Lab Rapport

Author: NicolePawsOff

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Added: July 29, 2010

Obedience training your dog can be simple and jolly fun but only if you employ the right training plan. See, there are so many dog training methods out there and many of them are effective provided you practice patience, and take consistent steps to better your dog’s attitude in training.

Now the problem is there are also many negative training methods out there! All those negative dog training tools like prong collar leaves a sour taste in my mouth

Listen, obedience training your dog can be pretty easy and you can get encouraging results relatively fast by sticking to positive training techniques. You know what positive method I used to obedience train my dog Rocco, while impressing my friends in the process?

Well, I clicker trained him!

All sorts of bad behavior you name it, excessive nipping, jumping on the counter, peeing in the house, marking and chewing behavior My Rocco was highly proficient in all these things! At one point I was convinced that Rocco was possessed by the spirit of the multi-headed hound that guards the gates of the underworld, Hades.

Thank the Gods I discovered clicker training! I used this form of training almost exclusively on Rocco. I taught him housebreaking, basic to advanced dog obedience commands and also tricks, all with the aid of a $2 clicker!

Look, obedience training your dog with a clicker can be a hit or miss however, so get the right instruction guide (check out the external resource material below for download info to a complete clicker training guide including online videos).

Meanwhile, here are a couple clicker tips to help you kick start your training!

Tip 1:

Don’t be too static when training your dog with the clicker. You know the typical, stand in one spot, click and click, click and treat

Author: hetters1

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Added: July 28, 2010

Coming home only to find undesirable landscaping projects in your yard courtesy of your favorite puppy after a long day at work can cause your blood pressure to rise to dangerous levels. This article on dog training discusses understanding and dealing with dog digging.

It is in the nature of a lot of dog breeds to enjoy digging and should definitely be allowed to give into this need every now and then. However, there is a difference between allowing your dog to express this need and giving your dog free reign to landscape your yard to his heart’s content.

If you have noticed your dog developing this need, it will take some time to resolve this without the cost of your garden or flower bed.

If you have a green thumb or otherwise enjoy having a well maintained garden or yard, before adopting a dog, it is important to consider the dog breed you are thinking of adopting. Certain breeds such as terriers, huskies, malamutes have been shown to have a voracious appetite for digging.

Although staying away from certain breeds such as those noted above may be advisable if you do not want a digging dog, it is important to note that each dog is an individual and therefore, it is hard to predict how each dog will act and if they will become a digger or not.

Some of the Reasons that dogs dig?

1. Need for exercise.

If you do not exercise your dog enough, it may turn to digging to get rid of the pent up nervous energy.

2. A bored dog.

Dogs usually need something to do that is both interesting and rewarding in order to pass the time. Digging serves both purposes for a bored dog to distract him from an empty day.

3. Confinement

By nature, some dogs that usually dig under a fence or an enclosure are escape artists despite being exercised. They simply want to see what is on the other side of the fence.

4. Separation Anxiety

By digging, a dog suffering from separation anxiety thinks it will get closer to you. This is a complex psychological problem.

Solutions to Dog Digging

Many of the dog obedience training solutions can be derived from the reasons stated above - more exercise consisting of vigorous exercise such as walking for about 45 minutes a day which may wear him out so that he will spend the rest of the day snoozing, giving him toys and chews to play with and rotating with different toys every few days when he starts getting bored with the ones given, crating or keeping him inside the house for the dog that fancies himself an escape artist.

For dogs that use digging as a pastime, here are some tips to consider;

1. Access Restriction

Restrict his access to the yard unless you are there to supervise him. Without access, there will be no opportunity to dig. You can also designate a specific area that he is allowed to dig. When he starts digging in this area start praising him and give him a treat. When he starts digging in other areas tell him no. Do this often enough until he becomes conditioned to only dig in the allowable area through the positive reinforcement.

2. Make Changes in You Gardening

If more of your delicate plants and flowers are being damaged by the digging, start planting flowers and plants that are able to withstand dog digging because they have deeper roots and thorny defenses such as roses. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

3. Chicken-wire

This is more time consuming but is very effective. It involves placing chicken wire under an inch or two of the turf in your yard. Your dog will begin digging not knowing that it is present. After a few attempts of fruitless digging, he will give up and quit digging.

Please excuse the dog training for dummies title I don’t mean to outrage you, My decision to use this description ws to quickly tell you, the reader, that I intend to give you some very useful information very much like the info you’d get from the people who put together the ‘For Dummies’ series of books.

If you are in need of support to discipline your dog then you have come to the right place. I want to get you into the proper mindset for training your dog. It will be then that you will eventually see how you can train your dog in the most efficient way. You, yourself, could end up producing a dog training for dummies system.

Initially the thing you must get right in your head about how to train your dog is to go from convincing yourself that your dog can and will be trained and that they won’t always be such a huge weight on your shoulder to own. And start to think about how you will take control of the whole state of affairs and deal with your problematic canine.

