Training a New Behaviour To Your Pooch
When training your dog any new behaviour you always want to make the training time fun and enjoyable for the dog. Remember to keep sessions short (5-10 minutes) and stay calm and patient when your dog is learning as this will help your him or her learn at a much faster pace.
What Is Positive Reinforcement Training
Positive reinforcement is a behavioural technique in which desired behaviours are increased through the use of rewards,also know as positive reinforcer's.
There is no question that behaviour is reward driven. Dogs do what works. If a behaviour results in something good happening, the dog will do that behaviour over and over again as long as the behaviour continues to be rewards to the dog.
eg: You say the word "treat" to your dog and he gets very happy knowing that the word treat means he gets a yummy piece of food.
Loose-leash Walking (No Pulling)
Whatever method of training you decide to use for teaching your dog to walk nicely and not pull. There is one thing that all methods have in common.....you must be consistent with the training. If your dog is failing you need to take a step back and look at your training.
Dog Is Not Interested In Training
If your dog shows no interest in training walking off or just seems to have their own agenda. This is not because your dog is is purposely trying to irritate you, the problem lies with you, something you are doing is failing therefor your dog is failing. The two most common problems with this are:
-Your reward isn't reinforcing enough. Don't use the dog's kibble for teaching, use food that the dog LOVES, like real turkey or roasted chicken, I guarantee you'll have the dog offering more behaviours then you can count. Just think of it as, the harder the cue is to learn, the higher value the reward should be.
-Or you are going too fast and you need to stop and go back a few steps in your training. Until the dog is successfully repeating the same behaviour 9/10 times do not add distractions or move forward in your training.
Dealing With Fears In Canines
Did you know that majority (if not all) aggression is fear based? For instance, dealing with a dog that growls, snaps, barks and lunges on leash perceives the person/dog as a threat, therefor the dog feels that it must scare it away. This emotion will occur and continue to occur until a) it has run it's course b)The eliciting stimulus (scary object) is terminated c) another stimulus is aroused (something to distract the dog from the threat)
The ultimate goal is to "convince" the dog that they can control or cope with the feared situation. But always remember that you cannot punish an emotion, this will teach the dog to avoid the particular behaviour rather then dealing with it. This can have severe negative effects on a dog psychologically and possibly with time the frustrations of not being able to react appropriately can lead to a unprovoked attack.
Dog Fights Happen! Be prepared and know how to react
The way dogs communicate is very loud and clear to other dogs but not to us. Dog fights usually happen because a) a dogs warnings were ignored
b) fearful reactions (bite first ask questions later) c) stress, if a dog is having a stressful day the chemicals in the system become overwhelming and the dog will 'unload' on to the closest dog.
If your dog is in a fight with another dog, the BEST thing to do is STAY CALM, you can try to clap your hands together if the fight is a small one. But for anything that lasts over a few seconds you want to grab the dog that is attacking HIND LEGS and pull towards you. NEVER go for the collar, this is how most people get bit by accident.
For more tips and advice, head over to our blog
http://moderncaninetraining.blogspot.com/
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