Posts Tagged ‘Techniques’

Just Got a New Puppy? Try These Puppy Training Techniques

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

Almost anyone would agree that training a new puppy is definitely an essential part of its growing up. Teaching a new puppy exactly what actions are desired from her or him should be performed together with love. Training is one thing that involves both puppy and master. It should be done in a manner that builds and sustains trust. Puppy training conducted under stress or duress will instill fear and is apt to create behavioral problems later on in adulthood. Instead of a well rounded dog you might end up with an aggressive, disobedient or even uncontrollable dog.

Positive rewards

The most common form of training and one that produces the best results uses rewards, or positive reinforcement. Each time the puppy accomplishes something you wanted it to, reward your pet for the good behavior. Punishment is withheld, especially physical punishment. The constructive reward technique is very beneficial as it motivates the puppy to produce appropriate behavior.

The best puppy training techniques involve treating a doggy in a humane and loving way. However, training is also about teaching your puppy that he or she will be safe even if they do not immediately perform to your wishes. It is a basic element of all good communication. Reward good conduct while correcting bad conduct.

There are puppy owners who resort to smacking and shouting. All this will do is worsen the situation. No good comes from these actions. A puppy has to be treated with compassion and understanding if you want them to behave well. An abused puppy will not grow up into a well adjusted or happy dog.

This is the responsibility of the master to ensure that this can not happen.

Obedience training with love

Most puppies are intelligent and because of this they are easily trained if you use a gentle and loving touch and vast reserves of patience. Unless you have adopted a puppy that has behavior problems, most puppies are naturally confident and ready to please. The aim during puppy training is to maintain their disposition and the only way to do this is to establish a bond based on love and trust.

If you want a well behaved dog you have to earn their respect and love. To do this your commands must be firm and calm. To guide your puppy to the desired action you want from him, he needs to understand just what you are asking. Commands ought to be given clearly and confidently and when your puppy accomplishes a task they must be praised lavishly. Most puppies are going to get it wrong in the beginning and if so they need to be reprimanded. However, training a puppy properly means reprimanding must be appropriate to the misdemeanor and must follow certain rules. You need to protect your relationship along with your puppy while showing him the error of his ways.

The correct way to reprimand

While lavish praise cannot cause harm no matter how much you give, all it can take to undo all your puppy training is just one inappropriate reprimand.

Understanding your breed of dog will help you assess their levels of sensitivity. While one breed will benefit from a stern rebuke, others may need a gentler tone of voice. Reprimanding should only be given if you are sure that your puppy has understood your command and should never be accompanied by any form of physical threat. This should focus on the specific command and not be carried into the remainder of the training. Reprimand appropriately and move on. The principle of reprimanding is to achieve the desired result. This requires patience and understanding, kindness and love. Inappropriate reprimanding can create fear and damage the trust and love your puppy has built up for you.

There are many aspects to training a puppy. They need to be taught obedience and they need to be housebroken. They need to be taught how to walk on a leash and to stop barking or biting. Puppy training needs to be started as soon as you bring your pet home you are going to be asking quite a lot from your little adoptee. If your relationship is based on anxiety or fear from the beginning, your puppy will not excel.

If you have a optimistic mindset during all the work that is involved, are patient, and show your puppy lots of love, you will create a bond based on trust and safety. Your little puppy will do anything and everything it can to please you. And most importantly, you will help your puppy to grow up into a well behaved and rounded dog that is a pleasure to have around.

Bob Leland is a puppy training expert. For more great tips on puppy training techniques, visit loving touch puppy training.

Puppy Training Advice, Tips, and Techniques

Sunday, November 6th, 2011

Puppy training can be quite challenging if you do not know the right techniques and strategies to apply. Also – with all the puppy training advice available on the internet, how can you tell who’s worth listening to and who’s not? So the question to ask yourself here is – “Is there really a “right” way to obedience train your puppy?”


Fortunately – there is, even better – with the right training advice, tips and techniques, you can make puppy training fun and fast. To ensure success for you and your puppy, you need to first set realistic goals, and then you need to make sure you have the know-how for executing them effectively.


So here are is a list of my best puppy training advice:


Tip 1: Employ positive reinforcement for best results.


This basically means that you train your puppy, by teaching him that every time he does something the right way (pees in his potty spot, comes when called for, sits when you’re giving him his food, etc.) he gets rewarded for it – either with a treat, with his favourite toy, or with love and praise.


