Dog Training - How To Train Your Dog Properly

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How To Properly Train Your Dog

This Lense is all about training your dog. Their are many different dog training techniques that are great for a wide variety of dogs. On this page I will discuss puppy crate training, dog training equipment, guard dog training and much more dog training information that will help you along the course of properly training your dog. Also you will need some Dog training treats to help reward your dog for learning and listening.

Sure-Fire Tips For Crate Training Your Puppy 

Puppy Crate Training the Right Way!

All too often, many new puppy owners will often fail to realize how very important of having a roomy crate for your puppy really is. The crate for your puppy is a very essential resource when it comes to dog training and has many awesome uses. In most cases puppies are rather small and have no clue on what to do with larger areas. Keeping the puppies in a dog crate is a great way to calm him or her down. Furthermore, since even puppies do not like the idea of using the potty in their sleeping area, the crate is very helpful when it comes to potty training.

When your puppy gets over excited for any reason, placing the puppy in the dog crate will help the puppy settle down. If you have to leave the puppy alone for a few hours, the puppy can easily get into trouble and have accidents on the floor. All of this leads to over excitement in the puppy as well as stress which can be remedied through the act of placing the puppy in the crate while you are gone.

Remembering that puppies are easily distracted by other events around him, feeding the puppy can be a difficult task as well as a messy one. By placing the puppy in the crate for feeding time, you will be able to minimize the messes as well as the distractions so that your puppy can focus on eating all of his meal.

Tip #1 - Choosing The Right Size Crate For Your Puppy 

If the crate is too small, the puppy will feel cramped but then again if the crate is too large, then house breaking the puppy using a crate will not work. In a large crate, a puppy will use to potty on one side of the crate and sleep on the other which is the exact opposite of what you want him to do which is not potty anywhere in the house.

Tip #2 If Your Dog is a Fast Grower Get a Crate Divider 

In the event that you have chosen a puppy that will grow in size rather quickly, you may purchase a larger crate but only if it comes with a divider to make the crate the appropriate size for the puppy. This divider can be moved so that the crate will grow as the puppy grows.

Tip #3 Use Newspaper Bedding Not a Thick Bed 

Keep in mind that even if you purchase the appropriate sized crate for your puppy, if you choose too thick of a bed, the puppy will still potty in the crate as the bedding will absorb the urine. A simple newspaper bedding is all that a puppy really needs. Once you have properly house broken the puppy then you can get him or her more comfortable bedding.

Have You Crate Trained Your Puppy 

A simple question, have you crate trained your puppy and if so did you have any success?

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Great List of Items to Make the Most out of Training Your Dog 

I have compiled a great list of items such as training treats, dog crates, training leads and more dog supplies that will help you get the most out of training your dog.
Lamb and Liver Dog Training Treats
Some great training treats to help reward your dog for a great job!
Nylabone Hercules Gumabone
Keep your dog from chewing up your shoes and the home! This Nylabone chew is a great way to train your dog not to chew up everything in site!
Dog Training Treats
More great treats to help reward your dog for a job well done!

Dog Training Without Shouting 

Sure-Fire Tips To Train Your Dog Without Shouting At Them!

Remember, that although you may want to when you find yourself frustrated with a new puppy in your home that will not stop barking, you should never yell at him or her as this will never solve the issue of the barking. Your puppy is barking for a reason and since they do not understand you yet, yelling at them will not fix the issue on hand and it is most certainly not considered to be a form of positive reinforcement.

Sure, if you yell at the puppy who is barking or misbehaving will make them stop, but this will only be a short-term solution and soon the puppy will revert back to the barking which infuriated you in the first place.

It is important to remember that a puppy thinks of you as another dog and when you yell at them, they become excited and want to play which in effect only makes the situation worse then before yelling at the puppy. Furthermore, the dog will start to develop negative feelings towards you as a result of yelling at him or her which is something no dog owner wants. He or she will feel as if they are unwanted when you yell at them and instead of understanding that they have broken a rule, they will only understand that you do not like them.

Loud commands are not all bad though.

In general, yelling at your puppy is considered to be poor communication skills between you and your puppy, but that does not mean that some commands can't be spoken loudly. There are rules associated as to when it is ok to firm your tone of voice when giving your puppy a command that will help influence their willingness to learn the command and follow it.

1) Whenever possible, you should make every attempt to use a low toned voice command as this also acts as a form of praise for the puppy during its training. It is important to keep them proud of the commands that they follow as well as preventing him or her from getting overly excited.

