Archive for April, 2011

Aggressive Dog Training Made Easy

Dog aggression is a fairly common problem that many owners will face at one time in their dog’s life or another. It is actually so common that there are hundreds upon hundreds of studies associated with aggression. Questions such as “Why does aggression occur,” “Why are some breeds more aggressive,” and “How can I use aggressive dog training to curb aggression in my dog,” are asked on a regular basis. Before you actually begin aggressive dog training, it is important to understand the type of aggression that your dog may be experiencing. Believe it or not, there are actually several types of aggression and each one will need to be handled in a slightly different manner. The types of aggression are:

· Dog Aggression: this can be seen in many different breeds and it is actually aggression that a dog shows to other dogs. · Fear Aggression: Many people may not see fear as an aggressive behavior but if a dog begins to bite, bark, growl or bare his teeth when he is frightened than it has moved from simple fear to fear aggression.

· Dominate Aggression: This is a very serious type of aggression since the dog has many traits that you would see in a “bully.” One of the biggest problems with dominate aggression is that it is not always seen as aggression, just an alpha personality doing what it does best, until the dog attacks someone or something. Another problem is that dominate aggression is very unpredictable.

· Possessive Aggression: To get a clear idea of this, watch your dog while he is eating and is interrupted by someone. If he is fine and continues to eat or even allows you to put your hand in the dish then there is no real aggression there; however, if he growls or bites then you know that he is being possessive about things he preserves as his. While this may seem appropriate, a dog should never be possessive.

· Pain Aggression: This is aggression that is shown when a dog is in pain. · Maternal Aggression: Seen only in female dogs, this is an aggression that is seen when a female is raising a litter of puppies.

· Territorial Aggression: There are several breeds of dogs that are prone to territorial aggression where they see an area such as the house, the yard, the neighborhood or all of the above as his. When other animals or people enter his territory, he reacts in an aggressive manner.

As you can see, there are a large number of aggressions and many dogs will experience one or the other at certain times in their life. While some forms of aggression are very serious and require aggressive dog training, some of them aren’t and really only require some patience by the owner to overcome. In the case of pain aggression, it is important to find out why your dog is being aggressive. If he is hurt, take him to the vet to have the problem looked after. When the dog heals, the aggression should go away on its own but if it doesn’t, you can move into training methods for it.

In addition, maternal aggression can be avoided simply by spaying your dog but if she does whelp a litter, the maternal aggression should diminish as the puppies are weaned and placed in new homes. In many cases, the easiest way to use aggressive dog training is to socialize your puppy and dog correctly. Many people see socialization as a process that is done when their puppy is young but socialization should be done throughout your dog’s life. Exposing him to other dogs, people, places and stimulations will help curb many different areas of aggression such as dog aggression. Remember that when you do socialize your dog, especially if he has some aggression problems, that you do so in a controlled manner.

Make sure all the dogs are on leashes and introduce him to one dog at a time. Never allow your dog to be surrounded by a group of dogs since this can frighten him and trigger his aggressive response. If at any time your dog starts to indicate aggression, simply correct him by removing him a few feet away from the other dog and then praising him when he calms down. Another way to make aggressive dog training easy is to place firm rules in your house from the moment your dog arrives home. This means that he is not allowed on the furniture and that he understands that the home is yours. To battle dominance aggression, it is important to put yourself and everyone else in the role of dominate. Your dog should never eat before the family and he should never be allowed to find food for himself.

When he does eat, take the time to place your hands in the dog’s food dish and feed him by hand. This teaches him that anyone is allowed in his dish and it will help curb some possessive aggression. Make sure that everyone in the house does this as well and never let the dog go around your hand to eat directly from the bowl. In many cases, aggressive dog training needs to start with owners. To make it easy, you need to look at how you are training your dog, how he is being socialized and what negative behaviors are being reinforced. For instance, if you nurture fright responses such as growling by coddling the dog whenever he is scared, then he will quickly learn that growling is the proper response to being scared, which may develop into fear aggression.

