Pre-Training Basics If you have a young puppy, we recommend that you wait until he’s at least 8 weeks old to begin formal training. Before you begin the formal training lessons with a dog of any age, please plan to follow these keys to success: Be patient. Each dog is unique, and can only learn at his own pace. Some dogs learn quickly; others take more time. Patience is indeed a virtue when it comes to effective dog training! Be kind. This goes hand-in-paw with “Be patient.” Don’t lose your temper if your dog doesn’t “get it” right away, or appears to be ignoring you. Please do not punish your dog for not learning quickly enough. As a matter of...
Housebreaking Breakthroughs Successful housebreaking is, by far, the most important element of a loving, lifelong relationship between you and your dog. If you don’t teach your new best friend not to pee and poop in your house, he won’t be your friend for long! Fortunately, housebreaking a puppy (or adult dog) isn’t complicated. All you have to do is prevent peeing and pooping in the house, and reward peeing and pooping outside. While putting this simple concept into practice isn’t difficult, it does require your diligence, dedication, and patience. But the rewards are definitely worth the effort! In this report, we’ll provide some general information about dogs on which our housebreaking techniques are based, explain the benefits of crate training,...
Lesson 7: Teaching Your Dog to Heel If you’ve ever been taken for a walk by a strong, willful dog, you can’t help but gaze in wistful admiration at people whose dogs walks calmly by their sides, even when off a leash. But there’s more to gain from teaching your dog to heel than no longer being dragged down the street. When walking your dog is not a “chore,” you’ll enjoy it more, you’ll do it more, and you and your dog will both benefit from more frequent walks. Teaching an energetic and always-curious dog to walk slowly by your side and ignore all the fascinating scents and other distractions during your outings will be a major challenge. After all,...
Read this lesson first, and then practice it with your dog. Load up your pocket (or a bag or pouch) with treats. Take your dog to an area where there won’t be a lot of distractions. Put a treat in your hand and ask your dog to sit. With your dog sitting and you squatting or sitting next to him, hold your hand with the treat about an inch from his nose and slowly move your hand straight down to the ground. Important: move your hand straight down, right below your dog’s nose, being very careful not to move it away from him as this will cause him to get up and move toward it. We don’t want that. (If...
Teaching your dog to stay involves working with three elements: Distance. Distance refers to how far you move away from your dog. Time. Time refers to how long you want your dog to stay. Distraction. Distraction refers to everything going on around your dog that is tempting her to get up. It’s best to begin with easy challenges for your dog in all three elements: short distance, short time, fewest distractions. Eventually we’ll work on each element separately, gradually increasing the degree of difficulty. Let’s get on with the lesson. Lesson 4: Teaching Your Dog to Stay Read this lesson first, and then practice it with your dog. First, load up your pocket (or a bag or pouch) with treats....
