Archive for the ‘Dog Training’ Category

By Sandra Scott

Your dog may be digging because he is too hot or too cold. When your dog digs a hole and lies in it, his temperature can be self-regulated. Unlike humans, dogs can’t remove their clothing or add layers, so they have to come up with other ways to get relief from the weather conditions.

In addition, dogs dig due to boredom. When a dog owner is away from the home all day, dogs can become extremely bored. A dog that is left alone will find ways to entertain himself. Unfortunately, this may be digging!

They will need to be channeled in alternate directions in order to stop the digging behavior. Often all that is required is that they be given a safe spot for digging without any possibility of consequences. Certain breeds are predisposed to digging. These breeds will require extra patience from you in order to stop their digging behavior.

For more information on how to stop your dog from digging, I recommend that you check out: Stop Dogs from Digging

The following tips should help to stop dogs from digging up your yard:

1. Put an unpleasant “present” in the hole dug by your dog. Frequently, a dog will begin digging, take a break from the hole, and come back later to carry on digging. While your dog is taking his break from digging, you should put the surprise in the hole. One suggestion is water sprayed with bitter apple, which is available in pet stores.

    

2. Placing garden waste in the holes is one way to stop your dog from digging. Dogs prefer to dig in “clean” dirt. You should put mulch, sticks, dead vegetation, and rocks in the hole and lightly cover it with soil. When your dog returns to his digging activities and finds these unwanted items in his hole, he will probably stop digging. If this isn’t successful, fill the hole and spray with bitter apple. As the majority of dogs do not like the odor, they will stop digging in the hole.

    

3. Your dog should be provided with a designated area where he can dig to his heart’s delight. Digging is instinctive for dogs. Training your dog to dig just in that spot may take time but it is possible. Stop dogs from digging in your flower garden by giving them an area where they are free to dig a few holes.

   A sandbox is one option or an area of your garden that has not been landscaped could be cordoned off. In order to teach your dog that he can dig in a particular spot, you should bury some treats where he can easily find them. If your dog has previously been chastized for his digging activities, he may require extra encouragement. As soon as he understands that digging in that area is permitted, he will be an overjoyed dog.

    

4. When your dog has been provided with his own designated spot for digging, you will still need to keep things interesting for him. Occasionally, hide a treat or toy in the ground for him to discover. As dogs get bored with digging in the same area, he may decide that another part of your backyard looks more interesting.

   Every so often, the sand or dirt in your dog’s digging patch should be changed. Fresh dirt rather than hard earth is preferred by most dogs. Also, there will be occasions when your dog finds your flower beds more appealing than his designated digging spot. Sprinkle your flowerbeds with animal essence, which is used by hunters to attract animals. The odor from other animals may discourage your dog’s digging.

These tips will help to stop dogs from digging in areas other than the designated spots you have assigned to them. Dogs are not being mean when they dig under your fence as this is instinctive behavior for them.

To stop your dog’s annoying digging behavior, make sure you check out: Stop Dogs from Digging

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Dogs come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing they all have in common is the love of digging. From burying bones to making cool dens for shelter, dogs in yards will inevitably turn to this favorite past time.

This natural behavior can wreak havoc on your yard and garden if it goes unchecked. What is the best way to curb the digging impulse?

Why does your dog dig? Does he just like the action and feeling or is there another reason lurking underneath? Figuring out why your dog is engaging in this undesirable behavior is the first step in correcting it.

Some dogs do enjoy the act of digging, but others use it to communicate with you. They may be crying out for attention or more exercise. They may need a shelter to stay warm or cool. They may be burying food. If you’ve recently put down fertilizer or dug in your garden, your dog may be responding to the scents.

Knowing the reason behind the digging can help you stop the behavior. For instance, if it is due to boredom or lack of attention, you can start to offer your dog more play time with you. Dog obedience training can go a long way in discouraging the behaviour.

If the problem persists, try one of the following:

1. Find the spots your dog usually digs and bury a balloon that has been inflated. If your dog digs, he’ll pop the balloon. This unpleasant reaction to his digging can deter him from continuing.