Ignore some behaviors and correct others with a firm “no,” which is an important command with aggressive dog training. When you are using aggressive dog training, it is important that you do not correct your dog in a harsh manner. Although it may not seem like you are being abusive to your dog, a small slap can cause a large amount of damage and if a dog is already aggressive, it will just reinforce the aggressive behavior. After you have corrected how you train your dog, it is time to start aggressive dog training and it is very easy; simply break out the basics of training. Many times, basic training on a regular basis can really help with many forms of aggression and many different types of negative behaviors.

To battle territorial aggression, start by inviting people over to your home and correcting your dog when he begins barking with a loud noise to interrupt the behavior and then a firm “no.” When your dog stops barking, praise him and treat. Increase the frequency that different guests visit as your dog becomes accustomed to people being in his space. If your dog is aggressive during walks, it is time to take aggressive dog training out on a walk. Start by taking different routes every time you take a walk. Since the route is different, your dog is less likely to imprint a route as being his.

When he meets people or other animals on the street, correct his negative behavior with a firm “no” and praise him when he doesn’t react. As the aggressive dog training is advanced, gradually begin taking him to higher traffic areas until he can walk in a busy place without reacting in an aggressive manner. Although aggressive dog training is fairly easy, it does take some time and it is very important to watch your dog’s stress levels and to take your time with training. Remember, your dog didn’t become aggressive over night and you can’t expect the aggressive dog training to work overnight either, so take your time and enjoy every success your dog has.

Nancy Richards has been involved with dog training for several years. Learn all about aggressive dog training , companion dog training, dog grooming, diet, care for all dog breeds.
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Regularly grooming your dog not only has the added benefit of making him look and smell good; grooming your dog on a regular basis also gives you the opportunity of deepening the bond you have with your pet and for checking his general health.

If you have a puppy, take the time now to help him become accustomed to being groomed. You can do this by simply spending time with your puppy and gently his entire body; examine his tail, paws, ears, and teeth etc. Talk to your puppy in a gentle and positive tone, and have some food treats with you, so as you can reward your puppy for his positive behaviour. If you have an adult dog who is not totally happy with the grooming experience, then go back to the basics, using the plan outlined here.

Although basic grooming procedures are generally the same for all breeds of dogs, the amount of time you will need to devote to grooming your pet and the tools you will use, will depend on the dogs coat quality and it’s length.

Breeds with smooth coats are quite low maintenance, and need only occasional bathing, and brushing. Short coated dogs who have a top coat and a more dense undercoat, for example German Shepherds, will require brushing at least once per day, so as the undercoat does not become matted. Curly coat breeds, for example, the Kerry Blue Terrier, will need to be brushed regularly, along with a bath and coat clipping very couple of months. Breeds that have wiry coats need regular brushing, at lead once per day to prevent matting. The longer coat breeds, such as the Such as Yorkshire Terriers, and Collies, need daily brushing and combing, along with bathing and clipping when needed, in order to keep their coats in good condition.

The tools you will need for grooming will vary depending on your dogs coat, however your dogs grooming kit should include the following:

Natural/organic dog shampoo

You can buy organic dog shampoo from a host of online vendors or large pet supply stores. Using an organic shampoo is much kinder to your dogs skin and fur, as it has the correct ph-balance, and does not contain chemicals, or atrtificial colours or preservative, that can be harmful.

Tweezers

Tick removal implement

Tick removal implements can be purchased from your local pharmacy, however, tweezers work just as well for removing ticks.

Brush, comb and or grooming glove

The brush and comb you choose should be adequate for your dogs coat. For example, for dense coats, use a comb with wider teeth, for smooth coats choose a comb that has closer teeth, alternatively a grooming glove.

Electronic clippers

Nail clippers

A small pair of blunt nosed scissors for clipping away unwanted hair from between your dogs pads, or around the eyes.

