Knowing Basic Dog Training Techniques Makes For Easier Training

by Lee Dobbins

The easiest way to successfully train your dog is always to start with some basic dog training techniques. Still not fully understood, the relationship between man and his best friend goes back in time many years. Although many people will say that humans are smarter than dogs, after carefully watching you might wonder if your dog still might have the edge!

Dogs interact with the world differently than humans do. While they understand and respond to people about the same way a two-year-old would there are major differences in how they experience reality. The sensory differences include a highly sensitive sense of smell as well as the differences in responding to the visual stimulus of reds and greens. An understanding of these differences will help reduce human frustration and misbehavior by the dog.

Dogs have descended from the wolf, and as a result have a pack mentality. The expression “lone wolf” is a misnomer, as wolves and dogs are by nature social creatures, who do a lot of interaction with each other, and are ruled by a strict hierarchical structure.

Training can start as early as possible. For some breeds, four weeks is a good time to start. For the first several months, you should allocate at least thirty minutes per day, though a full hour is preferred, for training.

There are some basic dog training techniques or guidelines that all types of training utilizes.

First, you have to let him know who is boss. The critical thing to always keep in mind when it comes to your dog is that dogs have a hierarchy - there is the alpha dog, beta, and so on. To maintain obedience from your dog you must establish the role of alpha dog of the pack.

Depending on the breed of the dog, or sometimes the individual dog, the training technique that is used will be either more difficult or possibly easier. Some dogs are more outgoing, similar to humans. Attitude is what counts the most, though training tools like collars and leashes, and commands are also useful. Your dog should never be allowed to think he is in charge.

This does not mean that you need to be dominating by using your physical strength, although you may need to when it is appropriate. Most of the time a firm hand and patience to wait for the dog to comply is all that is needed.

When they are young, try putting them on their backs with your hand firmly on their chest. When their paws go down they are signaling that they recognize your authority. Sometimes doing this in combination with close eye-to-eye contact helps, since this is the language in which dogs speak.

Begin with a short leash so you can keep the dog from pulling you all over the place. Let the dog have lots of time to run off his energy outside of training, but don’t tolerate that kind of behavior or hyperactivity during training sessions.

The first step is to choose a series of short and sweet commands, like sit, stay, down, and come. Each should sound distinctly different to avoid confusion between them. Your voice should be firm but not punitive. Make sure that you communicate that you’re the boss, but not that you are mad at the dog. Stay away from using two-worded commands like ’sit down’ because they tend to confuse the dog.

When you give a verbal command, make sure your facial expression and tone of voice are consistent and use the same hand signals. Ultimately you can separate these from one another, but initially simplicity and consistency are key.

Don’t expect much more from a two-year-old dog than you would a two-year-old human. Neither of them can be expected to understand subtle hints or inconsistent speech. Be persistent and do it the same way, every time. Don’t let the same command have more than one meaning. It really doesn’t matter if you use the command ‘down’ to mean ‘lie down’ or ’stop jumping up on people,’ as long as you don’t try to use the same word for both.

Being patient, clear and consistent with your dog training techniques will result in an easily trained pet that understands what you want and complies. In short, your efforts will be rewarded with a dog that is a joy to be around!

About the Author:

Training your dog to be the perfect pet all boils down to using the right dog training techniques - find out what those are at http://www.positivedogtrainingtechniques.com/.

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