Keep Your Cool
Training you new puppy can be a challenge for both you and the dog. Sometimes it is hard for the dog to understand what
you want and you become frustrated trying to make it. New owner usually make a variety of mistakes when training that new
pup. The biggest mistake is loosing your temper, dogs love people and they want you to be happy.
Puppies Attention
First you must realize that even at a year old your puppy is still like a child. They start off with a short attention
span and it slowly grows. If the dog is not interested in what you are saying or doing you should wait until it is. A dog
will learn better when you have its attention.
Creatures of Habit
Many experiments have been performed using dogs. One of the most popular consisted of ringing a bell before the dog was
served a meal. When a dog eats, it naturally produces an excess of saliva, which helps to break the food down. In this experiment
the dog was given the food while the bell was ringing. After a few weeks the bell was rung without the food given and guess
what happened. The dog salivated without the presence of food. What does this tell us. Dog will naturally respond to consistency.
If every time you pick your puppy up you let it chew on your finger while you pet it, it will start chewing you finger so
that you will pet it. Dogs are not man's best friend for no reason. They want to make you happy. If you allow a certain behavior
and praise the dog then expect that behavior to continue. If you give it a old shoe and play tug-of-war with the shoe and
allow the dog to chew it. Then you can expect it to chew all of the shoes that it can find. Dogs cannot make the distinction
between your favorite shoes and the ones that it chews on.
Consistency
Consistency is the most important thing when training a dog. If you punish the dog every time for undesirable behavior
it while eventually stop. If you reward the dog for desired behavior then that behavior will continue. When I get a pup I
will take it outside to play with it and bring him inside when it is tired. This teaches them that when they are inside it
is not the time to play. One of the truest saying when working with dogs is "old habits die hard", you will spend more time
and energy breaking a dog from a bad habit then never letting it pick up undesirable behavior.
Commands
Using the same commands every time is also important. If every time you put your dog in the kennel you say kennel up.
Then eventually you can give the command and the dog will go to the kennel. Using the exact same phrase every time you give
a command is essential for the dog being to understand what you want. After a while it will almost appear as if you dog understands
English. These are a few tips that can help you have a dog that is well behaved.