2. Along the same lines, you can mix in his feces when you refill a hole he’s dug. Dogs will often return to the same spots, and when he discovers the feces, he’ll be turned off digging.

3. Try burying some chicken wire just below the surface where your dog likes to dig. When your dog pits the wire with his paws, he’ll hate the sensation and stop digging.

4. When you catch your dog digging, give him a spray from a water bottle or hose. They hate this (but it is not harmful). They will learn to associate the punishment with the crime. Only do this when you catch him digging or he will not connect the behavior with the consequence.

You love your pet; you don’t have to love his bad habits too. If digging is a problem, take immediate steps to correct your dog’s behavior. He’ll be happy, and your yard will thank you. As with puppy training, education will take hold eventually and your dog will be able to correct bad behaviour.

Clicker Training – A Great Training Technique

You want to teach your dog acceptable behavior in a gentle, humane way. Many people have found success with the clicker method.

Operant conditioning is the repetition of a behavior when a reward is given. This is the premise behind clicker training. How does it work?

You hold a small plastic box in your hand. It has a metal strip which produces a clicking sound when pressed.

When you first start click training, you pair the click with a reward, such as a dog biscuit. When the dog performs a command well, you click immediately and offer the treat.

The dog learns to associate the click with the behavior and the click with the treat, which makes it more likely that he’ll repeat it. Soon, just the click will be enough, and eventually, it can be phased out altogether.

You can often train dogs with clickers faster and more effectively than with other means. Clicking is immediate, so your dog quickly learns that his behavior is producing the treat. This encourages repetition of the desired behaviors.

Dogs want to make you happy, and performing commands is a great way for them to do this. And get a treat in the process. The clicker is a great training tool for encouraging good behavior.

Get the information you need to take effective care of your pet with dog training collar.

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Now that you have brought your new dog home it is time to start the housebreaking. 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

If you have already allowed your dog to run free without rules you can still correct the situation. 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 your problem is dog chewing, dog biting or dog growling, you need to focus on the unwanted behavior that is your highest concern. After housebreaking them on the first behavior, then you can move on to the next.

In order to make sure that your pet never becomes one of those aggressive dogs you always hear about on the news, you have to start housebreaking as soon as possible. If your biggest problem at the moment, especially if you have a puppy, is where the dog is and is not allowed to go potty then you will need to start with that.

Housebreaking Tips

* Restrict food and water to the appropriate meal times
* Keep peed pads in one area
* You should praise your pet when it displays good behavior
* Never strike or slap the dog if it misses the pee pad
* Take the puppy to the pee pad within fifteen to twenty minutes of drinking or eating

Many people will leave the food and water out all the time for their dog. 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 cause more accidents in the house that are not the fault of the puppy. So leaving food and water out all of the time is counterproductive to your goals in housebreaking.

Place the pee pad in the spot of the home where your puppy goes if he continues to miss the pee pad. Housebreaking at this stage just simply means that you are getting the puppy adjusted to going to the bathroom on top of the pad. Once your pet is used to this, you may progress the housebreaking by moving the ‘pee pad’ a small distance every day until it is eventually located where you want it.

Although the procedure for housebreaking might appear to be too time-consuming, it is very crucial. You don’t want your dog using the bathroom everywhere. Your puppy can get discouraged if the housebreaking process is not easy to learn. Seek outside help in puppy training if need be. No matter who is in charge of doing it, just know that housebreaking takes time.

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Though dog-human interaction goes back thousands of years, communication between the two is still sometimes rough. The human half of the pair is usually the smarter party, but watching the usual training sessions one can have legitimate reason to wonder.

Dogs understand and respond at roughly the mental level of a human two-year-old, but there the similarity ends. Their senses operate differently – their color vision has a different response pattern to reds and greens, for example, and obviously their noses are infinitely more sensitive – and their minds process information differently as well. Anyone training dogs has to take this into account in order to avoid human frustration and canine misbehavior.