You then need to step out of the way you currently care for your dog and give him the ‘aww, isn’t he irresistible, he’s just like a small baby’ tag. This one cause is why nearly owners have issues with their dog and it’s in all likelihood the reason why you too are receiving the troubles you have right now.

You can’t disagree and keep dwelling in disaffirmation if you give your dog this kind of treatment. You won’t see this until its directly pointed out to you nonetheless must know that what you’re really doing is opening the door for your dog to become the most dominent in your home.

This is the difficult part and once you make this change you will be able to show your dog that he is no longer in charge and he will fall back to his rightful rank. This all sounds very hurtful however this is something you will need to do if you want to ensure you own a well behaved dog.

So the first thing you’ll need to do is put your chin up, keep positive and stop looking at your dog as if he were a child. Once you achieve this you can then move on to teaching the techniques to train your dog.

Author: MyGSDLove

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Added: July 27, 2010

Author: SussexCountyDTC

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Added: July 25, 2010

Russell has called our attention to another experiment as reported by New Scientist which I quote below.
NS: “LIKE children with their hands in the cookie jar, dogs steal food quietly to make sure they don’t get caught. The finding adds to evidence that dogs can work out what others are thinking. Shannon Kundey of Hood [...]

Related posts:

1. Quantum Canine ‘Eye Contact’ Episode Part 1
2. Quantum Canine ‘Eye Contact’ Episode Part II
3. Crate Duty

Original post

I was surfing the net recently and came across this horrible dog training chewing method. See, this method requires the use of a highly negative training tool in order to stop your dog’s excessive chewing behavior.

What sort of negative training tool?

Well, shock collars of course! The website claims that this stupid tool effectively renders any other dog training chewing methods “obsolete.”

That is absolutely preposterous!

Listen, you don’t have to use this tool to stop your dog’s chewing behavior

The truth is with proper home training techniques, you can not only prevent your dog from leaving his teeth marks all over your belongings, but you can also “program” him to perform desirable behaviors in near effortless manner.

Also, using proper home training techniques, you can save money because you don’t have to hire a professional dog trainer.

You know, my Lab dog Cheeku chewed on my $100+ toaster power cord and we had to replace the whole unit!

But, this won’t be happening to you (at least, not anymore if the damage has been done)!

Let me share with you my dog training chewing methods which are very positive. And if you need more training techniques, check out the link below for a clicker course which covers about 30 different behaviors.

I’ve successfully implemented several positive training techniques using this course as my step-by-step reference guide.

Check out the link at the bottom.

Alright! Here’s how you stop your dog’s chewing habit

Dogs chew primarily because they are bored and anxiety may be the cause as well. So what you should do is set up an area where he may chew only appropriate items e.g. chewing and interactive toys.

Items that aren’t allowed to be chewed must be kept out of this area!

This sort of area is vital especially when you’re not around to supervise him. And another important thing is to ensure that you leave at least 3 to 5 of his favorite toys in this area.

Now, whenever your dog chews inappropriately, you must promptly stop him and then redirect his attention to his favorite chewing toy. I used a clicker to full reinforce this action. As soon as I redirect his attention, I immediately click the clicker.

Dog training chewing can easily be done using a $2 clicker which you can purchase from your local pet store. No negative tools required!

And if you need a clicker manual with clearly explained instructions, follow the download details link below.

You may be surprised to know that there are many uncommon clicker training methods for shaping desirable behaviors in your dog.

Are you looking for the best dog training book?

Alright here’s the news, there is no such thing as the best dog training book. You see, most dog training books place heavy emphasis on theory and only provide presumptive information which is something that we dog owners should avoid.

You know, when it comes to training a dog, I recommend obtaining information that focuses on both theory and practical with more emphasis on the latter. Once, I heard people raving positively about a certain dog obedience training book and some even went as far as citing it as the “the best dog training book”

Well, yeah right!

As it turns out, the book was actually quite mediocre as it contained too many filler information and lacked step-by-step guide on how to shape a dog’s behavior, how to teach basic obedience commands, housetraining, dog leash training instructions etc.

These things are very important but most dog training books don’t deliver such information in an easy-to-follow fashion

But there is a simple solution however!

See, my black lab Cheeku used to be a pretty stubborn customer. Very hard to train her! So after spending God only knows how many hours reading this so-called best dog training book, I deduced that in order to train Cheeku effectively, I must refer to training material that contains step-by-step instructions and photos along with videos.

That’s right my friend! You can’t go wrong if you have this sort of training material at your disposal.

So to keep a long story short, I came across a complete e-course package that teaches owners how to train and shape acceptable behaviors in their dogs with the aid of very cheap little metal box called clicker.

Problem solved!

Well, not immediately mind you. However the e-course is extremely helpful because it offers a decent overview on the principles of clicker training along with beginner-friendly practical instructions.

I discovered about 30 different behavior training methods thanks to this massive e-course. I’m on method #12 right now and Cheeku is really enjoying our training sessions.

Now, my one piece of advice here is to seek guidance from courses that offers both easy to follow step-by-step instructions and videos to help you train your dog better and faster. Quit searching for that “best dog training book” because they simply do not exist.