Vitamin E oil for cleaning your dogs ears.

Dog toothpaste and toothbrush

Towels for drying your pet following a bath

Organic wipes, for cleaning around your dogs eyes

Now it’s time to begin grooming your dog, so lets begin with the messy part first, bathing.

Bathing

You can do this outside or indoors, depending on the size of your dog. If using the bath, first put down a rubber non slip mat in the bath, so as your pet does not slip around. Put a large cotton ball in each of your dogs ears and place him in the bath.

Begin by covering your dogs entire body with warm water, if you are using a shower, keep the shower head close to the dogs body. Next, add small amounts of your dog shampoo to your dogs body, paying attention to his rectum and genital area, and between his paws. Once you have done this you can rinse your dog thoroughly with warm water.

Towel dry your dog to begin with, then if you wish, use a dryer, however, don’t put the dryer to close to your dogs skin, and don’t point the dryer directly into the dogs ears.

Next, let us look at the general grooming procedure you can make on a more regular basis. To begin with, check your dogs coat for dirt, and parasites such as fleas and ticks. Also check the condition of your dogs skin. When you are happy his skin appears healthy, you can move on to combing his coat.

Combing your dog

Always comb your dogs coat in the direction the hair grows, combing small section at a time. If you encounter a knot in your pets fur, use the first tooth of the comb to gently tease the knot free. Hold the base of the knot as you do this, so as not to cause your dog any pain.

Brushing your dog

The next step is to brush your dogs fur gently, but not so vigorously as you will cause ‘brush burn’. Brush your dogs fur in the opposite direction hair growth. Attend to all areas of the body, ie, body, tail, chest, legs and behind the ears. When doing this part check your dogs paws and between his pads for any lodged seeds from grass, grit and dirt etc. Clean and trim any excess fur.

Having done the hardest work, brushing and combing. The next part to concentrate upon is nail clipping. Most dog owners avoid clipping their dogs nails, many leaving it to their vet, but with a bit of practice, trimming your dogs nails will become a routine procedure.

Cutting your dogs nails

Check to begin with to see if your dogs nails need trimming. Dogs usually wear down their nails by walking on the pavement, however, they still may need a trim every several weeks or so.

To begin with, identify the quick in each nail; the quick is the blood vessel inside the nail. It can be seen quite easily in light coloured nails as a red coloured line, but impossible to see in dark nails. Care must be taken not to cut into the blood vessel, as this will obviously be painful for your dog, and will also cause some bleeding.

Cut the nail in one stroke below the blood vessel. In darker nails, make several vey small cuts. If your not sure how much nail to cut if you have a dog with black nails, less is better than more.

Cleaning your dogs ears

It’s now time to move on to your dogs ears. Wax, dirt and fungus can build up in a dogs, especially in the case of floppy eared breeds. During the grooming process check your dogs ears for signs of wax and dirt etc. Smell inside your dogs ears, a foul odour, could mean your pet has an infection, especially id he has been scratching his ears, or shaking his head a lot. To clean your dogs ears, use a natural cleanser, such as an essential oil blend. You can use the following blend to clean your dogs ears, and keep them free from wax build up and infection.Put a little of the blend on a cotton ball and clean each ear.

Ear cleaning essential oil blend

2 drops Roman Chamomile

2 drops tee tree

4 drops lavender

Mix with 20 mls of Sweet Almond or Jojoba oil. Pour into a dark bottle and keep out of sunlight or in the refrigerator. This will last several moths. Use the blend to clean your dogs ears each time you groom him.

Cleaning your dogs eyes

Finally, let us look at cleaning your dogs eyes. It is important to clean your pets eyes regularly, in most breeds this can be done during the normal grooming session, however, with breeds who’s tear ducts can become blocked easily, cleaning around the eyes will need to be done more regularly.

