Dog Training The Three Vital Safety Commands

The Psychology of Training.
Your dog learns by habit, he is likely to repeat any experience that is pleasurable and avoid an experience that is not.

Every time he does anything the habit will become more ingrained, so we should encourage the good habits and ignore the bad.

Being inconsistent causes confusion, praise must be prompt and consistent to help the learning process.

When there is a problem with your dog's training try to think like your dog to understand what might be causing it.

Remember it is very easy to teach disobedience, if you continually repeat a command that your dog disobeys you are teaching disobedience to that command.

If your dog naturally performs and act which you want add the relevant command to the action and praise him, your dog will quickly learn to obey the command.

Motivators.
Very small food treats, most dogs are very food orientated.

Favorite toys, give the toy to the dog when it performs the required action.

Verbal praise.

Timing.
It's essential that praise or rewards are given as soon as the dog starts to perform the required action, this reinforces the association of the reward with the required action.

Other considerations.
All the training should be done on the lead.

It is best to train the dog on your left hand side with the lead in your right hand, adjust the lead to a comfortable length, only use the left-hand on the lead to give correction.

The commands should be used at all times not just when you are doing formal training.

Ok lets get on to learning the vital safety commands.

Sit.
sit 1 Reach across and hold the lead above your dog's head, with no slack in the lead. Give the command Sit and apply gentle upward pressure on the lead, this should raise the dog's head slightly and encourage it to sit.

sit 2 If necessary encourage your dog to sit by applying pressure behind its back legs with your left hand. Please note you should not press on the base of the dog's spine this can cause injury.

sit 3 Repeat the command Sit as you are doing the above, once your dog has sat give verbal praise and a small food treat.

Even if your dog will only sit for a few seconds this is still obeying the command and should be praised. Once your dog understands what is required you can add time and duration to the exercise. Initially the training will be done in the short sessions, but you should try to be consistent and use the commands at all times i.e. when out on walks and around the home.

Heel.
heel 1Start with your dog sitting on your left hand side with the lead in your right hand, the lead should be slack.

Give the command Heel and step off with the left foot first, the dog will follow, keep repeating the command Heel, if the dog keeps pace with you give gentle praise.

The dog will probably move ahead of you and start pulling on the lead, this is normal behavior for an untrained dog, to control this owners tend to pull back, resulting in a tug of war. This is training your dog that this is exactly what you want.

Let's change things, when your dog starts pulling, just stop, stand there, maintain the pressure on the lead but do not pull back, just stand there for however long it takes, 30 seconds two minutes whatever. Eventually you dog will look back at you encourage him to return to your side by calling him and giving praise drop your left hand on to the lead and guide your dog back to the correct position on your left hand side, once there start forward again.

You may have to do this several times, depending on the intelligence of your dog, but do not despair all dogs can be trained to walk to heel. It requires patience and it can take quite a long time to get anywhere at first but it is worth the effort, there is nothing worse than being pulled along by a powerful dog that is out of control.



Come.
We have all seen it or even had it happen to us, our dog is having a wonderful time playing off the lead and will not return when call. I recently met a lady while taking Robbie for a walk, she was nearly in tears and at her wits end, she had been trying to get her dog back for the last two hours. It took just two minutes with our secret weapon. I encouraged her to make a fuss of Robbie and give him a food treat, her dog came back so quickly it appeared to be magic and she was amazed.

To avoid this happening to you please do not let your dog off the lead until you are fully in control and are certain it will return when called. It's irresponsible and could be dangerous to both your dog and the general public.

If you use an extended lead your dog can still enjoy a degree of freedom until your dog learns to come when called.

come 1Now let's learn the Come command. While your dog on its lead or better still on an extender lead and away from you, call his name to get the dog's attention, then give the command Come while holding your arms open wide.

If yoyr dog returns to you give it praise and a food treat, if not just reel it in with the lead repeating the command Come, praise the dog and give him a small food treat, it will not take long for even the dullest of dogs to learn that Come means a food treat and praise.

Please note that you must never use the Come command to recall a dog and then chastise or hit it.

Once you are certain that your dog will come every time you call it it is very liberating to be able to let your dog have a great run and enjoy the company of other dogs.

These commands are the basis that you can use to build an extensive range of commands and tricks that will build a really rewarding relationship between you and your dog.