The way this is different from conventional puppy training techniques is that you reinforce positive behaviors, as opposed to punishing negative ones. That way you’re effectively teaching your puppy that you’re there to support and love him.


Tip 2: Use the NO command right from the start.


So if you want to curb a negative behavior – just use your most authoritative voice and say NO – but without shouting. Even though your dog does not understand the meaning of NO, the tone of your voice will serve as a warning to him – he’ll pretty soon learn that this command means he has to stop the given behavior. Note that your NO voice should always be the same.


Tip 3: Teach your puppy the basic dog commands such as SIT, COME, and NO.


OK, let’s be clear on this. At first your puppy will not be very good at following orders – he’s too young. So for the time being, start teaching him, but don’t expect miracles. All you’re doing is setting the foundations.


You can start teaching him the SIT, for e.g, every time you feed him, or every time you wan to give him a treat. The NO command we’ve already touched on. And to teach him the COME, start by calling him to COME every time he’s already on his way to you. So basically you’re associating the sound and tone of a word command to an action he’s performing – that way he learns what you want from him.


These commands are interconnected; one command is necessary to carry out another. In order not to confuse your dog, concentrate on one command only at a time. Once your dog successfully understands it, you can move on to the next one. It does not matter which command you teach first.


Tip 4: Use a leash.


OK, for this one you’d actually first have to teach your pup to use a leash. Some puppies take to it like ducks to water, some may create a bit of problems. But presuming your puppy would stay on the leash use it while training – it will help you tremendously in keeping him in attention.


If you decide to use a leash – buy a long leash so that your dog can move freely and won’t feel restricted. Whenever your dog’s attention wanders, tug the leash ever so lightly to bring his attention back to you.


Tip 5: Your puppy’s crate can be an indispensable training aid.


Some people think putting your puppy in a crate is cruel – but that’s not right. A crate is a great training aid. Use it to help you with feeding time training, with bed time training, potty training, and when leaving your puppy unsupervised in your home.


Dogs love having a routine and a crate gives them exactly that and the security of having their own space. Crate training can be tricky, some dogs will just not want to stay alone, but if done correctly crate training is the silver bullet of my puppy training advice to you.


Tip 6: Does your puppy need obedience training school?


What do you do when you cannot keep your dog under control anymore? Is it necessary to send him off to obedience training lessons? The choice is all yours of course. But my advice to you is to get your puppy trained either way.


If you think training your dog takes too much of your personal time and you just can’t get the hang of it, then send him to a good obedience school. Find out what the best in the are is and go for it. The bottom line is that you need to instill rules in your relationship – or later on in life you will end up with behavior problems that may be harder to resolve.


Tip 7: Consider your dog’s breed.


If you haven’t yet go a puppy – now’s the time to learn a little about the different dog breeds and how easy they are to train. Toy breeds can be a bit more work, while hunting ones just need a more specialist approach. The latest trend is for cross breed and designer dogs, because they are more trainable, but some of the bigger dogs are also a good choice – a Labrador Retriever being one of the best examples.


At the end of the day, although puppy training can be frustrating at times, remember to enjoy the whole process. It’s the perfect time to bond with your dog and establish a truly loving relationship. Remember to be be consistent in your teachings, confident in your commands, loving and persistent – and things will fall into place. Once you get your puppy’s trust, you can count on him to be your loyal friend for a very very long time.


You Will Get More Puppy Training Tips Here

Must Know Essential Puppy Training Techniques

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

There are some essential puppy training techniques that will help you have the best relationship possible with your puppy, and you can put these techniques to work for you right now.


The first points to understand about all techniques is to always use:


patience persistence gentle firmness


You must never be angry or scold your puppy. Always use patience,gentle firmness, and be persistent–you have to do things over and over again so that the puppy will gradually learn what you want and how to please you.


In this article, our essential puppy training techniques concern the following basic points:


housebreaking your puppy crate training collar training
Housebreaking Your Puppy


Start housebreaking your puppy around 8 weeks. If you bring him home earlier than that, be sure to take him outside for toilet breaks, but don’t strart real training until 8 weeks. Be sure to do the following: set up a feeding schedule and stick to it. Never, never, never over feed your puppy. Follow your vet’s recommendation for amount of food.


Generally speaking, you should give your puppy its last meal no later than 90 minutes before its bedtime. Be sure to take it outside to relieve itself before putting it to bed.


