Training

Training your dog is a very important aspect of ownership. You want your partnership to be an enjoyable one and having a dog that always pulls on the leash,barks or attacks other dog,growls threateningly at other humans,runs off out of sight when let off the leash is not enjoyable. You don’t want your relationship to be a constant battle of wills and neither does your dog,and training is the only way to avoid that. Training is not just getting your dog to walk beside you “at heel”,it is getting your dog to take notice of you and knowing what you want him to do. A well trained dog will look at you first if he sees a cat he has an urge to chase,he will look at you when a stranger pets him,he will look at you before chasing after a ball you have thrown. He will look for a sign of approval before he does anything,and this only comes as a result of continuous training. It is an ongoing process which will result in a better and closer relationship,one you will both enjoy.

Yes you can train your dog yourself,but,unless you have trained dogs before,you will be using trial-and-error methods,you may be doing things in a counter-productive way and you are unlikely to get the best results. Most towns and cities have expert dog trainers,people who train dogs for a living and know what works best and even know what works best with what breeds. As an outside observer they will be able to see what you are doing wrong and can explain how to do it right. You may not realise that you are giving your dog mixed messages,saying one thing while your body language says something else,or that you are pulling on the lead when you should be encouraging your dog to keep the lead slack,or that you are not praising enough etc. A trainer will see all this and bring it to your attention. Under a professional trainer you will learn how to train your dog correctly and your dog will learn to do what you want when you want it. With constant training your dog will start to anticipate you,he will walk to heal without being told,he will keep to you close off the lead,he will know what he should and shouldn’t do and he will look for your approval before he does anything.

You may think that you just haven’t got the spare time to attend dog training classes,but you can do them in place of one of his walks. Another point is that the training should be attended by all the family,or,at the very least,the one attending the training should pass on his/her new found skills to all the others. If just one of you does the training,your dog will be confused when he gets different signals/commands from other members of the family,and they will get annoyed or frustrated when the dog doesn’t obey them like he does you. Getting the training right can make the difference between having a difficult dog and having a dog whose sole purpose in life is to please his master –and you must be the master;if you aren’t,he will try to be,and neither of you will be happy with the result.

If you can’t afford the dog school fees,then you can always get a book or manual from the internet. There are a huge number of these so make sure you check the trainers credential/references thoroughly. The best formats to get are ones that include videos so you can see what the trainer is talking about and with e-books (books that can be downloaded and stored on your computer) you often will find sample videos and testimonials on their website to check out before you part with any money.