2) Just above the basic tone of the commands, you have a slightly firmer voice in which is utilized as a means of attracting your puppy's attention. This slightly firmer tone should be short and authoritative so that your puppy will look to see what you are commanding him or her to do.

3) Finally you have the disciplinary tone which is the firmest of them all. This is the tone you use when the puppy has done something wrong, but only when he or she knows that they have done something wrong. You cannot punish a puppy for something that they did wrong, when you yourself have failed to teach him or her that an act was right or wrong. Above all, remember that you do not want to scare the puppy when you raise your tone of voice.

Dog Retriever Training 

Sure-Fire Tips To Train Your Dog To Retrieve

Probably one of the easiest commands to teach a dog is also a natural instinct for the dog which is to run and retrieve. Not only is it an easy command to teach your dog, retrieving can also be a fun one as you can teach him or her to retrieve all sorts of things like mail or even newspapers from the lawn.

To start with, you need to show the area in which you would like your puppy to focus on. Do this by pointing as the dog will look in this area for something that he or she can retrieve and bring back to you. Getting your dog to focus during this training will also help later on in the training process too.

By this time, you should have already taught your puppy both sit as well as stay. Have the puppy sit in a spot and stay there while you place two or three treats on the ground. Make sure that he or she does not run after the treats because they should be practicing their sit and stay commands at this time. Once you are ready, point to one of the treats and say pickup.

Once your puppy picks up one of the treats, drop another one right where he was at while the puppy is not looking. Once this is done, point to the new treat and tell the puppy to pickup that one. The puppy will start to comprehend the command pickup with him or her placing something in their mouth. Using treats works well for a number of reasons, but mostly because as soon as they exercise the pickup command, they are rewarded with a tasty treat and will want to do it over and over again.

Once you and your puppy have this part down, you will then want to take non-food items. Start by throwing a couple treats then move on to non-food items in the same manner as before in which you point an tell the puppy to pick-up. However, it is important to remember that when you are not throwing down a treat, you have to reward him or her with praise each and every time that the puppy executes the command.

By this time your puppy should now be able to retrieve balls and return them to you. But you also need to teach the puppy to drop the item. To teach drop what you need to do is to toss the ball. Naturally the puppy will run and bring it back to you for some praise. Upon return, pet your puppy's head and tell him or her to drop it as you remove the ball from their mouth and drop it on the ground. Do this over and over again until the dog drops the ball on command.

Dog Barking Problems - SureFire Tips To Stop Your Dog From Barking 

Let's face it, a new puppy barks, and barks, and then barks some more. A new puppy owner may find him or herself over the edge with all of the barking associated with bringing home a new puppy. This barking in many cases is for attention. When they were still with their mother, they would bark and day or night their mother would be right there for them, however you are not their mother and cannot always be there every second of the day.

Puppies in general develop a fear of being alone. Remember, dogs are a pack animal and they are never by themselves, there is always another dog nearby to keep him or her company. This fear of being alone is a phase in the puppy's life that every dog owner will have to deal with. Even leaving the roomfor a minute can cause them to go nuts and start to bark.

How do you handle this annoying and non-stop barking that comes from your puppy? Every time that your puppy barks and cries, most pet owners do one of two things. They either run up to the puppy and caress them which feeds the behavior, or the run up and yell at the puppy which excites them and feeds the behavior. You could choose to just ignore him but unfortunately this will not work either as the puppy will just continue to bark and keep the family awake all night long.

1) Try ignoring the barking as much as possible, this also means that you should never yell at the puppy for barking. Yelling at the puppy will scare him and as a result he will be afraid of you as well as suffer from increased levels of anxiety which in turn result in more barking.

2) You can use a teaching lead to allow the puppy to follow you around the home while at the same time developing his independence. This will definitely help with the barking for the simple fact that you are helping to learn independence over pack living.

3) Do not draw out the departure when you have to go somewhere. Most pet owners want to love and caress and say good bye to their puppy, but this will only result in more stress for the puppy as he or she will begin to associate the loving and caressing with you leaving the home. For the same reasons, you will also want to prevent from big greeting once you arrive home as this results in overly excited behaviors every time you get home.

4) Use a spray bottle and give the puppy a quick sprits when it barks. You can also try using an aluminum can with a couple of pennies inside of it and when the puppy barks, toss it near the puppy. The noise will startle the puppy while at the same time it will also distract him. You may also want to try a wind-up clock that ticks and place it in their sleeping area. There are many great tools out there that can help your puppy to get over the phase of fear of being alone.