Dog Training
When you get a puppy, you might not think immediately about dog training, but you should. Having a well trained dog can mean the difference between a settled household and a chaotic one.
Dog behavior is directly impacted by how much training he has. He needs to have structure and limits in his life. If you don’t provide this, he will, and that can create significant behavior problems in your dog.
Why Train Your Dog?
No matter your dog’s breed, he is descended from wolves and his instinct is to be part of a pack. In the dog pack, there is a hierarchy, with clear dominant roles and submissive roles. If you don’t make yourself the leader of the pack, your dog will make himself that leader. That’s not good and creates all kinds of dog problems.
Training establishes and reinforces the hierarchy concept for a dog. It teaches him that someone in the household is in control and that he must submit to that person.
Although some people say they prefer to not provide any dog obedience training, that’s a mistake. Puppy training – it’s best to start them young – can do much for your young dog, and will only help him as he gets older.
Where to Get Training?
You have a few choices:
- You can hire a professional trainer to come to your house
- You can attend dog obedience training classes
- You can buy an online ebook and CD or DVD (the cheapest and the preferred option)
Whatever you do, it’s important that your dog’s first (and future) experience with training is successful.
Dog Obedience Training
When most of us think about dog training, we think first and foremost about dog obedience training. Dog obedience training is really about the basics of training and includes learning commands like “sit,” “stay,” and “heel.”
Even if your dog only learns the most basic of dog training commands, his knowledge of just these basic commands is immensely useful to you as the dog owner.
A dog that’s received some dog obedience training is also much more pleasant to strangers and other dogs. You can control his behavior when necessary and he will also develop the inner discipline that will help him make right decisions even when you’re not around.
Dog House Training
Dog house training is something you can do yourself. You don’t need the experts for this, though a little advice from a dog training expert certainly can’t hurt.
Your dog should be house trained in order to ensure that he can understand the basics of his needs. That is, he should understand, through some consistent dog house training efforts on your part, that there are certain needs he has that must be met appropriately.
If you have never done any puppy training before with potty issues, you might look in the following places:
- Books, online ebooks and CD or DVD
- You Tube videos
- Friends with more experience than you
- Dog training experts
Crate Training
The concept of crate training is lost on many dog owners, but it’s a concept and a behavior that should be encouraged.
Crate training dogs gives them a sense of safety and security. While initially, many dog owners will use crate training as a puppy training method, the older dog benefits greatly from using a crate as well.
Crate training can be used to reinforce house training, or it can be used as a tool to teach a dog to sleep in a particular place at night, to keep the dog away from strangers, or transport the dog in the car.
There are so many essential uses for crate training, in fact, that dogs suffer from not having this kind of dog obedience training in their lives.
Basic Dog Training Tips
Dog training tips run the gamut from “be sure you use a firm voice” to “let your dog lead the way.” The reality is what works for you might not work for someone else and a different dog might respond differently to training.
Find your own path with your new dog. Keeping in mind that:
- He needs structure and discipline and dog obedience training gives him that
- He will respond to firm direction for you that’s given lovingly and consistently
- Both you and he will be happier in your relationship if your dog has even the most rudimentary of dog obedience training.
Dog training is an essential part of owning a dog. It’s worth whatever effort you are willing to give it.
Further Information
Further information about Dog Training and Dog Behavior can be found here.
