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In the beginning :
In order to teach your dog anything, you must first get his attention. After all, he cannot learn anything if he is looking aware from with his mind on something else. |
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Language barrier |
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Dogs do not understand our language and have to rely on tone of voice more than just words or sound.they can be trained to react to a certain sound, at a certain volume. If you say " No. Oliver "in a very soft, pleasant voice, it will not have same meaning as " No, Oliver!!" when you raise your voice. You should never use the dog's name during a reprimand, just the command "No !"You never want the dog to associate his name whit a negative experience or reprimand. |
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Teaching " SIT "
Now that you have the dog's attention, attach his leash and hold it in your left hand and a food treat in your right. Place your food hand left at the dog's nose and let him lick the treat but not take it from you . Say " Sit" and slowly raise your food hand from in front of the dog's nose to up over his head so that he is looking at the ceiling. As he bends his head upward, he will have to bend his knees to maintain his balance. As he bends his knees, he will assume a sit position. At that point, release the food treat and praise lavishly with comments such as " Good dog ! Good sit !" remember to always praise enthusiastically, because dogs relish verbal prise from their owners and feel so proud of themselves whenever they accomplish a behavior.
You will not use food forever in getting the dog to obey your commands. food is only used to teach new behaviours and, once the dog knows what you want when you specific command, you will wean him off the food treats but still maintain the verbal praise. after all, you will always have your voice whit you, and there will be many times when you have no food rewards but expect the dog to obey. |
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Teaching " COME "
To begin, have several members of your family take a few food treats and each go into a different room in the house. Take turns calling the dog, and each person should celebrate the dog,s finding hin with a treat and lots of happy praise. when a person calls the dog, he is actually inviting the dog to find him and get a treat as a reward for "winning ".
A few turns of the " Where are you ?" game and the dog will understand that everyone is playing the game and that each person has a dig celebration awaiting the dog;s success at locating them. Once the dog learns to love the game, simply calling out " where are you ?" will bring him running from wherever he is when he hears that all -importants guestion.
The come command is recognized as one ot the most important things to teach a dog.
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Practice makes perfect! |
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Have training lessons whit your dog every day in several short segments-three to five times a day for a few minutes at a time is ideal.
Do not have long practice sessions.The dog will became easily bored.
Never practice when you are tired , ill, worried or in an otherwise negative mood. this will transmit to the dog and may have an adverse effect on his performance.
Think fun, short and above all positive ! |
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Teaching " DOWN "
Teaching the down exercise is easy when you understand how the dog perceives the down position, and it is very difficult when you do not. Dogs perceive the down position as a submissive one; therefore, teaching the down exercise using a forceful method can sometimes make the dog develop such a fear of the down that he either runs away when you say " Down" or he attempts to snap at the person who tries to force him down.
have the dog sit close alongside your left leg, facing in the same direction as you are. Hold the leash in your left hand and a food treat in your right. Now place your left hand lightly on the top of the dog's shoulders where they meet above the spinal cord. Do not push down on the dog's shoulders; simply rest your left hand there so you can guide the dog to lie down close to your left leg rather than to swing away from your side when he drops.
Now place the food hand at the dog;s nose, say "Down" very softly and slowly lower the food hand to the dog's front feet. When the food hand reaches the floor, begin moving it forward along the floor in front of the dog.
When the dog's elbows touch the floor, release the food and praise softly. Try to get the dog to maintain that down position for several seconds before you let him sit up again. The goal here is to get the dog to settle down and not feel threatened in the down position.
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