Best Dog Breeds Info

When you get your new lovely cuddly little parcel of puppy happiness home it’s all to easy to think you can be slack on the puppy training for a bit, just play and say ahhh a lot! Yes, while playing is extremely important for your relationship with your new puppy you can also use it as a very effective training aid to get started with the job of socializing him to be a good dog.There are 3 basic rules that are fundamental to being a good well behaved dog that all puppies need to learn as soon as possible. This includes pups as youthful as six weeks old. First and unequalled is the word “No”. This is the command that will stop your dog from harming himself or others and one that you will be using all through your dog’s life.

Best of all “No” is easy to teach and for the puppy to learn. Dogs, even puppies, are very good at recognizing tone of voice. They quickly learn to associate a displeased, harsh tone of voice with the word “no”. Get it right at this stage and in the future you won’t have to be so harsh in your expression. But to get to that kinder “firm but fair” no you first you do have to get attention. So when the puppy does something wrong, simply pick him up, make eye contact and tell him very firmly, “No.” It will get an instant reaction. Depending on your pup’s personality, he will drop his head and become timid, growl or attempt to talk you out of it by asking you to play. If either of the latter two happens, you will have to repeat the command to show that you are not joking.

Next, put down the puppy and watch the reaction. A rebel might try it again, this is not unusual in strong personalities and future alpha leaders, they’re testing you! If you get this repeat the process. Be gentle yet firm and stay consistent. Do this and the puppy will get the idea after not so long. As I say it’s important to be gentle too. This puppy training is a mental game not physical force, plus 6-8 week puppies are fragile compared to you so be careful! Force works about as good as it does on human kids, in other words it doesn’t, is cruel and counter productive! So firm but fair sums it up well.

The second thing you can teach your cuddly creature to do is how to go potty. This is actually simpler than you might imagine, as pups are a lot more clever than they look. Timing is the key: If you miss the pee and just have a puddle on the floor the only thing you can do is clean it up and watch him more closely. Never ever rub his or her nose in it as this will make him or her scared, hurt and confused. What you need to do is catch him in the act. When you see him start to pee grab him gently and take him outside or if you have to indoor potty train to the indoor dog tray. It’s highly likely that the shock will be so great that he will save some for the yard or tray and give you a great opportunity to praise to “positively reinforce” your message. And if you miss it, hey no problem, they’ll be many more chances!

The third thing that your puppy needs to know is that he should never bite or “chew” a human being. This is a much harder one. It’s lots of fun and also they do it in the wild state, plus humans especially kids think it’s fun too. But of course it’s not a behaviour you want staying with them as an adult. So when you play with him do it with toys that are okay to be bitten. If he bites when you are trying to pet him, tell him no and give him his toy or put his toy right in his mouth. If he persists, pick him up and tell him no. Be consistent and you’ll get the result.

By the time your puppy graduates from the 3 basics puppy training pre-school, they should have all the information they need to become a happy, social dog.

Neglecting to communicate well not only causes problems between people in any social group, but also between us and our dogs. If you can’t communicate effectively (and by that I mean both speaking and with body language) then how do you expect the one you are talking with to comprehend what you are asking or telling them to do or supply? To succeed in any communication there are 3 core rules: Stay calm and cool headed. Speak as clearly as possible and to only look at one thing at a time. The exact same rules apply when we want to speak to dogs, only the application differs.Effective communication is just as important if not more so when it comes dogs. Dogs can get as frustrated as us humans when they think they are doing what you want and then get shouted at or even hit continually for not meeting your expectations. Never assume that your dog is being unruly on purpose, try taking a look at how you are attempting to speak to him or her.

First of all, critically, and this is a big basic fail point in many dog owners - Remember your dog is not a person. Sorry, no, not your son or daughter or human friend. You must get down and meet your dogs at his level, and try to see things from the doggie viewpoint. To do that go back to the basic rules: Keep your cool and if your dog doesn’t learn quickly in the way you want him to, don’t get angry, simply try something else.

Next: Speak clearly and concisely. For a dog to comprehend what you want, you need to teach him easy, 1-word commands. Just shouting, “Don’t do that!” when Rolfie pees on the floor is not going to say anything apart from the fact that you’re angry. But he won’t understand why or be able to correct his behavior. He may start to assume you simply don’t like him, or even that you are a bit crazy. And if your dog thinks you’re mad, he won’t listen to you!

When communicating with your dog, timing is crucial. Rubbing Oscars nose in a pee soaked carpet is cruel, disgusting and very very counter-productive -Think how abused kids often turn out. That’s what this will do to a dog and the result can be pretty bad for you and those around you. What you have to do is catch him in the act of “badness”. Because of the way dog brains operate if you give him a firm, “No!” at the MOMENT he is peeing on the carpet, or eating from the bin or doing whatever naughty doggie things you want him to stop THEN he will understand that the action he just did is not OK.

Critically now - As soon as the behavior stops - which may be immediately, due to being startled - moderate and soften your voice and praise him bigtime for being a good boy or girl. Repeat a few times (varies by breed and dog temperament) and it WILL stop. If it’s hard going try using some favoured treats as a reward but hold off that at first as it can develop a treats based attitude to behaving good.

Third, don’t give him or her too much to think about at one time (remember the rules - One thing at a time). Oscars brain is already super busy with cat-chasing strategies and plans to find treats. Lay off for a few days and embed the idea that peeing on the carpet is a no go before moving onto the next training task - So prioritize: Bad habits first, sniffing out treasure bottom of list!

Of course, it will does take a lot of work and focus by you to catch him in the criminal act, but it is so very worth it in the end in terms of good behavior, respect for you as his owner and your own happiness.