Dog behavior training is both an art and a science. Some experts state that a dog can have up to an 800-word vocabulary. I’m not so convinced of the number of words but I can verify that many of my dogs showed an uncanny capability to figure out exactly what I was trying to communicate.

One of the best dog training tips I ever got was from a neighbor when I got my first puppy. I was about 9 years old and this was the best present my parents had ever given me. My neighbor was an old hand at training dogs and had living proof in his own dog.

The first thing I did when I got Skipper (not sure why I picked that name, it just sounded right) was to rush over and show my neighbor. His name was hard to pronounce soEach one in the neighborhood just called him Mr. D. So Mr. D was kind enough to run through some dog training basics and taught me a lot about how to take care of my new puppy.

Mr. D’s dog was a Jack Terrier called Willie. Willie could do any trick and would respond to almost any request. Willie pretty much had the run of the neighborhood and was known by all. In those days people just let their dog out since there were no leash laws and no one complained. My Mom often gave Willie any leftovers or a soup bones when he would stop by for a visit.

So when I showed up with Skipper, Willie was as excited as I was to have a new playmate. Skipper was a Springer Spaniel that we’d rescued from the city dog pound. Skipper was probably about 6 months old but we never knew for sure since the dog pound didn’t know when he was born.

The first order of business was your basic dog house training. I got off pretty easy on this phase since Skipper seemed to prefer going outside to do his restroom chores. From day one Skipper would go to the door and want to be let out when he needed to go.

Mr. D explained that the two most important things about any kind of dog training were rewards and repetition. The reward could be as simple as praise or a pat on the head. And that I should spend at least 30 minutes a day working with Skipper on anything I wanted to instruct him to do.

So everyday I would spend 30 minutes teaching Skipper how to stay, sit, fetch, and come when I called. Willie would come over and help too. I don’t know if they actually communicated but having another dog around that already knew all these tricks had to be beneficial.

Skipper also showed a high aptitude for retrieving. Of course I didn’t know at the time that he was a natural born retriever and took credit for being a great and skilled dog trainer. Once I got the basics down I worked on teaching Skipper how to heel, play dead, and not to jump on people.

Skipper started learning on his own too. When I was at school or somewhere that Skipper couldn’t go, myMom would be his next choice in companion. In those days we’d what was called a Bookmobile that was a bus from the local library that would come to the neighborhood twice a week.

Skipper figured out that when the Bookmobile came he got to go for a walk with my mother. So like clockwork, Skipper would come to get my Motherwhen it was about 2:00 pm on Tuesday and Friday. Skipper loved to go since he got to sit at the door and welcome Every onethat showed up each day.

Skipper also knew when it was Saturday. Saturday was grocery-shopping day and when myMom went to the store she always asked the meat department for some bones. Skipper knew that he would get his favorite snack on Saturday afternoons when myMom came back from the store.

For the next 14 years Skipper was my constant companion and escort. Skipper was an exceptional dog in disposition, learning ability, and affection. I also had a large advantage having a helpful neighbor and watching him and his dog. Mr. D and Willie were both aMassivehelp and positive influence.

Dog training does require some dedicated effort but the rewards are more than worth the investment. My current dog, Tuxcitto, is a 24/7 project since he’s a Border Collie and full of vim and vigor. But Tuxcitto is a lot like Skipper in that he’s a fast learner and extremely affectionate companion.

In this article I will discuss the three primary aspects of training a dog. These three aspects are motivation, reinforcement and constancy. When these three principles are followed your dog will be working confident, happy and a tentative.

When begging to instruct your remember the most important things are consistency, rate of reinforcement and motivation. Consistency would be always giving the dog the same signals dogs love consistency and it will make stress levels go right down and produce far quicker results. The rate of reinforcement is how often the dog is rewarded when starting to instruct a new behavior the rate of reinforcement should be very high. The rate of reinforcement should gradually come down as the dog begins to learn the behavior until the rate of reinforcement is very low. A high rate of reinforcement will also encourage faster behaviors thought motivation. One of the biggest aspects to any dog training whether it be obedience, agility, fly ball or just general behavior obedience the most important thing is the dogs motivation. The dog must love to do what you’re asking of it when this is the case the dog will work fast and highly accurate. A dog that hasTiny or no motivation to work will be very slow and de-motivated making any training extremely difficult. Forced behavior which is where a dog is forced into the behavior will often produce a de-motivated dog in cases where dogs have been forced into behaviors the best thing to do is simplybegin from scratch with very high levels of reinforcement.

Reinforces to use:

Toys are the number one way to train dogs they produce highly motivated and highly obedient dog. When dogs love there reward and associate it with fast exciting situations then dogs will always work well. Games of tug etc are always a great way of producing high drive energy thats so sort after in so many dog sports including agility, flyball, working trials and many others.

Food is also a motivator often used I personally would always avoid using food for training as it produces a dog that becomes dependent of constantly being fed.

