Portuguese Water Dog Magazine » Love

Benefits of formal dog training

Master — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:49:25 +0000

Formal training means regular sessions in a structured, “classroom” setting, either with a professional instructor or in a training club. Formal training may also include regular sessions on your own with your dog, but you shouldn’t forget the importance of socialization and working outside the home or back yard. It also means the dog isn’t going to be the only one receiving the training….

- An Ounce of Prevention

Formal training for your puppy, especially if you’re a new pet-parent, will help you to prevent many problems that can be experienced by even experienced owners. Puppy classes provide safe, effective socialization, which is critical part of a dog’s behavioral development.

Even if you adopt an older dog, you may prevent a minor irritation (barking, nipping, jumping, refusing to come when called) from becoming a major problem.

Each dog is different, and will have or may develop different quirks and idiosyncrasies. Early formal dog training may prevent these problems from surfacing, or you may learn how to properly manage issues that are instinctual or ingrained.

- Getting Out of a Rut

Some dogs’ behavioral problems are really caused and are often left unchecked because owners cannot see how THEY are actually reinforcing the bad behavior, or not correctly enforcing the right behavior when we get it. It’s very simple to get locked into doing the same thing over and over again, forgetting to try something new or even just taking a break. Having someone else watch you work with your dog may catch something in moments that has been plaguing you for months.

- Expertise

A good trainer has a lot of expertise – training experience, education and resources, as well as the capability to train dogs AND humans. With the ideal will in the world, not all owners can train their dog in the basics, either because they don’t have the time or the focus, or because they fell in love with a dog who has a training problem or two.

An experienced trainer, highly skilled owner or training club member will have the knowledge and the skill to help you over basic and unusualproblems, as well as providing encouragement and support.

- Neutral Party

It’s just human nature to put emotion into our problems, especially when we feel let down by our own abilities or decisions, or by others – even felling let down by our dogs. So when we have a problem or two (or more) with our dogs, we react with anger or frustration, we do not see available opportunities or we just give up. A trainer or other, more experienced owners can help you get past the emotions to find the solutions you need to make your training program a success.

- Interaction with Other Dogs and Humans

Socialization is an important part of a dog’s training, especially for puppies, but with the right guidance, socialization can help older dogs too. In some cases, another dog may actually help with the training, in ways a human never could. When working with other dogs and humans, it’s very important that everyone (dog and human) are playing by the same rules – no jumping, no hitting, no biting, no growling – and everyone is kept under control.

Tips for formal training:

- Find the right trainer for your dog.

- Beware of excessively harsh training methods – all dogs respondsuperior to kindness than aggression.

- Beware of happy-clappy, ‘packaged’ training methodologies – some training problems require more than an off-the-shelf training plan.

- Get references on any trainer you consider.

- Never give up – all dogs want to learn and please us, if physically possible.

Dog training basics: The come command

Master — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:48:41 +0000

Owning a dog is a huge responsibility. It’s up to you to keep your dog happy and healthy. Teaching your dog to come in any situation is an important part of keeping them safe.As a dog trainer one of the most frustrating and perilous things I’ve observed is an owner chasing their dog down a busy street trying to catch them.They get more and more upset the longer it takes to catch Fido. Out of frustration, when they finally catch Fido they reprimand him.They have just taught their dog that when they’re caught they’re in trouble. As the problem persists things just get worse.

Teaching your dog to come is really very simple if you stick to these guidelines. Start when your puppy is about 8 or 9 weeks old. This will work on any age dog.Put a long leach attached to a collar not a choke chain. Make sure you can always see Fido. They can get tangled up and hurt if left unsupervised. When your puppy isn’t paying attention to you say, “Fido come.” You may have to slowly and gently pull your puppy to you. When they get to you give them a small piece of their favorite treat and praise them. Repeat this over and over throughout the day and for several days.It wont be long before Fido figures out that “come” is a good thing and they will eagerly run to you.

