Animals


Animals13 May 2008 04:35 pm

Basic Equipment Needed To Train Your Family Dog

You will need three specific pieces of equipment to properly train your dog: a training collar, a leather training leash, and a 15-foot length clothesline rope.

If you’re already thinking that your dog’s present leather collar will work, and that his 4-foot chain leash will suffice, you may as well stop reading this article and save yourself and your dog weeks of discomfort and hardship. There simply is no substitute for the right training equipment. A training collar is a slip-chain type made of metal. Don’t substitute one that’s made of nylon.

One of the many things your dog is going to learn is to have confidence in you. But he will never develop that feeling of confidence if you substitute improper training equipment that will not be effective. Where there’s no confidence there can be no respect, and no respect means no desire to please. No desire to please means no willingness to learn. Add them all up and you have an uncontrollable dog that will never achieve his rightful place in human world.

The Proper Leash
Your leash should be of the regular five to six foot leather type with a hand loop at one end. Training collars and leather training leashes are available at pet shops and via online catalogs. Training collars are sometimes called choke-chains, which is incorrect. While it’s true that a training collar can choke, if it’s worn on the dog correctly and used properly, there’s no way it can be a choke-chain and cause harm to your pet.

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Animals13 May 2008 04:35 pm

Techniques You Can Use To House Train Your Dog

Every dog needs to be trained in the house, and the process is quite long. Just like during our childhood we never used proper toilet, even the dogs may do toilet on carpets. So, they must never be scolded.

Dog house training requires you to be extremely attentive and do a lot of work, thus making it one of the toughest techniques of dog training. You may believe that the dog will bark when he needs the toilet, but if you are not lucky enough to have such a dog, then be prepared to have an accident with the results showing all over the house! So, it is always better that you learn to read your dog’s body language.

Dog training is quite simple and requires you to follow quite a few steps. However, it is, as already said, time consuming. To start with, it is best to put a newspaper at the door, so that when you find your dog doing one of those accidents in the house, you can immediately take him there. That way your dog learns to do it on the paper the next time he needs to do, without your help.

For your house training, you need to know that when your dog wants to toilet, he would tend to get restless and start sniffing around the place. At this point you must pick up your dog and take him outside. If it is a young puppy, then you must make sure to take him out every hour, for at least once.

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Animals12 May 2008 04:15 pm

Advanced Obedience Training

To apply the word “advanced” in conjunction with obedience training might lead one to wonder how obedience can be divided. A dog is either obedient or he’s not, right? However, there are higher levels of obedience training just as there are higher levels of training to be achieved in school and education.

A child does not start school in the sixth grade; she has to start in pre-school or kindergarten. There, she is taught how to get along with others her own age, how to play, how to fit in, how to share, and perhaps most importantly, how to learn. For dogs, basic obedience training accomplishes very much the same as pre-school or kindergarten does for the child.

Most families are very happy when their dog learns to eat indoors and use the bathroom outdoors, while other dog owners are not content until their dog can really “fit in” with the family.
In order to fit in, however, the dog must respond to commands so that he can be well controlled. The five commands necessary for control are “Come”, “Stay”, “Sit”, “Heel”, and “Down”. For the dog to be considered obedient, he must respond to each of those commands each time they are given by his family.

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Animals10 May 2008 04:55 pm

Aggression – What is Territorial Aggression & Why Does It Make A Dog So Angry?

All dogs have one form of aggression or another and to some degree, it is perfectly natural. However, since our pets are domesticated then there is a certain level of calmness that we should expect from them. The most common aggression behavioral problem that dogs display is called “territorial aggression”. To sum up the definition of territorial aggression, it simply describes a dog that goes absolutely crazy whenever a stranger approaches their home.

What encourages a dog to display such aggressiveness?
As we stated earlier, it is natural for your dog to want to defend his home and make it known that the area is his territory. However, the following scenarios may cause your dog’s aggression over his territory to escalate:

1. Aggression is reinforced in a dog whenever, for example, a delivery person approaches the house and then after dropping off a package he leaves the territory. Your dog actually thinks that he drove the stranger away and this in itself creates more aggression.

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Animals09 May 2008 02:36 pm

Dog Behavior – Dogs Are Like Children, They Need Leadership & Guidance

Dogs having a natural instinct towards being “pack” animals. Just like their ancestors in which they came from, the wolf, dogs think in terms of partnerships and teamwork when it comes to certain activities. Similar to the way a sports team will work together in order to accomplish the combined goal of winning, your dog looks towards you and the rest of the family as his “team” and counts on you all to help him survive, learn the rules of the house, and condition his behavior.

And like a winning team, there are certain characteristics that must be adhered to and provided by all members of the family, including your dog. Such examples of winning characteristics are disciplined structure, operation among everyone in your dog, and most important, respect between your dog’s “pack”. Without these items, there would be chaos and very little way in which your dog can recognize who is in charge and leading his team.

Read more about Behavior Dog Training

Animals09 May 2008 02:28 am

Destructive Chewing: Your Dog Is Trying To Say Something!

For many centuries now, humans have totally domesticated dogs. We have brought them into our society and, in most cases, expected them to act like us and to be a regular part of our families. We should accept that fact that, in doing so, we have caused some of our own human emotions to develop in our dogs. Dogs have learned to become jealous, neurotic, spiteful, hateful, and bored.