Check your pets eyes for signs of discharge, especially in the corner of the eye. Use your blunt nose scissors to gently clip away unwanted hair, especially at the corner of each eye. When this is done, gently clean around each eye with a wet cloth or an organic baby wipe. These type of wipes are especially good for cleaning your dogs sensitive areas, such as around the eyes, as they contain no alcohol, or other ingredient that is harmful to the dog.

Job done. The more often you groom your dog, the quicker it will seem to become. Having said this, your dogs physical and emotional well being depends on being kept clean and healthy, so make grooming an extra special and fun time for you and your dog.

Ivan Ojounru has been training dogs in the UK since the late 1908′s. He now lives in France where he continues to train dogs and write about dog related behaviour care and trainig topics. He is passionate about giving dog owners the skills, knowledge and confidence to enable them to train their own dogs successfully. For further information visit http://www.dogtrainingcareadvice.blogspot.com
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For a good and healthy human and dog relationship, dog training is a must, as it is through the process of training that a dog can be taught the mannerisms it requires to have, to move around in society. But what is dog training and how is it useful for the dog? Here are some free dog training tips that give you an answer. Training dogs involves clicker training, marker training, reward training, collar and leash, positive reinforcement, dog whispering, obedience training for dogs, etc. Dogs are not perfect; well no one is, and they keep doing certain things that may not be acceptable, especially when they are moving around with humans, their masters. These behaviors include chewing, digging, jumping, begging, biting and barking unnecessarily. So, training dogs not to bite and training dogs not to bark is equally important. Here are some dog training tips for free, they will certainly help you change the behavior of your dog.

Free Tips for Dog Training
The sole purpose of dog training is to make your dog well-mannered. Following are the tips that must be followed without fail during the training sessions for dogs:

At the initial stage, do not over burden the dog with many commands as they might become frustrating and confusing for their little brains. Always remember to respect the behavior of your dog and plan your training accordingly. Never give a command for the activity that the dog can avoid.
You must always praise the dog for his good behavior and performance and reward him immediately so that he can associate the reward and the behavior. Make use of dog treats for this. This acts as a booster for the dog to follow your instructions religiously. This practice should be followed as it helps develop an amicable relation between the dog trainer and the trainee dog.
During the process of training, never ever punish the dog. Always focus on praising the behavioral change in the pet.
Penalize the dog for his misbehavior. Keep in mind that penalizing and punishing are two different things. Penalty means forcing the dog to do the thing that he dislikes like leash jerk or ignoring him to make him realize his mistake. These free dog training tips will definitely help you train your dog in the way you want to.

Free Dog House Training Tips
The house training is a must for a dog to make him used to the outdoors and indoors. Crate training is the basic method of training the dog. The pup must be kept in a crate for a short period in a day. If the pup wants to defecate, take him outdoors. Teach him to defecate either in a yard or in a sandbox, if you do not have a yard. You could even use these puppy potty training tips for that. Some dogs jump at their loved ones in over-excitement. It is all right with small dogs, but large dogs might injure themselves or the person they jump on. So, to get rid of this dog behavior ignore the dog instead of shouting and screaming at it. These tips on house training a puppy might prove useful. For the meal time, create a separate meal area for the dog. Make him understand the right time for meals and make sure you stick to that timing. Always remember, never overfeed the dog. The most enjoyable training is dog leash training for both the trainer as well as the dog, as it ensures a safe and enjoyable stroll with your pet. If you clearly understand how to train a dog, and follow these free dog training tips religiously, you will observe a gradual change in the behavior of your dog, a change for the better.

Free Dog Potty Training Tips
Now we come to the potty training tips. Potty training dogs requires you to be patient and give your dog some time to learn. This training should be given at the puppy stage itself. For potty training older dogs, you need to understand its nature and behavior. The most important thing to be considered during this training is the ‘in’ and ‘out’ timings. Usually, they should be taken out after fifteen to twenty minutes of their meal. Use a potty if you plan to let the dog poop indoors. Again don’t punish your dog too hard for pooping at the wrong place; and don’t forget to reward him for its little acts of good behavior.