Clickers are a way of reinforcing a dog’s behavior with a easy click rather than the reward itself. This is a good way to train as it produces very quick results. The dog is being reinforced down to the millisecond getting through to the dog exactly whets excepted using a consistent click at the same consistent point when the desirable behavior is shown. The other advantage of training with a clicker is it removes many stages associated with baiting a dog etc. These stages include the gradual moving away from the dog so its producing the behavior on its own. Where as with a clicker you’re starting away from the dog.

Motivation, consistence and the rate of reinforcement are threeBig factors in training any dog. I hope through reading this guide you have learned how to train your dog more efficiently while producing a happier dog.

Using these three principles your dog will become fast at learning fast in producing the behavior, happy and overall confident in training. Remember training should always be fun for both the dog and owner. If a dogs happy its motivated if its motivated it will always work well.

Loose skin flakes, known as dander, is what causes the allergic reaction to dogs for some people. Most people think it is the loose hair which they are reacting to, but it is actually the dander.

There is a solution: a hypoallergenic dog. A dog with minimal dander which won’t cause an allergic reaction in people who usually have allergies to dogs.

There’s no such thing as 100% hypoallergenic dog, because all dogs release some dander. However, the following breeds listed shed very lightly and also release much less dander from their skin than other breeds:

- Bedlington Terrier

- Bichon Frise

- Chinese Crested

- Maltese

- Irish Water Spaniel

- Portuguese Water Dog

- Kerry Blue Terrier

- Poodle (toy, miniature and standard)

- Schnauzer (miniature, standard and giant)

- Xoloitzcuintli

These breeds will probably not trigger an allergic reaction. The Chinese Crested hairless variety and the Xoloitzcuintli both have no hair. As well as being the most hypoallergenic of all dog breeds, these dogs make very efficient hot water bottles.

Once you decide which of these dogs suits you, spend some time around the breed you have chosen to see whether you react. Spend a few hours in the home of the breeder, handling the dog and being in it’s environment to see if you still have an allergic reaction. Chances are you won’t.

Keep in mind that some people react to dog saliva when they’re licked by a dog. Unfortunately, if you’re allergic to dog saliva these breeds may not help you, because althoughthey do not shed much dander, they will still lick. If you are allergic to dog saliva then you may still be able to have a dog if you can train him not to lick you. However, dogs show their affection by licking you so this may be difficult.

While training a dog you can make a number of mistakes. First and most important mistakes new dog trainers make is that they think that a dog, like a human, can effectively respond to their words. They sometimes think that they can scare their dog into doing something. For example, you might state something like stop sniffing every mailbox you come to. Does that ever work? Well to a dog, since they obviously do not understand English he/she thinks you’re saying “Stop pulling my leash, I’m just marking my territory. Are you yelling at me, you try basically living in the laundry room. And those healthy science diet food. My word it’s like trying to eat a sock. The walk is my only haven. Hey I need to mark my territory. Once I run away, key work once, I need to go somewhere. So before you yell at your dog remember, he no hablo Ingles.” (I do not speak English.(In Spanish).)

Tweed and Twirls or Military Marching – that was the only choice of dog training clubs back in the 1980′s. The tweed and twirls brigade were the Ringcraft classes for the ladies of substance who lunched in between breeding and showing their pedigree dogs. The Military Marching were the basic obedience classes for the rest of us, with our motley selection of mutts and mongrels and for men with mad dogs that lunged at old ladies and kids in the street. These classes were usually run by ex-military dog handlers who could bark, growl and snarl more fiercely than most of their pupils!

The only other choice you had was which town you wanted to embarrass yourself in your own or the one five miles up the road. Yes, it really was that simple in those days!

Now here we’re baffled by a choice of Ringcraft, Obedience, Heelwork to Music, Agility, Search and Rescue, Flyball and breed specific clubs. My advice isbegin with basic obedience class which forms the foundation of any advanced or competitive discipline. Then, when you’ve mastered the basics, you can move on to a specialist club or perhaps ask if your club could run a Have A Go at sessions.

If you are spoilt for choice for easily accessible obedience clubs in your area you should visit them, without your dog, to ask to watch a session take place prior to registering. You can check out the lesson times and prices at the same time. Does the training hall look clean and smell fresh or is it distinctly whiffy’ and wet underfoot? Find out how they register clients do they ask to see vaccination and insurance certificates? If they don’t walk away before you catch something nasty!

Observe how dogs are allowed to interact with each other, is there much hostility in the room, is aggression being dealt with promptly by the instructors? Note what the pupil to instructor ratio is like, are pupils getting individual attention as well as group instruction?

How do corrections take place? Are you happy with their techniques or do you feel uncomfortable about witnessing that level of shouting, aggression or physical chastisement? How do they praise good behavior, is it regular and consistent or do they complete exercises without praising their dogs? Lastly, do they set homework’ for pupils to keep practicing exercises between classes because like learning any subject one hour a week just won’t work.

When you find the club you feel most comfortable with try to be a good pupil. Turn up, pay up, listen up and clean up! Join in their social activities, learn from their teachers and long-term members and most importantly have a great time with your dog who will be delighted at having their own social club membership!