So what do you do if your dog has done something wrong like chewing up your favorite shoes? You ALWAYS go to the dog. Don’t run and ensue a chase. Walk to them calmly. They may walk away sensing they are in trouble. Do not call the dog. Once you have Fido walk him over to his mistake and calmly say, no.” If your dog is loose and you must call them be sure to praise them even if you catch them while they are trying to get away from you. Your dog must be 100% sure that they’ll get love and praise when they get to you.

It’s also good to do this training around many distractions. This will teach your dog to come every time.

Popular Searchesportuguese water dog come command

Are small dogs safer pets around children?

Master — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 18:48:51 +0000

Small dogs are not always safer. They tend to be more wild, more careless, less obedient. As a child, I never had small dogs. I had a German Shepperd and a rottweiler… They were protective of me, and made sure that no one perilous was around me. One of them even protected my pet cat. He would go and stand over it when someone entered the backyard if it was out.

My friend had a small dog though. It would run around, run over us, cut us with it’s tiny claws.If we picked it up it would bite us. Small dogs don’t like other small things like babies, the jealousy factor. Big dogs seem to take it as a new member, a child, something it needs to learn about and protect. They are also able to take the abuse of a child. If a small child hits a huge dogs back, it will not do much. The dog won’t take it like a strike because it’s a baby, it doesn’t hit that hard. But if a child hit a small dog, that dog’s going to react by running or biting.

Now, it does depend on what type of small dog. Some dogs are naturally small. Pug dogs for instance, I love them. They are hyper as puppies, like all dogs are, but when they get older, though still rather small, they slow down a bit, kind of lazy, but still friendly and like to be around people.

It’s sometimes fault of a child and not the size of a dog… But kids are naturally curious… They will hit, they’ll pull, they might even bite a dog if they are young enough, and depending on the dog’s tolerance to a young child’s actions, will result in how the dog reacts.

Some small dogs are good pets, but I’d rather have my child near aBigprotective dog then a small dog too hyper to realize it’s running and snapping at my child.

Acquiring dogs: Adult or puppy

Master — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:49:12 +0000

I’m going to tell you how I acquired this Littledog of mine, and some of you probably won’t believe me, but it’s true. A friend of mine and her Littlethree year old boy came to my house for a visit. He saw that I had a Beta fish, and he wanted it. I told him that I wanted aTiny dog. He told me he would trade me his dog for the Beta, so I agreed. So did his mother.

I went over that night to pick up this Littledog, sight unseen, and she was all wet. Pam had just given her a bath. Needless to say, she smelled like a wet dog. I thought, “What have I gotten myself into.” But, no regrets. She was a good friend. A couple of weeks later, the Littleboy’s fish died. He wanted his dog back.

His Mothertold him that Gidget had a new home now and it wasn’t right to be an indian giver. He accepted that. He however, spent the rest of Gidget’s years visiting her. He cried as hard as I did when she had to be put to sleep.

My precious 15 year old dog was two when I got her, already fixed, all her shots, but knew nothing about playing. She had been abused, and with all the love and protection I gave her, She never got over some of her fears. I’ve never in my life seen a dog so terrified of thunder storms. The older she got, the more afraid I was, that she would have a heart attack.

I’d sit and hold her for what seemed like hours sometimes, while she panted, shook uncontrollably,and herTiny heart would race like itwas going to come right out of her chest. I often wondered if she had been left out in a bad storm, because she never got over it.

She always knew when one was coming about three hours ahead of time. I had people call and actually ask me how Gidget was acting. That way they knew what we were in for. When the storm hit, she was right there for me to hold her till the storm passed by.

She was a wonderful pet, as perfect as you could get. She was very possessive when someone would hug me, she was right there, barking her head off. It got to be a game with her. I’d pick her up and she’s get a hug to.

She slept at the foot of my bed. If I had a night where I could not sleep, she is follow me in the other room and stayed with me until I returned to bed. When I was sick, she never left my side unless she had to go outside, then she was right back.

She was so full of love, so loyal and undescribably wonderful. I loved her so much. I think how wonderful God was when He created an animal that was actually capable of being loved, responding to