Dog training
Top 10 essential commands every dog should know
A Basic Vocabulary of Dog Commands
Every dog owner should establish a list of basic commands to train with. These commands can create a foundation of communication and later, when these are understood, then you can add additional commands.
Your vocabulary can vary, obviously, as the relationship between you and your dog is unique. Plus your daily routine will be different. If you participate in any dog sports or activities, you’ll need to teach additional words. However, here are some suggestions:
Sit. The sit command means the dog’s hips are on the ground while the shoulders are upright. The dog should remain in position until released.
Come. The come command in dog training means stop what you’re doing, ignore distractions, and go directly to the owner.
Down. In dog training, the down command means lie down on the floor (or ground) and hold that position until released.
Stay. Remain in position while the owner walks away from the dog and the dog holds still until he’s released.
Release. This is the word that tells the dog he can move from the position he’s been in.
Yes. A verbal marker to let the dog know his actions are correct.
Good dog/good boy/good girl. Verbal praise that can be used after the ‘yes’ marker or after the dog is released.
Leave it. Telling your dog to "leave it" means to ignore what you’re paying attention to; whether it’s food on the floor or the dogs barking next door.
Outside. What is your word or phrase for the dog to go outside to relieve himself?
Go to bed. This sends the dog to his bed or crate.
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Dog training
Set Your Goals for Successful Dog Training
Does your dog have some behaviors that you’d like to improve on? Would you like to increase your own skills as a trainer to help your dog’s long term behavior? With both New Year’s dog training resolutions and National Train Your Dog Month, January is the ideal time to re-evaluate your dog’s skills and your skills as a trainer to have a better life together. Where should you start?
What’s the goal?
First, it is necessary to realistically evaluate what dog behaviors you want to change and more importantly, describe in detail what you want to teach your dog to do instead. So often, we focus on the negatives and what we don’t like which makes resolving any issue seem daunting. Your focus should be detailing specific goal behaviors you want to teach to replace the behaviors you don’t like.
For example, if your dog jumps up on visitors, what could your dog do instead? For many dogs, keeping four paws on the ground or learning to stay calm and hold a seated position for petting are great goals. There’s also nothing wrong with a more complex goal. Perhaps your dog’s goal behaviors could be to sit on a mat while you answer the door, to remain on the mat and wait for a release cue, and then sit calmly for petting by your guests. Whatever your
Plan and evaluate
Next, you must create a step by step plan for how to teach your dog all the necessary skills to accomplish the goal behaviors. Look at each behavior required to reach your goal and what your dog’s current ability is. If you dog doesn’t go to a mat, doesn’t know how to sit, or can’t hold a sit when they get excited, you must teach those individual skills first in order to reach the goal behaviors. Set up small goals along the way to help keep you motivated and measuring success.
Successful training involves clarity and consistency. So evaluate your ability to communicate effectively and reinforce your dog meaningfully. Make sure that you are using a clear reward marker, such as “Yes” or using a clicker to help your dog understand exactly what you want. Does your dog find the rewards you are using really motivating? For many dogs, food treats are a highly valued resource, but don’t overlook real life rewards that can be incorporated into your reward based repertoire such as attention from new people or access to a new/favorite toy.
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Guard Dog
Guard Dog training step by step❤️
How to Train A Dog to be a Guard Dog
There are many steps you need to follow when training a dog to be a guard dog. Starting from basic training skills to advance protection skills. Below is a step-by-step list of training tips to follow. If you’re interested in more detailed information on this, we’d recommend to check out SpiritDog Training. It’s a great resource for all kinds of online dog training courses and they even have a free dog training video library.
Step 1: Basic obedience.
All dogs should have basic obedience skills. Skills like sit, stay, drop it, and bark on command are all basic obedience skills your dog should know before training to be a guard dog and in general.
Step 2: Impulse control.
After your dog has basic obedience skills down, you should begin training your dog impulse control. Dogs should control themselves around welcomed strangers. Dogs should sit, stay, and lie down all on command when in the company of strangers.
Step 3: Teach property boundaries.
Teaching your dog the boundaries of his territory is important for his training. After every obedience training session, you should rerun your property with your dog, so they learn what they are supposed to be protecting.
Step 4: Alone training.
When you have confidence in your dog's behavior to leave them alone, allow them to be left alone on the property they should be protecting.
Step 5: Test your dog.
Have someone your dog is not familiar with test your dog's training. Allow the dog to be alone on the property within the fence boundary or in the house alone when the stranger approaches. The stranger should knock on the fence, front door, and approach wherever your dog is.
If the dog's training has been effective, he should bark and make their presence known. The stranger should act afraid and run off to signal to your dog; they are doing their job. Have whoever approached your dog tell you about the dog's behavior when the test is over.
Step 6: Daily practice.
Continue testing your dog's training. When the dog appropriately barks at approaching threats, reward them with a special treat or praise your dog's behavior.
Step 7: Increase the distractions.
Have the stranger become more of a nuisance to the dog. Making noise and bribing the dog with treats are good distractions the stranger can try to use on your dog. Any distractions used on your dog should already be tested in training on your dog to ensure they will not abandon guarding your property.
Step 8: Confidence in your dog.
When your dog has successfully passed all of the tests given to them allow your dog to be left alone. Have confidence in your dog's ability to guard your home and watch their behavior to see if there are any areas of training that need correction.
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