are amazing animals. They never cease to fascinate and inspire me. Take the time to train your pet and you will be rewarded many times over by the love, affection, and sheer good company that dogs bring into our lives.
My top ten rules for raising and training a dog
1 Think dog
Understand how dogs learn and what makes them tick as a species. Dogs are not humans, but many people treat them like they are.
2 Talk dog
Learn how to communicate effectively in dog language. Dogs can’t speak English, or any other human language. You, however, can learn to talk dog.
3 Top dog
Who’s in charge? You are. You have to be a confident leader. Your dog will be much happier if he has an effective leader to follow.
4 Accentuate the positive
Reward good behavior. Good things happen when your dog does well! Ignore or correct behavior you don’t want to encourage. Sounds simple, but many people do exactly the opposite without meaning to. Never, ever use harsh punishment.
5 Perfect timing
Get the timing right when rewarding or correcting. Dogs won’t associate a reward or correction with an action if you leave it too long to respond. You need to give feedback within one second of the behavior.
6 He says, she says
Be consistent at all times – and that goes for everyone in the family. Use the same commands and agree on your house rules. Can the dog sit on the sofa or not? Mixed messages confuse dogs and make them anxious because they can’t work out what they’re supposed to do.
7 Know your dog
Your dog is an individual with his own strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Whether he’s purebred or a mixed breed, there are breed characteristics to take into account, too. Go with the flow.
8 Vary the picture
Offer a variety of different experiences to stimulate your dog’s brain and senses. Dogs like to play and they get bored, just like we do. Don’t just train in the same place or using the same posture. Teach your dog to respond to you in every situation.
9 Lifelong learning
Start training early and keep reinforcing the learning all through the dog’s life. You can, and should, teach an old dog new tricks.
10 Easy does it
Make it easy for your dog to do well and succeed. Manage his environment. Put the shoes away so he can’t chew them. When you’re training your dog, accept failure as part of the learning process. Successful training requires patience.
Think Dog understanding your dog
In order to train your dog, you first have to see the world from his point of view. Dogs aren’t human beings, but many people treat them as if they were – and the problems start right there. Your dog may be living with humans in a human world, but his instincts remain pure dog.
Let’s take one example. You take your dog to the park, he runs around for a while, sniffing the ground, and then he stops and rolls in the grass. If you see the scene through human eyes, you assume the dog is rolling in the grass for the sheer pleasure of it. Maybe you think he’s found a new way to scratch his back. Both interpretations may be partially correct, but it’s also likely that he is rolling in the grass to cover himself in a particular, appealing scent (and one that you probably can’t even smell). Experts aren’t entirely sure, but it is thought that wolves cover themselves in scent to reinforce their status within the pack, or to disguise their own scent when hunting prey.
That’s a simple example of misunderstanding dog behavior, and one that has no particular impact on your relationship with your dog. In many other circumstances, however, getting the signals wrong can give rise to more serious problems. Understanding how a dog learns and how he perceives the world will provide you with a solid foundation upon which to base your training, and a means of communicating effectively with your pet.
Your dog may be living with humans in a human world, but his instincts remain pure dog.
The pack
Dogs and people are able to live together so successfully because in some ways the two species are very similar. Like us, dogs are social creatures. In the wild, the wolf, the domestic dog’s ancestor, lives in packs composed of extended family groups. It nurtures its young for a relatively long period, and it communicates with its pack members using a wide range of signals – both gestures and sounds. The pack is structured in a clear order or hierarchy, with a dominant male and female pair at the top of the group and other members ranked lower down, depending on age, sex, and abilities.
Communication is vital for the survival of the pack. It allows members to coordinate attacks on prey, and it plays a key role in establishing bonds within the group. Just as important, it reinforces the pecking order so that each pack member knows its place in the scheme of things. Many people wrongly assume that if left to their own devices, dogs would constantly fight for control and dominance. The reverse is actually true. Violence is an exception in wild dog or wolf behavior; deference is the norm. In fact, the hierarchy in packs is expressly designed to prevent the disruption of fighting, as well as to ensure that in times of crisis, the strongest survives to the benefit of the species as a whole.
Why you have to be top dog
When you bring a puppy or dog into your home, he becomes an important part of the family unit. In order for your dog to thrive, he needs a leader – and that leader has to be you.
You are your dog’s guide to the weird and wonderful domestic environment in which he finds himself. Dogs may have been human companions for thousands of years, but that does not make it any easier for them to live by your rules without clear direction. When you are the leader, the dog will take his cues from you and settle much more confidently into your home.
Some breeds are naturally more dominant than others, as are some individual dogs. But all dogs are happier and better behaved when they have constructive direction and clear boundaries to follow. If they know all good things in life come through you – including food, toys, praise, petting, and attention – they are more likely to listen to you.
Many people wrongly think that punishment is the best way to show their dog who’s boss. In the past, a lot of dog training was overly corrective, using painful choke chains, for example, or the occasional smack. Hurting a dog is always wrong. It is also counterproductive. When you hit a dog, you teach him to fear you, you break his trust, and you weaken his confidence. Insecure dogs are the ones who are more likely to lash out in an aggressive display. It’s understandable – you’ve given them nowhere else to go.
So how do you
