Easy Obedience Training Dogs Guide

Article by Ian McAllister

Obedience training dogs can give you a polite dog that impresses everyone that sees it. Your puppy won't jump all over visitors that are scared of dogs. It won't beg for food while you are trying to talk to visitors.

More importantly, when your rotweiller puppy grows bigger than you are, it won't drag you out into heavy traffic.

Train your puppy to enjoy mock fights with you. He will learn how hard a bite is fun, and how hard a bite is too much. He can carry an egg in his mouth without damage - but only if he has learned to control how hard he bites.

Wouldn't you like to know that he can play with the children without ever biting them too hard when he gets excited?

Now we come to what isn't as easy - disciplining yourself. House training dogs will be your first challenge, and if you fail you will be doing a lifetime's disservice to the poor little thing. Dogs are naturally clean. The bitch keeps them clean at first, giving them 100% of her attention. But as soon as they can stagger out of their den they learn to be clean.

That is the secret. Why do you do most things? Habit. Why don't you need nappies now? A habit that your mother taught you. All you need for house training a puppy is the same 100% attention that the bitch would give it. Only let it into the living area of the house as a privilege while you can give it that attention.

The moment the romping puppy slows down and starts to look pensive, snatch it up and take it to the appropriate place. Soon the dog will get into the habit of going for himself, but until then, never let it into the living area of your house when you can't offer full attention to it.

Hierarchic Animals

Wolves (and dogs) are socially organized in a hierarchy. Their nature forces them to obey the boss. Your nature allows you to disobey anyone, but a dog doesn't have the choice. So the first thing you should learn about obedience training is to convince your dog that you are the big boss.

So teach your dog that the dining room is out of bounds during meal times. You feed him after you've finished eating, and he must allow you to take away his food-bowl after a few mouthfuls in exchange for praise, before you return it. You go through doorways first.

If your dog ever growls at someone for getting too near the food-bowl or his bed, you must immediately teach him that anyone can push him aside from either one - even a baby crawling round the floor. The baby doesn't outrank him. But the baby is under the protection of the big boss.

Dogs don't hit or kick. They bite. When your hand grips the neck of your dog, that is seen as a bite. Don't make your dog hand-shy.

Puppies training should lead to dog classes as soon as they think your dog is old enough. They will train you to train your dog. Dogs training books will show you most of what you need, but classes will teach you how to use your voice to command and to praise. The second is more important.

Once you have learned to use your voice you can probably find a training dogs guide on the web, that will allow you to enter obedience dog competitions. But training yourself is more important than obedience training dogs.

Obedience training classes teach you to use the word Down! to mean :lie down: but I never use it. What happens if you tell your dog to sit down or you use the word down in conversation? I use the command Lie! and have never had any problems.

A made-up word would be even more reliable, but not when other people are going to handle your dog. What happens with obedience training dogs when you are on holiday or in hospital?

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