How you can Effectively Train your Dog? Patience is the key.
Partha Mitra
Whether you are an amateur and have bought a puppy recently or have an unmanageable dog at home, don’t feel that his training can wait till you find a professional dog trainer, or that you are to inexperienced to train him. Your dog needs training and so do you. Training develops a sense of mutual respect between you and your new pet. You are always training your dog - whether intentionally or not, your dog is always learning from you.
Often there are several benefits if a dog is trained by his owner.
1) Bonding – A training phase means more communication with your dog. This means more understanding and mutual respect. When you start training your dog, start by doing very little correction at this stage. Instead of putting him in restrictions (like keeping your dog tied to a chain), use toys or food to motivate. Remember you are training your dog to obey you. Too much restriction will result in making him adamant. Your dog should understand exactly what you want him to do and that takes time. So be patient when your dog disobeys at the initial stage. It might be simply because of 2 reasons. a)Your dog does not understand you. Be patient in this case and repeat your instruction with body language. b)The second is more typical, your dog does not find a reason to do what you say. Use a variety of methods of motivation by giving him toys or food.
2) Obedience – A good trained dog is an obedient dog. Proper training initiates respect from your dog. When your dog respects you, he is easier to manage. This will also mean that you will have to use less force or restrictions (like always keeping your dog chained up, or locking him up.)
3) Acceptance – You and your dog is more accepted in society and other places if he is manageable. A trained dog is easier to take along anywhere without being a nuisance.
4) A trained dog is a happy dog - A misbehaving dog can cause trouble not only to others and his owner and but also to himself, since if a dog misbehaves, he is bound to be chained up or locked up and thereby giving him less freedom. This causes anguish both on your side and your dog’s leaving you both strained up. If your dog obeys you it is easier to give him more freedom and leave him unchained and that results in more fun and happiness. It is easy for you to leave your dog unlocked or even taking him out to play if he obeys you.
5) Training saves your dog’s life – Imagine anyone adopting or looking after a bully dog? On the other hand a trained dog can easily be given for adoption or to be looked after if you are moving to a different place or going out for a few days.
I would like to recommend "Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer" by Adam Katz. http://dogtraining.dotpacket.net . One of the reason I personally liked this book, is Adam methodically explains each stages of the training process, which according to him can be divided in 3 important phases - The Learning Phase, The Reinforcement Phase and The Proofing Phase. Another thing that he mentions in the book is ‘consistency’ in training. In other words, insisting on a certain behavior every time. Once the dog has learned what the command means, he needs to be “re- taught” the command in a variety of different settings. Because he will more likely only associate response to the command in the initial setting you’ve trained him in, he needs to “relearn” the command in different types of areas.
The methods mentioned here are workable and easy to understand, although I do not say that this can be your complete guide book – you may not agree with a few methods and find a different approach better, I recommend that you read his arguments and then take your own decision. After all you know your dog and environment better, but the basic training methods and information I found in this book is priceless.
Check out other Dog training sites Online Dog Training Site : http://dotpacket.net/dogonline Step By Step Dog Training: http://dotpacket.net/dogstep Potty Train your dog in 7 days : http://dotpacket.net/pottytrain
About the author: I have found these sites very useful; "Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer" : http://dogtraining.dotpacket.net Online Dog Training Site : http://dotpacket.net/dogonline Step By Step Dog Training: http://dotpacket.net/dogstep Potty Train your dog in 7 days : http://dotpacket.net/pottytrain