Friday, December 31, 2010



 




Happy New Years

From Jay's Free Dog Training Advice!

How about making a New Years Resolution to train your dog to be a well mannered friend.
I will be posting a few articles a week, so get ready to get to work!



Look for a new post after the holiday!
Please take the survey at the bottom of the page it will help me with picking future topics.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Part 1 of Potty Training - Crate Training


OK now down to business, Potty Training your puppy! This will take time and patience so don’t get upset if your new friend does not pick it up in a hurry. It’s a process and your dog needs you to be patient to get through this.

Today the crate training procedure will be discussed. Crate training is used because dogs have a natural instinct to not want to mess in their sleeping area. This will help them learn to hold it until they are let out to do their business. It is very effective and I recommend a crate for all dogs as this crate will be used by the dog as a relaxation place to get away from it all. But you should NEVER use a crate for punishment. Never lock the dog in the crate if they mess on the floor.

Here are a few things to be noted about crates:
*        Helps reduce separation anxiety.
*         Prevents destructive behavior while you are out of the house.
o   Chewing furniture or other things
o   Accidental poisonings 
*         Travel quarters (plane or auto)

Plastic dog carrier

Wire mesh dog crate (recommended)
      

     OK now you need a crate. My recommendation is to go down to a local pet store or national chain store and look for the correct size and type you want. There are two types; fist is the plastic styles with vent lots in it. Second is the wire meshed crate which is the one that I use. The dog should only be locked in the crate while home alone or at night. Other than that it can roam free and it is your responsibility to keep an eye on it.

           It’s important that you only use the crate as a training tool and not misuse it or it could backfire and make training extremely hard.

          More potty training help coming in the nest entry! Remember that you can post a comment and request I help out with something that may be giving you trouble with training your best friend!

Happy New Year!!!!!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Did you get a new puppie for christmas?




      So you received a new puppy for Christmas. Although I do not recommend ever giving a dog, or any animal for a gift because of the large amount of work that a pet requires. Having a pet is a long term commitment as many dogs will live around 12 years or more. 

      Now that you have a puppy you need to start training it while it is young. The key to training that works is consistency. Keep working with your dog daily and you will be rewarded in down the road with a well-mannered and well trained family member.
      
      There are many different styles of training that are out there, but the one that I recommend is Positive Reinforcement. This style I have had the most luck with and it is the most humane of them in my opinion. I have trained over 20 dogs with this technique and I love its ease and humaneness because there is no real punishing the dog. But later in this entry I will explain how to deal with bad behavior.   

      Positive reinforcement is rewarding your dog for good behavior. The reward will be different for all dogs as some love to be pet and loved while others are on the way to their heart is through their stomach program. So once you find what work the best use it but do change it up once and a while between treats and affection. You don’t want a dog that is a treat junkie.
     
      Inevitably there will be bad behavior and it is dealt with in a couple of different ways.  The two I recommend is just ignore the dog. Turn your back on it; this is more powerful than anything because dogs are looking for acceptance from their pack leader. Since I am on the side note of pack leader I will address that. You are to remain in the leader position at all times. You need to keep the alpha male (you can be a female and still be alpha male) position. Do not let your dog gain control of any situation or it may be hard to stop this behavior. The other punishment is a scolding. Just saying “NO!” in a sharp deep voice will get any dogs attention. While doing that keep eye contact and it will be really effective.

      But with punishment it must be don’t within a few seconds. The old method of coming home and seeing that your puppy wet on the floor then sticking its nose in it is really cruel, because your dog has no idea what it did wrong or why you are doing that to it. The books I have read all have indicated that you should punish your dog within a few seconds of the undesired behavior.

      Now that we have that covered we can start training! We will start with potty training tomorrow.

      Also if you have a suggestion for a topic or have any specific questions post a comment and I will do what I can to cover it asap and get you the info you need!