The Best Dog Training Manual Advice

How much did it cost you to buy your dog? 
How much have your spent on the bedding, collars, harness and a coat?  Toys?
How much have you spent on feeding your dog, treats, bones and special food?
How much have you spent on insurance, health care, veterinary care?

Have you added it all up?  Even just a rough estimate….. Is the number suprising?

How much have you spent on new shoes, new lawn, chewed up furniture, scratched doors, dog attacks?

I am surprised at how much people spend on their pets yet forget some basic needs of the animal – dog training!  Puppies are taken from their mothers at a few months of age and have no basic understanding of training.  You are responsible for teaching the puppy basic manners such as sit, stay, come, heel, wait.  You are also responsible for socialisation of the puppy, showing it how to interact with other animals and what is acceptable behaviour and what is not.  The problem is that sometimes puppies have a mind of their own or they don’t listen or they don’t want to or all of the above!!  Without proper guidance at this young age, your puppy can turn into a problem dog.  A problem dog = unhappy household.

A dog that misbehaves is not happy.  If it bites, it’s not happy.  If it escapes, it’s not happy.  If is growls, it’s not happy.  If it runs the house, it’s not happy.

The keys to successful dog training

1. Persistence – keep going. I know it can be very frustrating when it doesn’t seem to work or your dog have a memory of a goldfish.  Just keep at it

2. Patience – your dog is learning something new and it takes time.  Dogs read body language so be calm, keep your voice steady and don’t get angry..

3. Consistency – we can all get tired and can’t be bothered but if you have a rule, don’t bend it or break it otherwise your dog will know that the rules are just there to be played with.

4. Practice – keep at it. I know it can be boring but include puppy obedience training into everyday life.  Making your dog sit for it’s dinner, sit before crossing the road, wait while you go through the doorway.

5. Everyone in the family must be involved and doing the same thing.  There is nothing more destructive than the softie in the family who lets the dog get away with everything!  Your dog isn’t stupid.  It knows who to give the big doe eyes to… 

6. Knowledge - THE MOST IMPORTANT KEY – if you don’t know, how can you teach.

Dog Obedience courses can take the form of a group class, an individual trainer, a book or DVD.  I recommend all 3 as socialisation is important for the development of any dog.  Individual dog training will teach you how to teach your dog.  I strongly recommend a dog training manual to use instead of or in combination with dog training.  You will have something to refer to between classes if you have any problems or just forget your training techniques.  The benefits of a downloadable dog training manual is that you can access it any time, you have it instantly and best of all, you can print as many copies as you like!  You have one at home, one in the car and one for each of the family members to refer to.  Access to videos is important to watch what exactly is being done.  This is why I recommend the dog training manual.

Think of what the cost of owning your dog was earlier.  Training isn’t an expense.  It is an investment in your dog and your family to ensure a healthy, happy, well behaved dog which leads to a happy family!

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Aug 25, 2009 | 4 | Dog Training Manual

Dog Training Manual – Unacceptable behaviour

It is not worth going bankrupt and losing your house over a dog with bad manners. 

What is considered good dog behaviour and bad dog behaviour?  Barking, jumping, nipping, chasing, growling, guarding food and the couch, tug of war and territorial behaviour may be considered acceptable dog behaviour to some people and mortal sins to others.  Sometimes people may think certain behaviours are harmless until an incident occurs and your dog has to be destroyed or you face legal action.  Again, it is not worth losing your house over totally preventable behaviour.

Barking – there are people who like their dog to bark for security of their home.  Neighbourhood disputes commonly start over barking dogs especially if there are a few dogs in the street.  Large dogs have a deep bark whereas small dog can have a high pitched bark.  At night, noise travels well and if one dog starts barking it can set off every other dog in the vicinity.  What is considered excessive barking?  Some councils consider barking for more than 10 minutes/hr to be excessive.  A voice activated recorder put next to a clock that makes a noise on  the hour will let you know how much your dog is barking while you are out.  The most common reason for dog training – barking!
Jumping – it may start as a harmless behaviour when your dog was a puppy and if not addressed immediately can be an annoying behaviour.  It is not polite to have your dog jump up on or all over people.  What is very dangerous is the dog that jumps and tries to nip at the face.  If your dog bites a person or a child or knocks over and injures someone, you may face legal action.  So stop the behaviour NOW! 
Nipping – this can start with a puppy who likes to mouth everything, a dog that is very nervous giving little warning signals to stay away, a dog that has had enough and is telling you to stop, a dog showing dominant behaviour, to get attention or a dog that is so excitable that all rational behaviour goes out the window.   Nipping can occur anywhere on the body but usually hands, ankles and face.  As with jumping, this can start as innocuous behaviour but become a very dangerous habit.  This is not acceptable behaviour and should be stopped ASAP.  If your dog bites someone, it may be destroyed.
Growling is usually a warning to go away or stop what you are doing.  Is the dog growling because it is fearful, going to attack or trying to dominate over you?  Growling is not acceptable when you are grooming your dog.  Your dog has to learn there are certain things you have to do and it has to accept that, providing you are not hurting your dog.  Nail trims, ear cleaning, wiping the eyes, brushing, giving a tablet are something that both you and your dog must learn to do.

I will cover the other behaviours later.  The most important thing is dog obedience training so you are the pack leader where your dog listens and obeys your commands.  You may not mind your dog jumping on you or barking but at least teach your dog when these behaviours are acceptable and when they are not.  Otherwise your dog will be confused when it is suddenly reprimanded for something it has always done.

I strongly recommend having a dog training manual at home.  Have a look at this manual, they cover obedience training and how to deal with problem behaviours – Dog Training Manual

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Aug 20, 2009 | 7 | Dog Training Barking, Dog Training Courses, Dog Training Manual, Puppy Obedience Training

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