Raising A Well Mannered Dog

Begin training immediately. Dont wait - the dog wont. Remember, every interactio
n you have with your dog teaches him something. He begins learning what you will
accept or not accept as soon as you bring him home. Puppies come with clean sla
tes - you can begin teaching him good things right away. Older dogs come with lo
ts of unknowns. It may take awhile to retrain the older dog, but its not impossi
ble.
Train your dog with kindness and praise. Lots and lots of praise. Keep the train
ing happy, positive and consistent. Have a family meeting and decide what you wi
ll or wont let your dog do as a member of the family. If mom doesn t want the dog
on the couch and the kids and dad don t mind, reach a compromise and stick to it.
Nothing will confuse a dog more that every member of the family letting him do s
omething different. Everybody has to be in agreement with the house rules or you
will have a very frustrated dog that may begin to have behavior problems.
Begin immediately to have the dog obey all the commands you teach him, every tim
e you give the command. He must learn to listen to you and do what you say. If y
ou tell him to sit and he doesn t sit and you let him get away with it, obeying yo
u becomes an option to him. This goes for all the basic obedience commands - com
e, sit, down, stay, heel, etc.
Always give one command and then gently enforce it. If you repeat commands the d
og will tune you out, just like nagging. The dog will begin to learn that the fi
rst command doesn t mean anything. Also, the dog will not learn what the command m
eans. Think about it. "Sit" sounds much different than, "sit, sit, sit, sit." A
one-word command equals one response from the dog. Remember not to combine comma
nds. Don t say, "sit down" when you mean sit. There are two commands in that phras
e - "sit" and "down" - which one do you want?
Dogs have excellent hearing. There is no need to shout your commands. If your do
g doesn t respond to your command given in a normal, firm voice it just might be t
hat he doesn t really understand the command yet. Go back to basics and be sure he
understands what you want him to do. Remember to PRAISE.
When you use your dogs name, always be positive. His name should always be assoc
iated with good things. Your dog should never be afraid to come to you when you
use his name or call him. NEVER call your dog to you for anything unpleasant, li
ke toenail clipping, giving medicine, baths (if he doesn t like them) or anything
that isn t going to make the dog glad he came to you.
Whenever you praise or correct your dog, timing is very important. You must prai
se or correct the dog the instant the act happens that you are praising or corre
cting him for. For instance: You are teaching your dog to sit. You give the dog
the sit command and gently put pressure on his rear to make him sit. He finally
sits. Yeah! You begin to praise him just as he stands up. Oops! You just praised
your dog for standing up. Not for the sitting. You have to be fast and accurate
or you ll be teaching the wrong behavior.
Finally, Never train your dog when you re angry or grouchy. You will get nowhere a
nd you will sour your dog against future training. Dogs don t learn very well unde
r stress. Neither do people. Keep training sessions happy, positive and upbeat.