So, these are some of the essential free dog training tips that will help you give the basic training to your dog. So go ahead and make your dog a ‘gentleman’. You can even get many free dog training tips online. With the use of dog training tools available today dog training can be made easy. But the most important thing about training a dog is you give it your time and treat it with affection and care. That’s my dog training advice to you.

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Dog training is a process in which the dog is made to learn to obey the various commands made by his master. These commands may range from saying ‘sit’ to make the dog sit, to saying ‘go’ to make the dog chase some intruder. Dogs can be trained to do various tasks including guarding the house, rescue work, hunting, etc. but domestic dogs are most often trained to guard the house. Their training a wide array of activities, ranging from responding to a door bell to alerting the owner of the house in case of undesirable intrusion.

Dog Training Advice # 1: Train Them Young
The most important dog training advice any individual specializing in the dog training can give you, is to train them while they are young. Like kids, puppies are impressionable at the young age. Therefore, teaching them at this age will make sure that they learn fast and, more importantly, don’t develop any bad habits.

Dog Training Advice # 2: Obedience Training is the Key
Obedience training ensures that your dog grows up to be well behaved, and adjust to any situation. Lack of obedience training in dogs can result in unnecessary aggressive behavior in the canines. Although professional dog trainers can train your dog for you, it’s ideal for you as the owner of the dog, to train the dog yourself. This will help in building a good rapport between you and your pet. Obedience training commands for ‘how to train a dog to sit?’ or ‘how to train a dog to heel?’ should be used in day to day life. One of the most important aspect of dog training is timing, when the dog makes a mistake, make it a point to correct him at that very point of time. This will make the dog relate between the mistake and your attitude. Once you realize that you have been successful in basic obedience training, you can go for more advanced training, such as jumping over the fence or chasing an intruder.

Dog Training Advice # 3: Never Punish the Dog Physically
Avoid punishing the dog physically when he indulges in some undesired dog behavior. Studies reveal that, harsh punishments induced on the dogs end up making them more aggressive and live in constant fear, thus making it difficult for them to relate with the master. You can use more lenient means such as not paying any attention to them when they do some undesired act. Dogs crave for attention, and therefore when you ignore them in order to punish them, they will be able to associate the undesired act and the punishment, and avoid doing the mistake again. You need to be very patient, and avoid striking and shouting at the dogs while implementing these dog training tips.

Dog Training Advice # 4: Leash Training Can be Required
Not many dogs like being leashed, and hence it can be very difficult to leash your. But leashing on the other hand makes training the dog easier as there is less distraction. To make your dog get accustomed to leash, you should try and make the dog associate leash with some pleasant activity or thing. Placing the collar and leash on the dogs, while they are having food, makes them associate leash with food, or placing it while you take them out for a stroll makes them relate it to a pleasant outing. Once they get accustomed, you can train them outdoors with the leash. Just make sure that you choose an area where there are less number of distractions.

Dog Training Advice # 5: Be Patient With Your Pets
Last, but one of the most important dog training advice is to be patient with your dogs. Like humans, even dogs differ in behavior and grasping speed. Some pet dogs may learn in a week, while some may take a whole month or more. This is where your patience will come into picture. If you want your dog to be well disciplined, you will have to inculcate some discipline as well as patience in yourself. Even if it takes a week or few months, understand that your dog is taking one step towards perfection, with each passing day. Being patient will surely yield good results in the end.

At times, you may also have to use some specialized dog training equipments to train your dog, for instance, when training aggressive dogs you can use a muzzle to cover the snout of the dog. Of course using equipments can help, but training the dog by interacting or conversing with them is a hundred times better, than use of equipments or dog training professionals.

Click -> Professional Dog Trainers and Behaviorists Resourses.

