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Showing posts with label Training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Training. Show all posts

Friday, October 15, 2010

Training a Deaf Dog - Tips and Guide


Adopting a deaf dog can be one of the most compassionate things a pet owner can do. These dogs, often left to live their lives at animal shelters, can make wonderful pets just like any other dog. It may take a little extra training, but well-trained deaf dogs do exist and are often very happy pets.
If you look on the positive side of things, there are some blessing to own a deaf dog as well. A deaf dog will not hear all the other neighborhood dogs barking and so will not join in. The same goes for the sound of your neighbors coming home late, a raging thunderstorm or other sounds that might set off an excited dog.
Without a doubt, owning a deaf dog has its own set of challenges. Your deaf dog may not hear important sounds like that of approaching danger. A deaf dog is not going to be a good guard dog for obvious reason. Easily the greatest difficulty accompanying canine deafness is training. So much dog training is done by speaking. How then does a dog owner train a deaf dog?
Before we go any further, it is important to realize that not all deafness is permanent. It may be wise to first take your dog to see a veterinarian. Certain scenarios such as a ear infection, foreign objects lodged in the ear, sometimes medication can cause temporally deafness in dogs.
If your dog is indeed permanently deaf, don't give up hope quite yet. If you are observant, you would realize that a professional dog trainer usually use hand signals together with vocal commands. Some trainers will not use vocal commands at all, instead using only hand and body signals. The reason why this works is because dogs are sensitive to movements, be it hand signal or body language. They also communicate with other dogs using body language. The position of a dog's tail, head, body, and tail can reveal a lot about how a dog is feeling or thinking.
Your first step is to decide what hand signals you would like to use for each command. The most important thing is to be consistent. Nothing could set back training more than to confuse your dog by either using the same signal for two commands, or using different signals for the same command.
Hand signals should be very clear and obvious. Signals such as a raised hand (in the "stop" position) or a fist are of the best kind, whereas signals with only slight variations (two fingers up and three fingers up) can be very confusing.
Once you have decided on your signals, you can commence with the training. This is done exactly as you would train a hearing dog. Carry treats with you to give as rewards each time your dog performs the correct action. Remember that using negative reinforcement (punishing a dog for doing the wrong thing) often confuses a dog and doesn't aid in training. If you are training a young deaf puppy, you can make use of the feeding time to train him, feeding him when he gets the command right.
Remember to be patient. Your dog will understand your hand signals sooner or later if you are consistent. Don't be surprise if they respond better than normal dogs. Many find it challenging to praise their dogs when they do the right thing. The easiest way to praise a deaf dog would be to use treats as reward.
If you run out of treats, giving your dog a huge smile follow up with a good rub is also effective. You may also consider choosing another hand signal such as clapping to sign that you are pleased with your dog.

Dog Training - Discover Why Is It So Important


I have a Yorkie that I can say is now the companion pet that I have always wanted. People are always telling me how well behaved she is and ask me, "How did you train her to be that way?" Effective dog training is NOT as hard as you think. You do not need to waste your money sending your dog to dog training classes or doggie bootcamp. There are things that you can do right now to start seeing changes in your dogs behavior today. I give even further details of secret dog training tips on my website that you can view below. Please take advantage of the free video on my site filled with secret tips on how to train your dog on your own.
If you have an obedient dog both you and your dog benefit by not needing to deal with obedience issues. No one wants to waste their energy trying to discipline their dog. Train your dog to be obedient so you can put all your energy into making your relationship with each other a fulfilling one. You owe it to your dog to get right to bottom of the most persistent problems that are robbing you of the true enjoyment of dog ownership.
When you train your dog you will be strengthening the bond between the two of you. At the same time you will be building understanding, communication and a mutal respect. A well trained dog understands that you are the leader of the pack, otherwise known as the "Alpha". It is so important that your dog respects you as his leader otherwise you could be in for some real trouble!
You will find that having a well-behaved, obedience trained dog is a pleasure to own because he can go virtually anywhere with you without being a risk or nuisance to others. And who doesn't want a dog who exhibits appropriate behavior in a crowd, good manners when we have guests over in our home, is reliable around children, and who doesn't threaten other dogs or those passing by?
Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to stop your dog from barking, biting, chewing, peeing in the wrong places, fighting with other dogs, tearing up your garden, etc? The point that I am trying to get across to you is that dog obedience training truly benefits everyone. You owe it to your dog to unlock the relationship that both of you deserve!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Easy Puppy House Training


A puppy isn't born knowing that your cream carpet is not an acceptable place to relieve themselves. Easy puppy house training will help show your puppy to hold it until a walk outside or play time in the garden. Here is a straightforward puppy friendly way to train him.
You can anticipate when your puppy may need the toilet. As a general rule, puppies need to go to the loo at the following times:
  • immediately after waking,
  • after eating or drinking,
  • when excited,
  • after playing and sometimes during a wild game if he did not have a chance to go out before the game started,
  • At least every waking hour!
In addition these rules, you should watch your puppies behaviour closely before they relieve themselves, as there are usually tell-tale signs that they need to toilet. These are commonly, sniffing around in a purposeful manner, circling round on one spot or holding the tail high. As soon as you spot these signs, pick the pup up and take him straight to his toilet area.
Don't expect your puppy to know where he has to go without being shown. Take him, stay with him, encourage him (start using a chosen word now and in time, he will learn to go on command), and praise him every time he gets it right!
But even sticking to these easy puppy house training guidelines mistakes can and will happen. Instead of getting annoyed at yourself or your puppy, clean up all accidents as quickly as possible, treating the area with a pet sanitizer.

