With aggressive dogs it is best to begin slowly. Aggressive dogs see themselves as the dominant role in the pack and trying to take that role from them too quickly can result in a negative response from the animal. To avoid bites or difficulty, take small steps in establishing yourself as the pack leader.
Young dogs can easily be trained to retreat to their crate when they are tired. When crate training your dog, always keep the crate in the vicinity of where you and the dog are interacting. When he tires from play he will naturally gravitate towards the crate because to do so doesn’t isolate him from you.
When formally training your dog to complete specific skills like sitting or shaking hands on command, work with them in short slots of time interspersed throughout the day. Just as humans can grow bored or even angry when being required to complete one monotonous action after another, so can dogs.
Always be kind and patient with your dog. Understand that training dogs can be frustrating since some dogs have a more difficult time learning obedience than others. Always try not to lose your temper and resist the urge to scream or shout at your dog. Also, never hit your dog as this will only serve to confuse it and will actually make training more difficult.
Many instances can arise when an owner is out of ear shot of the dog but still clearly in his sight. Dogs can even be trained to respond to the position of the owner’s body. For example, the owner might raise his or her arms above his head and lean in one direction or another to direct the stock dog to a particular point in a field.
Puppies tend to nip as a way of communicating, and this should be curbed. It is normally a signal that they want to play. If you observe a puppy with his litter mates, this is the way that they interact with each other. When your puppy nips you, say ‘no’ firmly, and immediately give him a toy to play with.
Make sure you and your family are consistent with your commands. If one person uses “down” to tell the dog to get off the couch while another says “off” and a third is letting him lay there, the dog is going to get mixed signals. It makes it much more difficult for him to learn the commands.
Make sure you’re not reinforcing an undesirable behavior. You don’t want to give your dog treats or special attention during training if they’re not performing the task properly. If you do, then they’ll think you’re pleased and continue to do things the way they’re doing them, and they won’t improve.
When you take your puppy out to go to the bathroom, you must be patient with him. He has a short attention span and may get distracted by sounds and smells, or want to play. This is normal puppy behavior and should not be reprimanded, especially while he is still learning.
Cameron loves to play the violin, ride horses and write about dog training read more posts at Cat Boarding. Make sure to check out the post and tell us how about yourself. Watch out for the upcoming write on Cat Sitting