We suggest taking your puppy out at least every two hours. Perhaps a little sooner depending on your own observations of need. Let the puppy out after every meal. When the puppy goes, give it praise. This is the time to establish a command to use when the puppy goes. When you see the puppy get ready to go, give it a command such as, “go pee,” or “go potty,” or anything else used exclusively for this purpose. Be sure to stay outside with the puppy. Do not just put it outside by itself!


If you see your puppy become restless, or sniffing the floor as if following a trail, this is probably a sign that you should take your puppy out.


Whenever you catch your puppy in the “act” inside, make a sharp noise to distract him. Do not get angry or scold. Just get his attention and then take him outside.


Crate Training


Another very important basic puppy training technique concerns the crate. Contrary to what you might think, the crate is not a cage or prison for the puppy. The idea with crate training is to allow the puppy to “make friends” with the crate. The puppy will actually regard the crate as its own private den. Our German Shepherd loved its crate, and we finally had to take it away because the dog simply out grew it. Anyway, You train your puppy to the crate by leaving the door of the crate open and allowing the puppy to investigate on its own and to go in and out on his own. You could even put a tiny bit of kibble in the crate to start the ball rolling. Once the puppy has started to get to know the crate, put its bedding and a toy and little water dish in the crate. Leave the door open as much as possible only closing it for the night or during times when you must be gone for a few hours.


Collar Training


This is an important but uncomplicated technique. In fact, many dogs will never have any objection to wearing a collar from the very first time you put it on. However, find a collar that you like for your dog and make sure that it fits loosely, but not so loosely that it will slip off. Put it on the dog and observe. If there are no problems, so much the better. If you are starting out with a new puppy, you probably won’t encounter very much resistance, if any. If the puppy doesn’t like it, give time to adjust. We suggest putting it on for a few hours in the morning and for a few hours in the evening. Be sure to take it off before you put the puppy down for the evening.


If you successfully apply these essential puppy training techniques to your dog, you will be well on your way to having a well adjusted and obedient addition to your family.


You Will Get More Puppy Training Tips Here

Simple But Effective Puppy Training Techniques

Sunday, October 23rd, 2011

The aim of any puppy training techniques is to teach a dog correct behavior. Training must however be conducted in a way that is non threatening and which does not leave a puppy confused, fearful or anxious. This can lead to more serious behavior issues such as aggressiveness.


Basic Training Techniques


The most basic training a puppy needs to learn from an early age is the word NO. Teamed with commands to sit, stay and lie down. These are fairly easy techniques to accomplish at home by any family member. At the base of any training however must be an owner that is firm, kind and patient. All dogs and especially young puppies want to please their owners


Get More Puppy Training Tips Here .


If training is undertaken in the correct way a puppy will be able to understand and accomplish what is being asked of it. In the majority of cases, a well trained puppy will become a well rounded and well behaved dog. It will show no signs or traits of bad behavior toward either human or other dogs. Training will also enforce the hierarchy expected of the animal and allow them to integrate into a family unit without any threat of harm.


Puppies do not have a grasp of human language from the get go – this comes with training and time. Consistent repeating of the same word followed by the expected behavior will help a puppy grow their vocabulary. For instance placing the puppy in a sitting position followed by the word sit will reinforce the learning and the associated word will eventually be learned by the puppy.


The best puppy training techniques are accomplished with patience, kindness, and firmness. Training should be done on a daily basis. It should never include physical punishment, shouting or rough treatment. A puppy should be introduced to training slowly yet consistently with patience, perseverance and firmness. A puppy should never experience fear or anxiety during training. There are simple yet effective techniques that are able to teach a puppy these basic commands..


Further Training Techniques


Further training techniques that will have far reaching results is the ‘crate’ training. Crate training is aimed at providing a puppy with a specific area where they can feel safe and secure. Crate training provides a puppy with a designated area for sleep and security when you are not around. It is also a crucial training technique if you intend traveling with your puppy throughout its life. It can also teach a puppy ‘potty’ training from an early age.


Crate training is not cruel; it is a natural form of dog training. It is not designed for the purpose of locking a puppy up and out of harms way. Puppies have an innate need for a place where they feel secure and safe. As their owner, it is imperative that you understand this need and provide it for them when they are too young to otherwise find it for themselves.


A young puppy should ideally start training at around 8 weeks old. The younger they are they easier they find it to learn. Once they reach a certain age training becomes harder for them to accomplish.