Dogs are pack animals by nature. Descendant from wolves – where even the ‘lone wolf’ is an anomaly – they’re social and function best with active interplay and within a strict hierarchy.

So, set aside half-an-hour per day, an hour would be better, for at least the first few months of training. Start your training as young as possible. Some puppies can be started as early as four weeks old.

Elimination (‘potty’) training details we leave for elsewhere, but all training follows similar guidelines.

The sooner you establish your dominance, the fewer problems you will have to correct. Dogs have a natural hiearchy- there are alpha dogs, beta dogs, and the bottom dog is the omega. For a sane household, and a well-adjusted dog, the human (whether male or female) must always be the alpha male of the pack.

Each dog or dog breed will make it easier or more difficult. Like humans, some are simply more assertive than others. The most important training aid is your attitude, followed by collars, leashes and other training aids. Remember, you are the boss, not the dog.

That guideline doesn’t imply you must enforce your dominance with physical force. Sometimes, used appropriately, that will be necessary. Usually, simply being firm and willing to wait for compliance will be enough.

For many, placing them on their backs when young and placing a firm hand in the middle of the chest until they lower their paws – a sign of submission – will be enough. With some, reinforcing this by putting your face close to theirs, emulating dominant dog behavior, can help.

Keep a short leash to restrain the dog’s natural tendency to roam. Allow plenty of time for free running behavior, essential to dog health, but that’s before or after training, not during. At least, not at first.

Start simply by choosing short, clear commands that sound distinctly different: sit, stay, down, come. Use a firm, but not harsh voice. You’re in charge, but not angry. Avoid double-word commands like ‘sit down’ or ‘stay down’. These sound too much alike and quickly confuse the dog.

Each verbal command should utilize the same look, tone and gesture. Eventually these can separate, but at first it’s essential to provide the simplest, most consistent form of communication.

Just like two-year old humans, dogs have limited capacity for grasping the subtleties of language. Assist their understanding by rigid consistency. Don’t use a single command word to mean more than one thing. ”Down’ needs to mean only one thing, you must choose if it means ‘don’t jump on me’ or ‘lay down on your belly’.

Be clear, be patient and be committed and the result will be a dog who trusts and listens to you. And that makes it worth the effort. Find more on dog training at Luvurdog.com/dogtraining

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At the start you may feel that when your puppy jumps up, he’s so cute. But it stops being funny when your large dog is jumping up on people with dirty paws – very embarrassing. So I encourage you to train your puppy or dog not to do this while he is still young. The sooner you can eliminate this behavior the better.

The most usual circumstance for this behavior is when someone arrives at your home or when you encounter someone while you’re walking your dog. Coaching your dog to sit on command when this happens is a good idea.

Often the jumping up is a greeting but in some circumstances it can be that your dog is trying to become dominant over you. Dominance can create other problem behaviors and this should be prevented. You should be the dominant one, the pack leader.

You must understand the idea of positive reinforcement. There are various options for rewards that you can use as positive reinforcement: tasty treats, affection and praise. You have to stop giving any reward for jumping up. So rather than greeting your dog excitedly as he jumps up, you should ignore him as long as he is excited. Avoid giving him any eye contact.

In contrast to this, when he is calm and has all his feet on the floor you can show him affection.

Hopefully, your dog may already sit on command. If so it’s a good idea to get him to sit as your enter the house or as guests arrive. As soon as he sits, reward him with a treat or affection. If you haven’t already trained him to sit, you should work on this and other obedience training. Start training him in obedience with short sessions away from distractions. Make sure the training session are fun and enjoyable for your dog.

It’s important that you get the cooperation of everyone who comes into contact with your dog, so that they don’t undo all your good work. Get them to agree not to enthusiastically greet your dog. They should not give eye contact to your dog.

In the beginning, it may be worth putting your dog in another room when visitors arrive, so that you avoid the stimulating situation at the door.

I hope that this helps with dogs jumping up. Read more about other behavior problems in dogs such as aggression in dogs.

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