Basic Dog Obedience Training
Obedience training is a must for most dogs. They must behave in a way that makes them pleasant to be around, keeps them safe, and provides for the safety of people and other pets. Dogs do not figure out basic obedience on their own; they must be trained.
I am a firm believer in the fact that there are NO bad dogs, just bad owners or trainers. That may be a bit harsh, maybe I should use the words uninformed or insensitive (but sometimes bad just fits the bill).
I have heard that 63% of our population own pets, and there are really good dog owners that think they are truly loving their dogs (as I did) by letting them get away with things we would never allow our children to do.
I will tell you for a fact, that since I have taught my dogs that I am alpha they respond so much more lovingly to the family and anyone else who visits our home.
Is He Truly Disobedient
There’s a difference between disobedience and incomprehension. If your dog isn’t obeying a command because he doesn’t understand what it is you want him to do, that’s not a behavioral problem at all; it simply means that you need to spend some more time together in training.
The hardest part of basic dog obedience training is communicating with the dog in a humane way that he understands. However, the underlying principle of all communication is simple: reward desired behavior while ignoring or correcting undesired behavior.
Before any training can take place you must establish you alpha position..
Disobedience is rooted in disrespect. When your dog deliberately does not obey you, he’s saying, “I don’t respect your authority enough to do what you want me to do”.
By allowing him to get away with this, you are allowing him to form the habit of passive-aggression. You can't ignor this and leave it to “fix itself” – the problem will worsen, not get better.
It’s very important that your dog recognizes that you outrank him in the social hierarchy of the household. You must be alpha in order to maintain a healthy, functional relationship with your dog.
It is not possible to have a good owner/dog relationship if he does not understand that you are the alpha authority figure: he must know that he’s beneath you in the chain of command.
First step is to establish or reestablish your dominance.
Basic Obedience Training Consists Of 5 Behaviors:
Once your alpha position is secured you can work on these.
- Sit
- Down
- Stay
- Come
- Heel (loose leash walking)
To learn how to accomplish obedience training and easily teach the commands visit:
SitStayFetch
Priortize Your Training Program
So far, I mentioned communication. This is accomplished by recognizing YOU must take the lead position in your dogs eyes by becoming alpha. Then moving on with your obedience training program will be a snap.
From the above list the recall (come) command is the most important. This one command, could end a great deal of stress. It lays the foundation for the other commands.
The ground rules and information for teaching the recall.
It is critical to never punish a dog if they respond to a recall. Punishing him quickly teaches the dog that if he returns he will be punished.
If the dog requires a correction, go to the dog - the dog should not be asked to come and then get punished. The dog will link punishment to what he was doing directly before receiving it, and if that was responding (correctly) to a recall, then the handler has just inadvertently taught the dog to run away from the recall command.
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