Shelmar Kennels Houston TX
Shelmar Kennels Texas dog trainer offers a few dog obedience training tips for people who believe dog is mans best friend, yet their canine companion will not listen. If you cannot gain control in the park during a walk or your dog refuses to be house trained, you have a problem.
What relationship do you have with your dog?
Pretty important question if you are browsing our site looking for training advice or even a training program. The relationship most people have with their dog coming to our kennel is one of being their dog’s best friend. The next question would be is there anything wrong with that?
Training Tips
The answer is tricky – it depends on the type of dog you have. If your pups the perfect pooch, loves taking his walks, friendly with everyone he meets, has several canine friends that love to romp and play together and, finally, after a day spent being your perfect companion, falls asleep at your feet, you are on the wrong web site. Most people don’t have that luxury nor may I even say a ‘fairytale’ storybook of a dog.
I know I’ll get 1000 emails saying that their dogs are angels without wings etc etc etc don’t bother sending them!
I’m dealing with dogs that are not like that. The people I deal with everyday are confused, frustrated and sometimes scared. Raising a dog was not as easy as they thought and their perfect bundle of fur at 8 weeks has turned into a Tasmanian devil dog by 5 or 6 months old.
Of course I’m making a point – not everything about them is terrible but a dog that bolts across a road when you lose control in the park and simply will not listen, that’s scary. Dogs that tear up the back yard because they have been relegated there for incessant jumping up isn’t fair to dog or owner.
I have a list elsewhere on the site but all the problems we encounter are NORMAL behavior for dogs given their training. The main question being, what do I do about it and how can I make it stick?
The adage I want you to remember is that a dog is Mans Best Friend. We have all heard the phrase. To make your dog your companion you have to be a leader. Dogs don’t respond to weakness, they respond to and respect strength. This is where reinforcement of your commands comes into play. Obedience training is as easy as remembering the last thing you told your dog to do and making them do it!
I want you to make a choice between love and respect right now. Love has no place in training a dog. Dogs confuse kindness for weakness. Training is simply making your dog obey what you are showing him to do through repetition. There are many methods of training from treat training to forcing. Most dogs respond best to a regular schedule and repetition.
Don’t get me wrong, I love and adore my dogs, but when I’m training I expect them to perform and learn. I demand attention from them and high levels of concentration.
Want to know a secret – they LOVE being pushed to learn, made to concentrate and they egt a massive feeling of accomplishment when they do things right and reward is given.
Summary
Your role as the leader of the pack must be clearly defined. The dog must understand that it is subordinate to you and is one of your followers not the leader.
I ask all my clients if their dog has a job, if he brings home a paycheck. The answer is always NO. Most dogs are unable to even feed themselves. This puts them at the bottom of the food chain, therefore they need to be led and have a leader. Through training and spending time with them, dogs become comfortable with this; they feel they have a place in your life and you and your family become very important to them.