OBEDIENCE
BY
Geraldine Janes
Does my dog need obedience training??
All dogs need some obedience training. Simple easy training is all most dogs need that live in your home as a member of the family.
You need to teach your dog to come when called. This in itself could help save your dogs life should it get loose and start to run across the street.
To teach the dog to come, you need to put a collar on the dog and attach a leash. Then you will need to take a hold of the end of the leash, and then call the dog by name and say COME.
Should the dog not come, say come again, and give a quick tug on the leash.
If the dog refuses to come, call again and pull the dog to you.
For the first lesson, you should repeat the above steps four (4) or five (5) times. Then quit for that training session.
When the dog does come, praise it by patting it on the head and speaking softly.
Loud, harsh tones are associated with punishment.
You do not want to make any of the lessons to be learned punishment, they should always be short and fun for all involved.
Your dog should always be broke to lead on a leash.
Do Not let your dog drag you when it is on the leash.
So it is very important to teach him or her to heel.
This is done by putting the dog on a leash and starting to walk with it.
When the dog gets ahead or behind you, you will need to pull gently on the leash, and say heel.
When you get the dog walking beside you, this will make it a more pleasant time for both you and your dog when you are out for a walk or a jog.
This, too, may need to be repeated several times for the dog to learn how to perform on command.
Do Not forget to praise the dog for a job well done, and always speak softly.
A dog that jumps up on people may not always be appreciated.
Many times, when they jump up, they will get peoples clothes dirty, scratch them, or for small children even frighten them.
The size of the dog can determine what type of training is needed to stop this bad habit.
For a dog the size of a beagle or larger in size, you can do several things to stop them from jumping up on people.
One method is when the dog jumps up on you, you can step into them and step on the toes of the back feet.
Do Not stomp on the toes, just step down enough to pinch them while saying a very firm NO. This will get their attention and with several applications they will learn that jumping up on people is not an acceptable practice.
Should this not work, another method is to bring your knee up, and sharply catch them in the chest with your knee, and say a very firm NO.
This will make them have to catch their breath, and they should quickly learn not to jump up on people.
One caution is Do Not strike the knee blow with all your force.
It should just be a quick, sharp blow.
Once again, all dogs do not learn at the same rate, so be patient with your dog, and it will learn.
For small dogs like the toy breeds, jumping up on people is not so offensive. Although some people don't appreciate even a toy breed jumping on them, especially if they have been outside and gotten into some water or mud.
So, my suggestion to you, is to teach them what NOmeans at a young age.
I would begin by teaching them to sit on command.
This lesson is taught in the following way. When the dog is standing push down gently on their hips and say sit, and continue to push on the hips until the dog is in the sitting position.
Be sure to tell them in a very soft, gentle voice just how good they are, by using the following phrase:
good dog, good boy/girl, or good and the dogs name.
Teaching this is a good thing with the family, as they will not be jumping all over you all the time.
When they sit, then and only then, you can pick them up to be put in your lap for loving.
When the dog gets older, then you can teach them to jump in to your lap for loving time, but this will be at your discretion, not theirs.
Teaching your dog to stay is not all bad either. If your dog knows the command stay, it will make it so that you can control their actions when you open a door or a gate. This will keep them from running out and maybe getting run over by a car.
To teach the command, stay, open the door, and step in front of the dog blocking its path of escape, and say STAY. When they just sit down or back away, praise them in a very soft, gentle voice. This is a command that will need to be repeated several times, until such a time as it is learned and becomes automatic when the command is given.
I, for one, know what a hassle it is when Fido darts out the door and your running late for work or school, and you have to drag Fido back into the house and quickly slam the door. This STAY command will solve this problem and make both you and your dog better companions.
As you have seen, I have continually stressed speaking softly, be patient, and in time all dogs can be taught these basic commands.
GOOD LUCK AND MUCH SUCCESS WITH YOUR NEW PUPPY LOVE.
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