There are hundreds of different approaches to obedience training for dogs. Some focus on discipline, others on positive reinforcement. The most critical thing for any owner to do before they bring their new dog or puppy home is to talk to all the family members. They can then all agree on the best dog training for their new companion to prevent the development of dog behavior problems.
Having this in place before the new dog comes home is the first step in the right direction. If you need to write down the rules and stick them throughout the house – do it – because it will be essential that once the guidelines are set every member of the family abides by them. This will allow the dog to settle in with ease and with minimal distress, because having one person tell him that jumping on the sofa is bad and another one praising him for it will only lead to nervousness, confusion and, if nothing is done about it, aggression and bad dog behavior.
How to train your puppy should be an exciting topic to talk about. Will you be taking him to obedience training for dogs? Will you employ private dog training services? Look into the different ways of potty training dogs. Are you going to use a crate? If a crate is being used it is of the utmost importance to ensure the cage is seen by the dog as a safe place to go and never used as a punishment.
The best thing about dog training is that it is totally flexible to meet you and your family’s needs. Dogs only want to be loved and to love in return and that means that can fit into almost any circumstance, whether you live by yourself, have guests over every day or travel around a lot.
One dog behavior habit that your new pet will soon pick up if allowed to is the art of ‘begging’. This is lauded as cute and adorable on TV shows but the difference with the on-screen Lassie and your begging pooch is that the one in TV is trained to do it and does not do it for the same reasons your dog does. Lassie is doing it because he has been told to. Your dog is doing it for food and attention.
Pretty quickly your dog will realize that the dinner table is a good place to scrounge for food, particularly if you have young children that drop bits of their dinner.
However, begging is one of the worst dog behavior traits that your pet can develop and should not be tolerated by families. Not only will they not want their meal disrupted by their dog, but it can also be unnerving for guests.
Also with regard to doing the best for your dog, the most important point to remember is that the human food you eat is extremely bad for your dog. The fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar content is magnified hugely for dogs, especially if they are a small breed, and it can cause a lot of avoidable dog behavior troubles. A biscuit is the equivalent of a Big Mac for them. Imagine if you ate five of those every day. Your insides would start deteriorating pretty quickly.
For these reasons begging should be strongly dissuaded. Train your dog to stay in his bed, or sit quietly in the down position when you sit down to eat. There are a number of excellent online training books to show you how to stop dogs from begging, or talk to your local dog training schools if you need some more in depth advice. Remember your dogs will only get away with what you allow them to, nothing more.
For more information about DIY Dog Training, check out the highly recommended Complete DIY Training Program today!