In adolescent dogs, between the ages of six to sixteen months, we find that these emotions cannot be controlled as easily as the same emotions in adult dogs. The same can be expressed by a human teenager’s capability of exercising mature restraint when affected by the same emotions.

Can You Spare 15 Minutes?
The most common cause of chronic chewing is boredom, and if every dog owner would spend a little more time each day giving his full attention and love to his pet, much of the “boredom chewing” can be eliminated. Fifteen minutes a day is all it takes, it’s just that easy!

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Animals08 May 2008 05:11 pm

Find Out About Purchasing Yourself Some Dog Training Books, They Could Really Be Quite Helpful

There are many wonderful benefits from learning how to appropriately train your little dog and if any of you out there are confused on how this is accomplished then perhaps you should consider purchasing yourself some dog training books, they could really be quite helpful to you. Your dog is just pretty much there for you, to play and love and feed and whatever else that you see fit. Unless you properly and efficiently train them, that is about all that they are going to do. Well, that and chew up furniture, shoes and anything else that they can get their teeth into.

Not only chewing but they will also probably bark entirely too much, for no apparent reason, along with not listening to anything that you try and say to them. This is why dog training is just absolutely necessary and important for anyone who is thinking about becoming a dog owner. There are countless dog training books out there, available for teaching anyone how to properly train their dogs and all it takes is just a little bit of reading, time and some patience.

Read a review about Dog Training Books

Animals07 May 2008 03:58 pm

Why You Should Never Let Your Dog Beg For Food & Attention

Unless they are trained not to do so, most dogs will form the natural habit of begging for both attention and food. Some dog owners except this behavior and think it’s cute, but most people get annoyed very quickly when their dog starts to beg every time he wants love, attention, and especially when he smells something tasty cooking in the house.

What is wrong with begging you might ask?
For starters, begging is another form of demanding and it gives your dog an aspect of control within the family “pack”. I describe your family as a pack because that is exactly how your dog sees it. Anyways, while it seems adorable when Sparky rolls over on his back expecting a belly rub every time you enter the room, or just sits all teary-eyed staring straight at your plate of food when you’re eating dinner, this behavior has the possibility to gain momentum and become aggressive.

Just how aggressive can a dog possibly become?
f you do not think that your dog could ever possibly bite your hand because he expects you to give him food every time he begs, think again. For years a friend of mine would hand feed his puppy pieces of food at any time of the day he was eating. If it were breakfast, his dog would get a two pieces of bacon. At lunch time my friend would hand feed his dog a few bites of his sandwich. The same went for dinner.

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Animals28 Apr 2008 04:55 am

Can This Dog Be Saved? A Perspective On Bad Dog Behavior

You love your dog and you feel committed to keeping him in your life, but sometimes you wonder how much more you stand. You feel as if you’ve tried everything and your at your wit’s end.

If this describes your current relationship with your dog, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that there may still be hope to turn things around. The bad news is you may not be the one who can do it.

There really are no ‘bad dogs’. However, there are dogs who have been abused, dogs with physical illnesses and ‘psychiatric’ problems, mistrained dogs and dogs that simply aren’t a match for their current owners. Knowing which kind of dog you have on your hands is crucial for determining your next course of action.

First, ask yourself if there’s any chance you might be part of the problem. Did you educate yourself on dog training methods? Did you take your dog to professionally run training classes? Are you one-hundred-percent sure you know how to handle your dog’s breed and temperament?

If not, then there’s a good chance the relationship can be saved by doing your part to understand your dog’s needs.

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Animals24 Apr 2008 11:50 pm

Dog training can actually be an enjoyable task rather than the painful chore most would view it as. It is important that every dog owner attempting dog training understand that it will take some time. Successful dog training does not occur overnight but rather requires a lot of patience. But, with the right information and a great attitude, your dog really could be one of the most well-trained dogs in the neighborhood. Wouldn’t it be great if you could brag about how great your dog is as opposed to complain about him or her?

Every dog owner desires a dog that listens to their commands and is well behaved, but most want this to happen with no investment of time and effort. Interestingly, many seem to expect that their dog will automatically heed to their every command as if it is a natural instinct. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and whipping their behinds with the daily newspaper will only lead to the next day’s paper used the same way.

It is important to understand that having a well trained dog requires that you do some research to find some accurate information on useful tips to help you through the dog training process. Without a little preparation beforehand, successful dog training will probably not happen.

Rather than dreading this experience, view it as a time for you and your dog to bond. Both of you can begin to trust each other more and create a new bond you would not have otherwise. Dog training can be a time when you will spend a lot of time with your dog. Really, one reason for some of the behavior problems a dog owner may experience is because the dog is lonely and wants attention.

Be sure you praise your dog when he or she does something that deserves some rewarding, regardless of how small it may be. It is psychological, actually. The more praise you give for good behavior, the more likely they will be to keep up that same behavior.

Also, have fun with your dog. Try playing catch with a ball, a game every dog enjoys. This is some great one-on-one time with you and your dog giving him or her the attention needed to help alleviate some of the behavior problems caused by lack of attention. During this time, you could start to apply some of the dog training techniques without your dog realizing what you are doing. This is always a great bonus. Soon, both you and your dog will be happier overall thanks to a little extra time, attention and dog training techniques!

Discover helpful tips about Dog Training and Dog Health Problems.

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