Tuesday, May 22, 2007

DOG TRAINING TIPS - Alpha Dog Exercises - Who's the Boss Anyway?!!

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Leadership exercises can confirm humans as the heads of the family pack. Once you establish this relationship, your dog will seek you out. He will want to be with you and will treat you with respect and affection. After he learns to submit to handling, all other tasks such as grooming, nail clipping, cleaning ears, and medicating will be easier to accomplish. But first he must learn that you have the power to handle him, and that handling will not lead to any harm. He must come to trust you entirely.

These exercises will help establish leadership but should not be used with an older pup who has learned to use his teeth to get his way. Exercises one and two are recommended only for small puppies up to three months of age. Exercises three and four are suitable for pups up to six months of age as long as there's no problem with aggression. Be gentle but firm with all exercises, as you would with a baby human.

Sit on the floor, then pick your pup up off the floor with both hands supporting him just behind his front legs, facing you. Hold him away from you at arms length. Look directly into his eyes. Growl at him if he struggles, using a low guttural sound. Hold him till he relaxes. Vary the time you hold him in this position from 15 to 45 seconds. Vary the location.

Sit on the floor and cradle your pup, placing one hand under his head and the other supporting his back so that he is upside down on his back, and up in the air. Hold a larger puppy across your lap. Hold the pup for 15 to 45 seconds, using the same growl as in exercise 1 if he struggles. Hold him until he relaxes.

If your puppy is large, substitute this exercise for the first two. Straddle your pup, with one of your legs on each side of him. You should be facing the same direction as your dog. Lock your fingers together under his chest, just behind the front legs. Lift his front legs off the ground for 15 to 45 seconds. If he struggles, growl at him till he is quiet.

Place your dog on the floor with all four legs pointing away from you. Hold him firmly by the neck with one hand, and press down on his midsection with the other hand. Talk to him softly after he is quiet. It might take two or three minutes to get him to relax. If he exposes his belly to be rubbed, you are on the right track. Do not allow him to struggle, get up, or nip. Always praise him lavishly in a quiet tone when he relaxes. Now is also a good time to handle all four paws and look briefly into his mouth so he can get used to tolerating your handling him gently. Be sure to do this exercise four or five times a day at first. Taper off as the pup gets more used to you and accepts your leadership.

Dog Training

Friday, May 18, 2007

Toilet Training your Dog

Dog Training

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Toilet training your pet can be an easy job if done with the right amount of dedication and patience. A total commitment will be needed from your side to succeed in teaching your dog the appropriate place to pee and poop. Similarly, you need to bear in mind that your pet may take a long time to learn things. So, you will need to be patient and tolerant in case of your pet’s accidents and mistakes.

One technique to teach your pet dog to relieve himself at the appropriate place is by using a newspaper, which is dribbled with his urine. Now, position the newspaper at the exact place where you want your dog to urinate or defecate. The stench of his own urine, which is emitted by the newspaper, will help your dog remember the exact place where he is supposed to eliminate his wastes.

Remember to praise your pet every time he urinates or defecates at the designated place. However, you need to keep in mind that certain accidents may happen, while your pet is still in the learning stage. If your dog keeps on making mistakes, irrespective of being told on numerous occasions, you may make use of a crate or a leash. This will teach the dog to pee or poop in the area allotted for it. Never ever physically punish your dog for his wrongdoing. At the end of the day you need to remember that he is just an animal, who is still in his learning stages.

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DOG TRAINING

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Thursday, May 17, 2007

Playing with your dog (part II)

Another good idea is to combine training and playing.
Example: If you take your dog for a walk in open space, like a park, the mountain, a beach etc, and your dog starts walking away from you. Then a good thing to do is not to call him/her back, you can turn and start walking to the opposite direction. As soon as your dog understands that you are not close s/he will come back to you. As soon as s/he does that you can praise and pet him/her. This is a very good exercise in order to make your dog follow you when s/he is unleashed and also a great way to show him/her who the leader is in a very nice and effective way.

Examples of unacceptable ways of playing with your dog include:
Teasing, slapping, wrestling, chasing, allowing him/her to bark at you. You should not allow your dog to demand that you play with him/her. Also you should not use your hands as a toy, allowing him to nip, and tug-of-war.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Playing with your dog

The first step is to find the appropriate play and chew toys for your puppy. Some examples are:

  • Kong or Rhino toys
  • Nylabones
  • Hard rubber balls large enough so they don’t get stuck in your dog’s throat
  • Soft flying disks
  • Interactive play toys like Buster cube (a square box where you can put food in)

Some examples of unacceptable toys are:

  • Tennis balls and stuffed toys
  • Ropes and similar, as such toys can lead some dogs to become aggressive
  • Rubber toys that can be chewed into little pieces, as these can be threatening to your dog’s health

In order to make the desired toys attractive to your dog, they must become a main source of interaction between you and your dog. Play with your dog and his/her toys. If you also appraise the dog when playing with the toys, you will make him/her seek them out on their own. When s/he seeks them out you should praise this behavior.

A great game to play with your dog is fetch using a toy that you are holding. You throw the toy and give the “fetch” order to your dog. The desired reaction would be for the dog to bring back the toy and either leaves it in front of your feet or in your hands. This can happen either on its own or after you giving the command. In case the dog doesn’t bring back the toy, s/he runs off, refuses to give it back or just stops playing, then you should stop playing for 10-15 minutes.