A dog’s behavior can bealtered by many methods, but the three tools most often used are a dog training collar. They are most often used for barking, confinement or general behavior and each dog training collar is designed with each different behavior in mind. For example, for barking, a small box built into the collar will give the animal a slight shock when it barks. It does not take long for the dog to realize that when they don’t bark, they don’t get shocked.

This aversion to pain,even though the shock is slight are won’t cause physical harm, it does get the dog’s attention that it is doing something unwanted. Similarly, confinement training with an invisible fence, will give the animal a shock once it passes a certain boundary in the yard. The dog training collar is placed on the dog and a wire buried underground emits low-level electricity much like an above-ground electric fence used for cattle.

When the fence is buried, many people place flags in the ground marking the boundary helping the dog to recognize the invisible line that when crossed will result in an electric shock. Over a short time, once the animal learns where the boundary is located, users can generally turn off power to the fence and even turn off the dog training collar. As long as the dog feels the collar the typically will not cross the boundary line, having learned where the invisible line is located.

Off-Site Behavior Modification Methods dog training collar

There may be reasons when an invisible fence isn’t possible, such as living in an apartment or and electrical connection is not available for the fence. Another dog training collar is equipped with a remote control that sends out a signal to the collar to jolt the animal whenever behavior does meet the owner’s expectation.

For example, if you take the dog for a walk without a leash and the dog is to stay within certain confines, whenever it strays from the area a push on the remote control sends out a light shock to bring the dog back into the desired area. This type of dog training collar can also be used for other behaviors, such as digging in the yard or jumping up on neighbors or guests. When the animalstart unacceptable behaviors, the light shock can cause them to stop.

The owner should never use the remote for “fun” or allow kids access to the remote as inconsistent use, or unnecessary use can cause the dog to misbehave and even rebel against the user of the collar.

One of the most commonly used dog training aids is the whistle. Historically, the whistle was used to train hunting herding dogs. The whistle creates the least noise and it sound reaches far compared to the human voice. Besides, when you are out there herding or hunting, shouting commands to your dog from a distance is not advisable. Note that the human voice is very scary to animals especially in the wild. On the other hand, the sound of the whistle often easily blends with the other sounds of the place thus it does not cause so many disturbances. Furthermore, the dog’s ear is more tuned to higher frequency sounds like that of a whistle. Since high frequency sounds travel a greater distance than the human voice, the whistle works well for dogs that are used for herding and hunting.

In our modern times, many handlers prefer the whistle as part of their dog training aids. The use of the whistles as dog training aids is no longer limited to those dogs that are used for hunting and herding. Many pet owners prefer to use the whistle to call their pets or to issue commands from a distance.

Training Your Dog With The Help Of A Whistle

Using whistles as dog training aids require skills and knowledge on your part. If you have no idea how to use the whistle as part of your dog training aids, it is ideal to ask an expert to help you. You can’t just simply use a whistle randomly as part of your dog training aids. Always remember that you dog need to be able to understand what the tone of the whistle means in order for it to follow accordingly. Dog trainers have developed some standard whistle commands over time. For instance, a whistle command to sit can be issued by one long whistle blast together with a raised hand open hand. On the other hand, if you want to direct the attention of the dog, you can make two short whistle blasts and point the new direction with your hand.

On the other hand, different types of whistles may be used for different commands. Dogs can be trained to respond to different sounds and pitches of the whistle. However, these rules on how to use the whistle as part of your dog training aids are not absolute. You can always improvise when dealing with your dog so do not limit yourself to whistle commands that others have set.

On September 21, 2007, the Marysville Schutzhund Club hosted a helper seminar and certification with SV Judge Wolfgang Bttger and teaching helper Thomas Grewe as part of our September club trial. Our newest club member, Josh Coleman, worked toward becoming a certified club helper and our club President Thomas Sauerhfer worked towards becoming a Regional helper.

Teaching Helper Thomas Grewe had Josh out on the field first. Thomas Sauerhfer has been teaching Josh helper work for the last two months. Even though he has only been working for a short time, with Thomas’ expert guidance, Josh gave a solid performance, as he always does, and he became a certified club helper. Thomas Grewe told Josh that he hopes he sticks with working dogs, because with a combination of his natural talent and ability along with a few years of experience, and absorbing the knowledge that Thomas is passing along to him, he sees Josh going to a National level to work dogs. All of our club members are impressed with Josh and we look forward to a long future working with him.

After Josh was finished, Thomas Sauerhfer was out on the field. Thomas has over 27 years of experience working as a helper and a handler. As he performed out on the field it was obvious that working dogs is second nature to him. He makes it look easy. There was no hesitation from Thomas Grewe as he gave the critique and told Thomas that he was unquestionably a Regional helper.

The Marysville Schutzhund Club looks forward to the next year as we plan on hosting several events, including club trials and a show.

Congratulations to Thomas Sauerhfer and Josh Coleman from all of us in the club and thank you to both of you for all of your hard work and dedication to each of us and all of our dogs.