Why Train Your Dog?

Grim statistic The American Humane Association estimates that 60 percent of the dogs destroyed in our shelters had exhausted their owners' patience with their naughtiness. How sad to think that something as simple as daily exercise and training could have saved many of those lives. Trained dogs have more privileges, more freedom than untrained dogs... They are included in more family activities. Trained dogs are easier to live with, safer with children, and less likely to be a problem to neighbors or visitors. Through training, you will increase the bond between you and your dog and open the lines of communication. Training will help your dog learn to listen and follow directions, even in distracting situations. Training will broaden your dog's life experience - the extended socialization will help your dog learn to behave calmly around people and other animals. Safety! - A trained dog is a safer dog. More on Why to Train your Dog? CANINE SUBMISSION/DOMINATION- done regularly, it will result in a stable, happy, obedient and pleasant dog......... How to Train a Puppy: A puppy is a blank slate. It's entirely up to you to instill its good habits, break its bad ones, and of course, teach it a few tricks! No matter what specific tasks and tricks are on your learn-to-do list, your training method is what's going to make the difference between a pup that's a star pupil and one that's a slacker student. How well it performs is based entirely on how well you teach. With that in mind, here's a primer on a few different schools of dog-training thought. Nothing In Life Is Free: The N.I.L.I.F. training philosophy works on pups and older dogs alike. (Yes, you can teach them new tricks!) In short, the N.I.L.I.F. belief is that your dog can enjoy as much attention and as many treats, tummy scratches and furniture privileges as you, the owner, want to give him, but you must make the dog earn those things before indulging him. So, a hungry dog earns its meals simply by first obeying your command to sit and wait for the bowl to be placed on the floor. The dog can enjoy a game of fetch, but must heed your "down" command before you will toss the stick. Because N.I.L.I.F. positions you, the owner, as the decision maker in all aspects of the dog's life, it is effective training for both shy dogs and authoritative dogs. Clicker Training: A clicker is like a toy noisemaker that emits a short, chirp-like noise. The owner keeps the clicker on hand and clicks it when the dog exhibits positive, desired behavior, whether that involves potty training, socialization or learning tricks. By "marking" the moments of desirable behavior with clicks, the dog's learning environment is safe, low-pressure, and positive. (Bonus: It's also known to work on cats!) Sirius Puppy Training: In the 1980s, Dr. Ian Dunbar began teaching group classes for puppy training. Before his classes, the conventional wisdom was that you couldn't train a puppy younger than six months. Dunbar believes in training puppies not just in groups (the better to increase positive socialization) but to do so while all dogs are off-leash. Dunbar was also an early advocate of "lure/reward" training: positioning an edible treat (the "lure") to move your dog into positions such as "sit," then rewarding the dog with the lure. Sirius puppy schools are operated only in the San Francisco area, but there are many highly-praised books and videos available. 12 Tips for a Well Behaved Dog.............

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