Labrador training

Archive for November, 2010

Everyone says to give our Jack Russell a chance and get him training before we rehome him. We cannot really even afford 100. 00 because we are both full time college students. He is aggressive with our baby ie: tries to jump on him and lick him and growls and barks at him. Where should I look for free or really, really low cost training? Maybe a student trainer. I was so glad to find this — You have a need that isn't going to be addressed by $100 petsmart training and they are about the cheapest (both in price and quality) that you will ever find. No such thing as a free lunch

Whether you already have experience of dog ownership, are a new dog owner or are about to be a dog owner, then training your dog is one of the most important aspects you need to consider.  Likewise if you currently have a dog with behaviour problems, then dog training is essential.

However, knowing you need to train your dog and actually training your dog are two entirely different things. Just where do you start?

To successfully train your dog, you need to consider and understand some key facets of dog behaviour. Knowing and understanding these 5 facets will greatly improve your dog training.

1. The origins of dogs. Dogs are in essence descended from modern day wolves. During times when domestication has dampened or eliminated many traits, some key natural instincts still remain. Like wolves, dogs are pack animals. What does this mean?

Well, there are several traits that derive from being a pack animal. The important ones when it comes to training are dogs are naturally sociable, they are used to routine and they are used to a social structure (i. e. the famed alpha male).

As sociable animals dogs thrive on the interaction with other dogs. A dog does not consider you as a human but rather a funny looking dog. Therefore, dogs thrive on the interaction with you. Just like a wild wolf, rejected by the pack, if you starve a dog of this interaction, they'll become unhappy and very agitated.

When it comes to training, you can use this to reward or punish your dog. Interacting with your dog (e. g. patting, encouraging/excited talk, etc) may be as much of a reward as treats of food. Similarly, ignoring your dog (e. g. turning your back, stern talk, putting them in another room, etc) may be a harsh punishment for a dog. Its definitely better than smacking them.

As with all animals (including humans), dogs thrive on routine. If they know what and when they are likely to be doing certain things, then they are relaxed and comfortable. They know what to expect and are not confused by ever changing circumstances.

Training should also stick to a routine. Decide when the best time of the day is best for you to train your dog and stick by that time as rigidly as possible. Your dog will soon get into a routine of expecting to be trained at say 3pm every day and will be prepared for when training time comes. If your dog is ready and expecting to be trained, then it goes without saying that they'll actually train better.

Within a pack there is always the alpha male. The dog that leads the pack, protects the pack and ultimately ensures the pack is fed and survives. As mentioned, a dog sees you as a funny looking dog and not a human. To be a good dog owner you absolutely need to be the alpha male. How many nature programs have you seen where the alpha male is being challenged by one of the other would be alpha males? Likewise, your dog will be challenging you to be the alpha male – this is a natural instinct for them.

You must establish yourself as the alpha male from the beginning. Providing food, interaction, punishing bad behaviour, body and vocal language all go towards asserting yourself as the alpha male. If your dog does not consider you as the alpha male, then they'll not listen or act on your training instructions.

2. A dog's memory. We all know that goldfish have short memories. However, you may be surprised to know that dogs also have short retention memories. If you could tell your dog something, it is likely that by the next day or a few hours later, they'll have forgotten. On the other had (or paw) dogs do have incredibly good associated memory. This basically means that if your dog can associated something with what you tell it then it will likely remember what you told it for years to come.

For example if you told your dog (assuming you could speak doggy language) that the chocolate biscuits were in the cupboard your dog would probably forget this within a few hours. However, if you showed your dog where the chocolate biscuits were, repeating the words 'chocolate biscuits', every time you said 'chocolate biscuits' it would probably go straight to the cupboard. It may also search the cupboard every few hours for the rest of its life looking for the chocolate biscuits but that's not the point.

Therefore, when training your dog you need to associate the training topic with something. For example: if you are teaching your dog to sit. If you associate the word 'sit' by getting your dog to physically sit and then giving them a reward. Repeat this a few times and soon your dog will associate your command 'sit' with it physically sitting and then getting a reward. The difficult bit is disassociating the reward – ask yourself why almost every dog will naturally sit when you have food in your hand?

3. Doggy language. Despite comments above, we can't speak doggy language and dogs can't speak our language. This is important when it comes to training. You have to choose words for commands that both you and your dog will remember. Be careful not to choose very common words or else your dog will be easily confused when this word keeps appearing within the middle of a sentence. A common word often used in training dogs is 'come'. For this example, it may be better to use a slang version or combine 'come here' into a single short word.

The important thing is that when you decide on a word for a command to stick with it and be consistent, otherwise your dog will become confused.

I know it may be difficult, especially if you come home to your new TV pulled off the cabinet, to always use pre-selected words when talking to your dog. Your dog does not speak human language and will only know what those few words you have trained it with are (and the tone you have used). So if you start using other words or different tones your dog will not understand.

For example: imagine someone speaking to you in a foreign language asking for directions to the city hall. You can't understand a word they are saying yet they get more and more frustrated, talking in a louder and quicker language. Is it your fault you can't understand them? Why are they getting angrier when you have no idea what they are saying? What is their problem? What will I do? Similarly, if you have not trained your dog to understand what 'sit' is and you start shouting 'sit', 'down on back legs', 'down', etc is it your dog's fault it is looking at you confused and increasingly scared.

4. Puppy behaviour. Just like babies, puppies do not know how the world works or how they are supposed to behave within that world. They need to be taught and learn what is good, bad, right or wrong.

A healthy and happy puppy will be a bundle of energy, desperate to explore as much as they can as quickly as they can. Dogs do not have good eyes that can see things or hands that can feel the intricacies of objects. Instead they've noses that can smell things and mouths that can chew objects.

