The Dog Site

When you get a puppy, you might not think immediately about dog training, but you really should. Having a well trained dog can mean the difference between a settled household and a chaotic one.

Dog behavior is directly impacted by how much training he has. He needs to have structure and limits in his life. If you don’t provide this, he will, and that can create significant behavior problems in your dog.

Why Train Your Dog?

No matter your dog’s breed, he is descended from wolves and his instinct is to be part of a pack. In the dog pack, there is a hierarchy, with clear dominant roles and submissive roles. If you don’t make yourself the leader of the pack, your dog will make himself that leader. That’s not good and creates all kinds of dog problems.

Training establishes and reinforces the hierarchy concept for a dog. It teaches him that someone in the household is in control and that he must submit to that person.

Although some people say they prefer to not provide any dog obedience training, that’s a mistake. Puppy training – it’s best to start them young – can do much for your young dog, and will only help him as he gets older.

Where to Get Training?

You have a few choices:

1. You can hire a professional trainer to come to your house
2. You can attend dog obedience training classes
3. You can buy an online ebook and CD or DVD (the cheapest and the preferred option)

Whatever you do, it’s important that your dog’s first (and future) experience with training is successful.

Dog Obedience Training.

When most of us think about dog training, we think first and foremost about dog obedience training. Dog obedience training is really about the basics of training and includes learning commands like “sit,” “stay,” and “heel.”

Even if your dog only learns the most basic of dog training commands, his knowledge of just these basic commands is immensely useful to you as the dog owner.

A dog that’s received some dog obedience training is also much more pleasant to strangers and other dogs. You can control his behavior when necessary and he will also develop the inner discipline that will help him make right decisions even when you’re not around.

Dog House Training

Dog house training is something you can do yourself. You don’t need the experts for this, though a little advice from a dog training expert certainly can’t hurt.

Your dog should be house trained so that he can understand the basics of his needs. That is, he should understand, through some consistent dog house training efforts on your part, that there are certain needs he has that must be met appropriately.

If you have never done any puppy training before with potty issues, you might look in the following places:

* Books, online ebooks and CD or DVD
* You Tube videos
* Friends with more experience than you
* Dog training experts

Crate Training

The concept of crate training is lost on many dog owners, but it’s a concept and a behavior that should be encouraged.

Crate training dogs gives them a sense of safety and security. While initially, many dog owners will use crate training as a puppy training method, the older dog benefits greatly from using a crate as well.

Crate training can be used to reinforce house training, or it can be used as a tool to teach a dog to sleep in a particular place at night, to keep the dog away from strangers, or transport the dog in the car.

There are so many essential uses for crate training, in fact, that dogs suffer from not having this kind of dog obedience training in their lives.

Basic Dogs Puppy Training

Dog training tips run the gamut from “be sure you use a firm voice” to “let your dog lead the way.” The reality is what works for you might not work for someone else and a different dog might respond differently to training.

Find your own path with your new dog. Keeping in mind that:

* He needs structure and discipline and dog obedience training gives him that
* He will respond to firm direction from you that’s given lovingly and consistently
* Both you and he will be happier in your relationship if your dog has even the basic comprehension of dog obedience training.

Dog training is an essential part of owning a dog. It’s worth whatever effort you are willing to give it.

No one would ever believe that the little innocent puppy that they brought home could turn into a dog that is one bad mistake away from being sent away. Aggressive dogs do not just happen over night. Dogs are not born aggressive or menacing towards people. Dogs that are properly trained and well cared for rarely become aggressive. If you adopted your dog as an adult you will need to be particularly cautious and be sure that your dog has proper dog obedience training.

Making sure your dog knows who is the leader and who is the pet is critical in making housebreaking an easy job for you both. Dog and puppy training is vital for more than just ensuring that she no longer chews your favorite shoes to pieces. You have to make sure that you stop your pet from becoming one of the thousands of aggressive dogs out there. Dog growling and dog biting can lead to very bad situations. If you perform the correct dog training, neither of these would happen.

Problems Experienced from Aggressive Dogs

* Neighbors, family, or friends may sustain physical injuries
* Emotional damage to youngsters
* Destroyed personal items
* Previous situations that create lawsuits
* The dog becoming one of the many aggressive dogs that are put to sleep each year

Any pet lover can see you need to do all that is possible to prevent your pet from becoming one of those aggressive dogs. You should seek outside help from a professional if you feel that you are unable to fix and control the problem on your own. There are many professional dog trainers out there who specialize in aggressive dogs.

It’s advisable to do as much reading and research as you can on aggressive dogs. Learn that hitting a dog is not the way to train it. Violence only leads to violence, so be sure you aren’t contributing to the creation of aggressive dogs. You may have luck with the books and videos out there but you will have a much better chance at solving the problem, or preventing one from ever happening, by bringing an expert into your home.

Getting More Help

Whether it is a free trainer or one you pay for you have to realize that there is nothing more important than making sure that you are taking responsibility for your dog and its actions. The owners are always the ones that are accountable for the behavior of their aggressive dog, so be sure to avoid the potential legal or moral situations.

If you have a dog that has not yet experienced signs of becoming one of the many aggressive dogs out there then you have a little time. But if your dog has shown any signs of rough play or destructive behavior then you have no time to waste.

One of the first things you will want to do with your new puppy is housebreaking him. One that can only lead to confusion for the dog later on is giving your new dog a little time to get to know the family and the house before laying down the law. Your dog will be confused if you have allowed it to run free with no discipline, then all of a sudden expect it to be well-behaved.

It Is Never Too Late

You are still able to fix the situation even if you have let your dog run free with no rules. Unlike a popular belief out there, it is never too late to start dog training with a dog. Whether your puppy is young or old you can still include housebreaking into his/her daily routine. Whether it is dog chewing, dog biting, or dog growling that you are dealing with, it is important to pick out the behavior that concerns you the most. Start housebreaking on those behaviors and once you have accomplished those then you can move on to something else.

You should start housebreaking your dog as soon as possible to ensure that your pet does not become aggressive. If the largest problem that you have at this time is potty training, then make that your first item to work on.

Tips for Housebreaking Your Dog

* Restrict food and water to the appropriate meal times
* Keep peed pads in one area
* When your dog is good, praise them
* Don’t hit the dog if he misses the pee pad
* After fifteen or twenty minutes of giving the puppy something to eat or drink, it needs to be taken to the pee pad

A lot of people leave water and food out for their dog all day long. While this is an okay routine for older dogs that can hold their bladder, it is not advisable for puppies. Young pups are not able to hold their bladder for very long, even if they wanted to. This will result in a lot of accidents around the house for which you really cannot blame the puppy. So leaving food and water out all of the time is counterproductive to your goals in housebreaking.

If your puppy always misses the pee pad and continues to go to the bathroom in another part of the house, simply place the pee pad in that spot. At this stage, housebreaking is just acclimating the puppy to the pad with respect to going to the bathroom. Once they are used to it, you can continue with housebreaking by slowing moving the pee pad every few days towards the spot you eventually want the pads to reside at.

While this housebreaking process may seem like it takes forever, it is extremely important. You don’t want your dog using the bathroom everywhere. You would also like an easy process of housebreaking for your dog to prevent it becoming disinterested. Get outside help in puppy training if you need it. No matter who is in charge of doing it, just know that housebreaking takes time.