Portuguese Water Dog Magazine » Train Dog

Dog training basics: The sit command

Master — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 19:49:19 +0000

Who doesn’t want their dog trained? How wonderful it would be to have a dog that stays when you tell him to, who doesn’t bark at the people walking by, and who doesn’t jump up on strangers! When I help out at the Humane Society and see how many people give there dogs to animal shelters because they’re “not trainable” or “misbehaved”, it makes me very sad. The dogs aren’t the problem, how you try to train them is. Also, it doesn’t really matter how old your dog is, as long as it is older than about 8 weeks. The saying “you cannot teach an old dog new tricks” is not true. It is just harder to teach older dogs because they’ve a mind of their own.

Anyways, all of the wonderful things I stated above are within reach, you just have to train your dog right! The poorTiny dogs just want to please you, and without your help, they don’t exactly know what it is you want them to do! The first command anyone should instruct there dog if they want to make progress is ‘sit’. Sit is what all of the other tricks and behaviors are based off of. Just follow the steps below to get a well trained dog in almost no time at all!

Step 1: The Treats

When picking treats for your dog, you mustselect wisely. Since you will be feeding these treats to your dog daily, you need to make sure they’re healthy. Also, make sure your dog will do almost anything for them. It will make training a lot easier.

Step 2: The Training Area/Time

When I train my dog, I turn off all noises and make sure that my brothers aren’t in the house. Any other distractions also need to be gone. Peaceful and quite places are the best training areas until your dog has mastered the trick.

I work with my dog, Holly, in the middle of the day, when she has the most energy. I have recently learned that most other trainers teach in the middle of the day, too. Make sure that you sometimes change the rooms you train in so that your dog doesn’t associate the trick and treat to the room.

Step 3: The Trick- Part 1

Hold the treat in front of your dog’s nose, to get his or her attention. Then slowly move the treat up and towards your dogs back. This will get your dog to follow the treat with his or her nose. Also, decide what hand gesture you want to use, as you’ll use it aTiny bit later. I personally face my hand palm up and then move it up slowly, but the choice is up to you. Just make sure that you do not switch gestures after you startusing one, as it will confuse your dog.

Step 4: The Trick- Part 2

Keep moving

Assistant dog training: On and off leash

Master — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:49:30 +0000

How to train your dog on and off the leash. First, get rid of any retractable wire leash, or anything which expands and contracts. This only teaches the dog to pull against you. The ideal leash is one that’s longer than 10 feet made of nylon with no fancy handle. If you’re a disabled person, a plain, lightweight leash is best to handle with your hands and/or mouth if needed. The dog’s collar should not be a choke chain, studded with spikes or anything else which causes the dog discomfort. A puppy or very small dog should be using a harness for his own protection, since small dogs can simply slip out of their collars.

Eventually, you will want to train the dog off the leash. This can be done by calling the dog to come to you using a whistle, jinggling vehicle keys or even a simple snapping of the fingers. This comes in really handy when you don’t want anyone else to know the dog’s name or command him without your knowledge. You can even train the dog to come to another pet name that only you and the dog know. I have known of Police K9 dogs who were trained to a foreign language to avoid interference by criminals.

You can instruct the dog to come to a treat, or by giving a Littletug to the leash in your direction. You should never be pulling or tugging the dog around. The trick is to make him come willingly, either by love or fear of punishment, but in the end “come” is the most important command of all because it could very well save the dog’s life if a vicious animal or car is approaching. You can instruct the dog to alert for these by saying to your assistant dog “dog coming” or “big automobile coming” so he connects the sounds and smells with the object approaching.

When the dog is off the leash, he should be taught to stay close to you or at least in your sight. I trained my dog this way by playing hide and seek. If I disappeared behind a tree, he knows he must come and find me so that we’re in sight of each other. The dog should never be granted to rush, jump on, or go after other dogs, cats or people. You can startto train the dog this way by asking him to “sit” or “wait/stay” as these approach. It is easy to instruct the dog to stay, since you have control of the lead or leash. Being consistent and working with the dog daily will instill these behaviors instinctually. If the dog pulls or tugs on the leash, simply remind the dog with a tiny tug back, “no pulling.”

Big dogs like to pull their weight around, but remind the dog you’re the boss and don’t go any further in a walk or out the door until the dog sits, waits and knows you’re ready to go forward.

The dog is taught to sit by pulling up on the leash, with your hand on their rump, pushing down. Lie down command is done by pulling the leash down from the neck, with your hand on their back pushing down. Always give treats, love and affection for a task well done. In time, the assistant dog will perform well in order to get rewards for the job they do.

Working in a fenced or enclosed area with an untrained dog is best. This way, the dog can only run so far. I have found school yards on Sundays, and off-season tennis courts most helpful. The leash should be long enough to give the dog space, but short enough to have control over the animal.

It is easy to train the dog, if you’ve the right equipment and environment.

Essential tips for better dog training – Part 1

Master — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:49:19 +0000

when first getting a dog u always want to make sure u have the right supplies for your dog

you need to have a collar, a leash, chewing toys, and if u want to dress it up then buy

it some clothes. the first step of training a dog is having it go the the bathroom out side,

this will not only a training for your dog but for you because you will be most responsible

for your dogs bathroom breaks, so by training yourself you need to watch your dog to see if it

gives you some kind of sign when it needs to go to the restroom. if at any time your dog goes to the restroom you need to punish it, by either giving it a spanking, or yelling “NO” and then

picking up the dogcompleted going to the loo you state “good dog” and then pet it and comfort it showing it that outside is the best place to go to the restroom, and after doing this routine the dog will learn that outside is were to go for a bathroom break. The next training you might want to do is to have your dog sit before going outside so that the dog knows that your under control, so when the dog is whining to go outside you should have it sit, first you state “sit” and if it doesn’t respond you should try putting one of your hands on the dogs chest, and the other hand on the back near the tell, then push the chest towards the back holding the hand near the tail steady, then it should sit, so when you have your to dog sitting the next thing u need to do is tell it to “stay” if it comes right back up do the same thing over and over until it realizes that if it doesn’t stay it wont go out side. so try that for a while until your dog listens to you. another thing you may want to train your dog is to fetch but bring back the object you through, fist after you throw the object call your dog back when it has hold of it, if it doesn’t listen grab the object away from the dog and just hold it there not throwing it, once the dog is settled thorw it again and do the same thing over and over when it starts coming to you, and if i does so tell it “good dog” another thing you may want to learn is having the dog follow you, either take the dog in your front yard or the park, while your walking call the dog to you if it starts walking away, if it doesn’t listen grab the dog and have it sit by you for a minute or two, once done let go of the dog and do this over and over until he starts following you, what iadvocate you do now is tell the dog, “good dog” and then give it a treat.