During times when this can come through training and general maturing, the importance of this is that you must be patient and understand where your dog is coming from and why it does what it does.

5. Structure and enjoyment. During times when I've in a round about way touched on these two above, no dog training info would be complete without mentioning these two aspects on their own.

However you decide to train your dog, as with routine, you must have a structure to your training. If you have never trained a dog before, how do you know when your dog can start learning to sit, stay, etc and when it can run down to the local shop and pick the paper up for you? 

You need to know what it is you actually want to train your dog to ultimately be able to do and what steps you need to take to get to that point. Personnel dog trainers, dog training classes and dog training guides can all do this. Personally, I prefer to train my own dogs and believe that in the end you develop a much stronger bond with your dog. Also, your dog is more obedient to you rather than the trainer. However, at the very least, and particularly if you have never trained a dog before, I would recommend purchasing a dog training guide.

The small amount of money for a dog training guide, compared to the time you would waste searching for free online tips that will be a mix match of training and will not provide the structure, is just not worth it. More than that, the time saved in training and the end result of a properly trained dog for the rest of its life (around 15 years) is worth many times more than the cost of even the most basic training guide.

If you, and more importantly your dog, do not enjoy training then you'll never properly train your dog. Training will take longer and be much harder. When you start training your dog remember they are most likely to be a puppy and at that age all they want to do is run and explore their new world. Be flexible with the time you plan to spend training. Try and keep training short but if your dog appears to be really enjoying it then be prepared to train for longer. Likewise if your dog will just not focus, then maybe leave it for a bit before going back to it. Also with a routine and structure to your training, your dog will soon learn that when it comes to training they need to focus for a short length of time and will be better able to do so.

I hope the above has been helpful in your desire to train your dog. By knowing why and how your dog does what it does, you should be able to understand it's behaviour much better. By using this understanding you can better bond with your dog and train your dog. A good training routine and structure as well as plenty of patience and eventually you'll have a well trained dog. Always always always make sure training is enjoyable for both you and especially your dog.

If you own a dog, especially a hunting dog and live in a part of the country that has poisonous snakes then you should train your dog to avoid all snakes. Unlike people dogs cannot wear snake boots to protect themselves from the fangs of a pit viper that lives nearby. Dogs by their nature a curious about everything including snakes. It only takes a second for a dog to be struck in the muzzle or the eye and you have a serious problem.

Hunting dog training that includes snake avoidance will reduce the chances that your dog will be bit by a poisonous snake. Snake avoidance training is a specialty that requires the trainer to be very comfortable in handling snakes. Several hunting dog training specialists located in the South and West train their prize hunting dogs during the regular obedience training. They would never risk their dog and all the time and effort they have invested by ignoring this serious problem.

We have bird dogs and during their early hunting dog training we introduce them to snakes. In many case catching a local non poisonous snake is the first step in snake avoidance. Placing a freshly caught snake in front of puppy will cause the snake to strike the dog repeatedly. It is important not to say anything to the dog during this avoidance training. Frequently this will cause the pup to avoid snakes for the rest of their lives. However this procedure frequently needs to be followed up with additional training methods.

A more intensive method of teaching snake avoidance is through the use of an electronic training collar along with a fresh caught non poisonous snake. You want to select fresh caught snakes to assure that they snake will strike the dog repeatedly. Snakes that are handled frequently seldom will provide the proper striking response that you need. Again the snake is placed so you dog will encounter it however when the snake strikes you will use the electronic collar to provide a shock to the dog. Applying the correction at the same time as the snake strikes the dog is important. Again do not say anything during this process as you want the dog to associate the pain of the correction with the snake and not you and the training collar.

It should be noted that non poisonous snakes do not smell the same as pit vipers. Should you have the opportunity to kill or capture a rattlesnake, copperhead or cottonmouth without endangering yourself you should do so. In snake country you will find dead pit vipers on local roads which will provide the material you need for advanced snake avoidance training. It is recommended that you remove the head of the poisonous snake before you bag the body in a zip lock bag in your freezer. The dead snake parts are thawed out and are placed in a bag with the non poisonous snake for 30 minutes to provide the odor of a pit viper to it. Then the hunting dog training process outlined above is employed to achieve the desired effects. The dog's sense of smell will help it avoid pit vipers in the wild.

Some trainers use live rattlesnake to teach snake avoidance. This is not recommended unless you are very comfortable working with poisonous snakes. This process requires the removal of the rattlesnake's fangs with a pair of needle nose pliers. Again the hunting dog training process outlined above is used. The major benefit to this method is to provide an association of both smell and the sound of the snake rattling with the snake. Again this should not be attempted unless you are experienced in handling snakes.

It must be understood that hunting dog training that includes snake avoidance is no guarantee that your dog will not be struck by a poisonous snake. In many cases as the dog works the cover it will surprise a snake and be struck. However frequently these initial strikes do not carry a large dose of venom and are used by the snake to warn the intruder off. An untrained dog will frequently turn on the snake and be struck again with a full load of venom which may kill or blind a dog. In most cases a trained dog will immediately leave the snake alone and continue hunting.

In every case whenever your dog encounters a snake it should be examined closely. Hunting dogs should be put up and observed for any swelling or signs of a bite. Many Vets will provide you with the first aid medicines that you need to treat your dog in the field. If you have any doubts about a snake bite you should contact your Vet immediately. If you love your dog then you will invest in the time and effort to properly train it in snake avoidance. Hunting Dog training that includes snake avoidance only make sense and will save you heartache, time and money.