Crate Training Puppies At Night - The Basics


Crate training puppies at night is essential if you are going to have a puppy who doesn't go to the bathroom on the floor or chew up all of your shoes while your asleep (or not as the case may be). When used properly the crate is an invaluable tool for establishing good habits in your puppies and also for preventing bad behaviour before they arise.
Crate training your dog provides them with a profound sense of security. Dogs naturally live in dens. Dens protect them from danger, keep them warm and dry, and help them to keep their young safe and protected.
The crate size for your puppy or dog should allow them to stand up fully and complete a full rotation, if over-sized it won't feel comfortable for him; dogs prefer cozy dens in the wild.
Where to put your crate is the next important decision. Dogs are social creatures and will want to be where the family spends their time. Some dog owners like to keep two crates, one for their main living space and one in their bedrooms.
Crate training puppies at night is an important but gradual process here are a few pointers to help minimise disruption to your sleep:
  • Your dog needs to get used to the crate day and night. You should not be closing the door overnight until about 11/12 weeks of age as the dog may become very distressed as it is unable to control bowel or bladder movements until this age.
  • To minimise mess in the house, locate the crate in the kitchen (which often has a surface easier to clean) and place tissue paper at the opposite side of the room. Hopefully this is the area your dog will use as the toilet.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Yorkie Training - Easy Methods


Among the intelligent dogs, yorkies come as the one that is bred nowadays. Yorkie or the Yorkshire terrier is the dog that is highly popular because of the cute look and easy training. They are the fast learner and very loyal to its master. But the thing with these yorkies is they forget fast as they learn fast. They must be taught many lessons and be sure that they learn and never forget. So this article will give you some tips for the easy yorkie training.
Yorkie generally loves foods and you can get them their loved food. You can use steaks or beef as their basic food during the training sessions. Or you can use it as a treat for them whenever they understand you and do the trick correctly. And let them know that whenever they do the trick right, they get the treat. But you have to teach them the tricks again and again. The yorkie training should be done every day. They are very stubborn dog and the habit accordingly should be reinforced in them.
You can give them crate training as their first lesson. This is commonly given when they are pup. You can make sure that they are comfortable inside the crate in their soft bedding. The temperature should not be too cold. Chew toy can also be kept inside the crate. You must be sure that they sleep in comfort inside the crate. At morning you can take the dog out of the crate and take him outside. Repeat this for many starting days and they will naturally understand that potty should be done outside. You can feed him after he does potty. Don't be rude with your yorkie.
If accidentally your dog does potty inside the house then in such case you can take him and show the waste. Use harsh words as that used for humans but without hitting. Same way if your pet does the potty outside, then praise him and give him a treat. This helps them to realize that they will get treat if they do potty outside and keep their master happy.
The other important thing during the yorkie training is to train the dog alone so that they won't get any kind of distraction. They are enthusiastic and want to play all the time. They should be focused on you and should teach them with your voice. They should be familiar with the different commands and using the same command every time will help them.

Puppy Housebreaking - Time For House Training A Puppy In An Apartment

Puppy housebreaking method is said to be the matter of the preference and to the certain extent it may be the case. However, as many unfortunate dog owners with impaired mobility or puppy owners who live in high-rise building in downtown area will point out, sometimes there is no choice but to opt in for the so-called indoor puppy housebreaking.
Fortunately, house training a puppy in apartment, thanks to some great tools that we have at our disposal, could be done at least as simple as outdoor puppy housebreaking method. There are few things that work in our favor:
Inborn instinct to seek out a den.
Puppies have inborn instinct to seek out and to take care of their den. This alone is great help when creating the plan for house training a puppy in an apartment. Armed with this knowledge we should help our new puppy to find his den. That's right. How about nice create? When choosing right create we should pay attention not to buy too large create or our puppy could decide to use one side as a toilet. To avoid this (if our crate is large) we should block off one side and leave only enough space for our puppy to stand up and turn around.
Puppy potty schedule
Puppy potty schedule is very important part of our overall puppy housebreaking plan. Knowing our puppy schedule or scheduling potty breaks for our lovely puppy will help to predict when our puppy will need to eliminate. And this is will be great help for we now have opportunity to match the behavior with positive experience. Be now we should have our verbal cue ready (go potty, do your business or something that makes sense to you). The idea is simple! We know that our puppy needs to eliminate and therefore we will use our verbal cue to match with the behavior. If repeated enough our puppy with associate the cue with the behavior and in the future when we say the cue he will eliminate. And when he does we should reinforce it with some kind of reward...be it yummy treat or toy or just a praise. It has been found out that dog is more willing to repeat or to offer behavior that he gets reward for. It is called operant conditioning.
Choosing the potty spot
To make it easier for our puppy (and for ourselves as well) we should establish potty area in our apartment and should always take our puppy to this area. If we stay consistent our puppy will soon learn that this is his potty area. There are many great products out there that can help us keep this area clean.
Stay consistent and patient
The consistence and patience are two last pieces of the puzzle that we will need to master the art of house training a puppy in an apartment. Dogs learn through repetition and therefore we should give them some time to build the association between the behavior and its consequence.