons; some consider their dog training evenings to be a pleasant night out for all the family, and of course, it can be a great way to meet someone special! But without exception, everyone joins because they are proud of their dog and want to do their best for their pet and get the maximum pleasure from pet ownership.

Who Instructs?

You may wonder who instructs at these types of training clubs and where the instructors obtain their qualifications in the first place. Obviously, there are clubs whose instructors have worked up through the ranks, developing their own training skill while gaining experience at the club. However, more and more clubs are becoming affiliated to non-profit organizations, such as the National Dog Owner's Association which was founded back in 1953.

Among its activities are the holding of annual residential holiday courses for pet owners, and intensive obedience instructor's courses, where candidates, with their dog, or dogs (often sponsored by their local dog training club), are given the chance to qualify in the various instructional grades.

The pet courses are helpful "fun" courses - a holiday in which the family dog learns his manners and the owner learns a lot about the dog's welfare. But to enroll for the instructor's course is to let oneself in for a hard working week. You will learn how to train your dog in addition to learning to to train people to train their dogs.

This is the day of the final exam, and graduation!

Cut the long line in half, and allow the dog to drag about 15 feet of line. Have a member of your family release the dog in the front yard, still dragging his line.

You should position yourself in the backseat of your assistant's car. Have your driver make as many passes as is necessary to convince you that your dog has kicked the habit, is now reformed, and views automobiles with absolute disgust.

The most hardheaded, stubborn dog, who views the short line, and your absence, as a reason to go charging, is in for quite a surprise. At his charge, have your driver stop the car. The shock of you emerging from the car will shock the dog even more than before. Now grab the line, jerk your disobedient dog toward you, making sure that his two front feet leave the ground and remain airborne, while you apply the loudest verbal assault you have even given him.

Really lay this disobedient chewing into the dog, making it count!

Keep in mind that this could mean life or death for your dog in the future so do not feel bad about laying your anger into him in order to communicate through the animal's mind.

Remember that there can be no such thing as compromise. Your dog will either associate this experience with displeasure, or not. It's up to you to make sure that it is as displeasing as humanely possible. Send the dog scampering back into his yard as you get back into the car and drive away.

A Final Word For All Of The "Humanitarians" Out There

For the humanitarians who will gasp and point the accusing finger at this perceived "inhumane" way of training a dog, let us remind you that we are literally training your dog to avoid a bloody, painful, flesh-tearing death. And remember that the dog will always be a victim, the car's occupants will be shocked, and the culprit will always be the dog's owner.

A few days of jerking your dog by the line, yelling and screaming, and using shock therapy to create the association of displeasure with a moving vehicle, is nothing compared to your family dog lying around on the streets for hours with broken bones, torn flesh, mangled body parts - all the while motorists drive-by without a care in the world until finally somebody stops, only to be too late as your lovable canine passes away.

Isn't your dog worth it?

Now it's time to find out if your dog has truly learned how to heel and execute an automatic sit.

Give him the command "Heel" and make any necessary corrections for poor heeling or lack of attentiveness to bring him up to the proper mental level of awareness. Come to a stop and command "Sit." Watch your dog do it all by himself. Get down to his level and praise him enthusiastically.

For the stubborn or uncooperative dog who would rather be helped for the rest of his life, you'll be surprised to see that he is going to graduate from being spoon-fed whether he wants to or not.

How do you do this? When you come to a stop and command "Sit", silently count to three. If your dog is not seated by the time you get to three, place both hands on the leash, making sure that there's a little slack in it, and jerk straight up! Your dog will immediately sit if you make the correction strongly enough. Don't forget the praise when you're done.

If he still refuses to sit after the initial correction, consider that correction ineffective. An ineffective correction is inhumane because it means that you will have to keep doing it. This is unfair to your pet and will only create resistance. If you simply tighten the collar around his neck by pulling up slowly on the leash, the only thing you can accomplish is constriction of your dog's breathing, and you have caused your dog's training collar to turn into a choking chain.

This is your fault, not his, and he is going to wonder why you have suddenly decided to choke him. So, in all fairness to your dog, make a humane correction by an emphatic and upward jerk of the leash using both hands. Make the correction properly the first time, and chances are you will not have to make it again. Remember to follow the correction with loving praise the moment your dog has responded correctly.

The heel and sit combinations should be continued for one week, after which time you will notice that it's no longer necessary for you to command "Sit" every time you stop. Your dog will realize that this is what is expected when he is out on a walk and you suddenly come to a stop.

At the end of a week, you can begin dropping the command "Sit" since he will be doing it automatically anyway. Be sure, however, that anytime he fails to sit, make the correction immediately, followed by praise.

Congratulations!

Now you have the proper tools to teach your dog to walk beside you and to sit automatically at your side each time you stop. Why is this crucial? In addition to getting your dog's attention, which is necessary in order to take him to more advanced levels of training, it will make all the difference in the world when you take him for a walk down a busy street or a crowded place.

Should you stop to talk to someone, your dog is trained to sit at your side patiently, rather than jumping on the person you're talking to or wrapping the leash around your legs and making a nuisance of himself.

One thing you can count on when bringing home a new puppy is the fact that he will nip and bite at your fingers during the first few days or weeks. This is perfectly normal and there is no reason to get alarmed that you may have purchased an aggressive dog. However, like any behavior you wish to change about your dog, you need to take a few steps so that he realizes that nipping is not something you as the "pack leader" want him to continue doing.

So how do you change this natural biting behavior that a little puppy has? Well the first thing to do is determine his age. This is important because puppies under the age of aboutಏ weeks need to be handled a little differently when it comes to mouthing and nipping than puppies over the age of 15 weeks.

If your puppy is brand new and younger than the 15 week period, the following tips can help you control his nipping behavior:

1. Start to show your puppy that you appreciate licking instead of nipping. When he changes his behavior and licks at your fingers or hands, be sure to praise him very lovingly. You can also encourage your puppy to lick more often by rubbing a little butter or coconut oil on your fingers. Let him know by soothing caresses that what he is doing is a good thing with each lick.

2. If your puppy is still biting or nipping at your fingers and he is just been fed and really doesn't need anything in its mouth, set him aside with a nice bone for a little while. This is where a crate would come in handy. Place the dog in the crate for a short period of time so that he can divert his mouthing attention to his favorite bone. And it is very important not to yell at or scold your puppy along the way. You must create a positive learning environment.

3. Whenever the puppy bites down hard on your fingers or hand, use a disciplinary tone of voice and give a command such as "No No" while looking sharply into his eyes. Hold this firm demeanor for a few moments and then immediately change your body language and go back to whatever it is you're doing before, and with a soothing approach. Doing this procedure a few times is enough for your puppy to learn the command and to stop biting down hard when he is commanded.