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Join hundreds of happy dog owners all over the world who have used Doggy Dan’s Online Dog Trainer video systems to solve their dog’s problems – often in just minutes,without force, fear,sprays,electric collars or shouting…Visit: http://onlinedogtrainers.blogspot.com/
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Dogs have a habit of communicating through their body language and by making some peculiar noise. They speak through actions like wagging their tails, moving their legs and tilting their heads to convey messages. Noise also helps them to put their point across. They growl when they are angry, squeak when they are hungry and bark when they are happy or if they want to make you aware of certain things. Training a dog can prove beneficial to take care of it rather easily. Given below are some useful steps for how to train a dog.

Dog Training
In order to train your dog in the correct manner, you need to first understand dog behavior and characteristics. These characteristics differ in every breed and hence you have to know the characteristics of your dog so as to communicate well with it. Irrespective of the breed of dog, if you love them they will listen to what you want them to do. Dog training can be used to minimize its barking, jumping and to stop it from chewing things in the house and also potty train it to keep away from pooping in the house. You may want to know more on dog leash training.

How to Train a Dog to Fetch
Dogs love to play in an open space and love to chase any object thrown away from them. They also like running around kids and playing with toys. If you want your dog to listen to you, keep petting it on the head and use the phrase “good dog” as often as you can. Here are a few steps on how to train a dog to fetch:

First of all when you start with the training you need to keep dog treats with you.
Take your dog outdoors, either to a park or to your garden where there is enough space for it to run and play.
Dogs love to chase balls, sticks and Frisbees, so keep two balls with you.
Give your dog some treats and then when it is all geared up to play, show the ball or the Frisbee and hold it high up in the air.
Then throw the ball as far as you can and let your dog chase it. When it gets the ball or the Frisbee back to you ask the dog to “drop it”.
The dog will not do as instructed immediately. In such a case take out the second ball and try to get your dog’s attention on it. The dog will want the other one and so will drop the first. When the dog does this, throw the second ball and let it go after the ball.
Keep repeating this process till your dog gets the ball back to you and wants you to throw the other one. When you are about to throw the ball keep saying the word “fetch” as he will realize that fetch means to bring back the object. Keep giving the dog treats, to keep it enthusiastic about playing.
This is a great way of training your dog as the dog stays fit by running and the owner-dog bond gets stronger due to the funny tricks you use.

How to Train a Dog to Sit
To control your dog’s actions when it gets excited, you need to train your dog to sit. Take a look at some easy ways of how to train a dog to sit

You need to keep some dog treats with you for this exercise too. More on dog training treats.
Pat your dog on his head and use the phrase “good dog” at least thrice.
Now slowly pat it on the back and hold the collar tightly. Give it a dog treat and apply pressure on the tail area to make him sit. Use the word ‘sit’ or ‘heel’ every time you do this.
If your dog doesn’t obey your command, speak firmly and say ‘SIT’ only once.
Keep doing this until it sits and when the dog sits, feed him a dog treat.
Repeat this exercise until you are sure it will obey your command the next time you ask your dog to sit.

Don’t be too hard on your dog while training it and pat it as much as you can as dogs too understand the owner’s body language.

One more tip to help you train your dog would be not to abuse your dog or hit it with anything. This way you will either scare the dog or land up getting bitten by it. Dogs get aggressive when they are ill-treated and as living things, need some respect too. Those were some interesting tips on how to train a dog. It is a must to have a trained dog as you wouldn’t want your pet to be misbehaved and ill-mannered. Dogs are adorable and also friendly, so training them can never be a problem.

Click -> professional dog trainer and behaviorist Resourses

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Sign up for free email dog course

 

 

Join hundreds of happy dog owners all over the world who have used Doggy Dan’s Online Dog Trainer video systems to solve their dog’s problems – often in just minutes,without force, fear,sprays,electric collars or shouting…Visit: http://onlinedogtrainers.blogspot.com/
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