SolveYourProblem.com Article Series: Dog Care
Dog Care Tips
Teaching
Basic Dog Obedience Skills
Teaching basic obedience skills to a dog can
be exciting as well as challenging. Having problems on where
to begin? Start by doing your homework. A student can only
be as good as his trainer, right?
The first lesson in obedience is to get
your dog to pay attention to the commands. You want to start by calling his name and
then using a keyword like “watch” or “look” afterwards. This
way, he will associate the words to a command. Once you’ve
got his attention, the lessons can begin.
You want your dog to be able to pay attention for a short
length of time. Try keeping his attention by doing attention
exercises. One example would be to hold a toy or dog treat
in near your mouth and then give him the keyword command. Each
time he takes the time to watch, praise him. The more you do
this exercise, the more time he should be able to pay attention
to you. Try getting him to watch for at least a minute. Let
him know that he is doing a good job by rewarding him. Dogs
learn best this way.
Because dogs have such short attention spans, they get distracted
pretty easily. Choose a place that is free of other distractions
such as other pets, children or loud noises. Training sessions
should only last approximately 30 minutes tops. Usually, if
you go over this time limit, the dog will get restless and
easily distracted.
If your dog isn’t learning very quickly, you may become frustrated.
Don’t take that frustration out on your animal. A few things
to remember before starting your obedience lessons:
- Never
cause pain to your dog (this will cause him to shy away
or become aggressive to you.)
- If
he begins to become distracted, change the tone of your voice
(this doesn’t mean raising it)
- Consistency
can not be stressed enough (animals are like children, if
you’re not consistent, they will become confused
as to what is expected)
Teaching your dog basic obedience commands will make for a
more obedient and more pleasant dog to be around.
The
first command to start off with would be to sit. You must
use the word sit while teaching him so that he can relate the
word with the action. Start by gently pushing his backside
down and saying the word “sit.” Eventually he will catch on
to the concept. The
second command is “down.” Dogs can become pretty hyper
when they get excited. Jumping up on their owner’s lap is usually
how they express their excitement. If you have a big dog or
have other people over, you might not want them pouncing about.
When they jump up, tell them “down.” Do not pet them or act
excited to see them while they are on you. Continue to tell
them “down,” and even place their legs down if you have to.
Next
is the command of “stay.” This command is a good one
to know especially if you have a rambunctious hyper dog. You
can teach him stay, for example, by putting a treat or something
desirable on the ground. As he moves toward it, tell him “Stay.”
Another good idea would be to put your hand up while saying
the word “stay.” When he begins to become obedient in this
area, you can move further away from him. This will cause him
to become more daring and he will probably take a step forward
to see how much he can get away with. When he does this, continue
to put your hand out and tell him “stay.” He has to know that
even though you are moving away, you can still see what he’s
doing and expect him to continue to obey.
After you’ve mastered the stay command, you will move on to
the come command. Once your dog has learned to sit and stay,
he will need a command to know when it’s ok to get up and approach
you. They may be a bit confused at first, but with a change
in the tone of your voice, he will soon understand. Put a little
excitement in your voice when saying the word “come”. He will
pick up on it. You might also want to pat your leg when you
say come.
Stand
is the last command to achieve. This is where your dog
is allowed to get a little excited but not in a pouncing kind
of way. When teaching your dog to stand, pat your hands on
your chest and, once again, put a little excitement in your
voice, so that he knows he’s aloud, under certain circumstances.
He will begin to know the difference.
Teaching your dog basic obedience, if possible, should be
taught as soon as you and your dog are ready. Remember be consistent
with the commands and don’t forget to have fun!
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SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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