Dog training
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Children and dogs are friends forever, or how to teach the dog to accept a child

To have a baby certainly is a great happiness for your family, but how do you make sure that your pet is ready to share the joy with you. That he is not jealous, that he will not start to spoil the lives of family members.
Caring for a newborn baby, even for a well prepared parents, needs a lot of time and energy. When a baby is in the house, you dog may feel that a place of a "favorite pet" is taken away. Well, that's frustrating!

Here are some tips to help your four-legged friend to accept his new role in the family.

Dog and Puppy Crate Training - Do It Right

No matter what people have told you about the crate training, or what you was reading about it before, the very first and the most important thing is that fact, that a proper crate training is targeting the benefits of your dog. Why is that? Simply because the proper crate training is a guarantee of your young puppy's safety, comfort and happy life. Believe it or not, very soon you will find out, that puppy crate training is an irreplaceable instrument that will help you to prevent many behavior problems in your puppy before they appear and to develop many useful habits, that will stay with your dog for the rest of his life. Plus to everything written above, crate is very useful to keep your house and your belongings safe too. America's Pet Store has number of great training products, pet ramps, fences and more.

Dog kisses - Train your dog to "give a kiss"

Everybody like this nice and funny trick - when the dog is "kissing" someone on the owner's request. Kids like it, adults like it, even those, who never had a dog - like it. Also it appears to be very easy to teach a dog to do this trick.

Dog Show For The Firs Time

So, you and your dog arrived to the Dog Show. Since it's inception and until the end you have to remember, for whom, in fact, this all is organized, and to devote yourself for this time to your dog completely. Try to come to the place of the Show in advance, before everything will start. This will allow your dog to have a look around. And you will have enough time to prepare your dog and yourself for the performance. The dog should appear at the ring in her best condition (physically and psychologically). Your dog should be given enough time before the show to move, to do what dogs normally do, coming into a new unfamiliar places. If you have just arrived - and immediately rushed to the ring, you are at a great risk not to show your dog from her best sides, and it's not good for both of you.
Obviously, you will feel nervous. But try not to show it. If you will remain the external balance and confidence, your feelings will transfer to your dog and she will show herself in the best way if there will not be any needless anxiety. The most important thing to remember in this case - your hobby, you passion for dogs suppose to make you and your dog happy - not the opposite. So, try your best to enjoy the Show, instead of being stressed.
When you are taking your dog to the ring for introduction, let the pride to be clearly shown in all your moves. And do not worry that something may be done wrong at the crucial moment. Remember, next time you will have a chance to correct any mistakes! Do not be embarrassed about that fact, that there are some people for whom all this is not new and that they know more than you. Everyone of them was on your place - first time on the Show - some time ago.
Typically, the evaluating of your pet starts when the judge examines your pet. Then you will need to drive your dog along the ring - the judge must see the nature of the movements of your dog, her style, how the head and the tail are set, what is her way to move, how the top line looks and also the general appearance of your purebred pet.
Think at this time about your dog, be with her, try to give her a desire to move beautifully. Keep the certain distance between you and the other participants of the ring. ??Let your dog to run inside the circle, for the judge to have a good opportunity to see her, not you. If you are not at the head of the ring, then make sure that there is enough distance between your dog and the one that goes ahead, that there is enough space - for the judge it will be easier to evaluate your dog. Bringing your dog forward, make sure, that the judge has enough space to walk freely and view the dog from all sides.
Study in advance how to bring the dog to the judge for individual inspection quickly and without hitches.The judge's schedule is normally very busy, and he never has more than only few minutes to observe one dog. ??Therefore it is better to rehearse at home in front of the mirror. Imagine yourself a judge and see, how does your dog looks. At the same time try to make this demonstration to go as fast as possible.
Be careful and listen when the judge will explain in what manner you have to walk the dog: forward and back or along the ring, diagonally and backwards - in other words, on the triangle.The current judges in the majority prefer the trajectory of the triangle. Going "on the triangle", the dog must proceed on the outside of the ring before the first corner, then perpendicular to the next corner of the ring, and then - back to the judge on the diagonal. Practice this walk with your dog, do your best not to stop at the corners and not to make any unnecessary movements. Judges give precedence to the dogs, who can pass on the triangle without stopping, because it allows them to see the dog's motion easier and faster.
The way the dog is moving - is essential, therefore, of course, you will have to dedicate enough time and efforts to the development of this skill. Training the dog at home, ask someone from the family to walk your dog at different speeds to see how fast the dog turns and on which speed she will look more dignified. Usually dogs look their best way, while moving at medium speed. In this case the dog's head is standing right, and the top line is clearly marked. Do not force your dog to move at a gallop in the ring, or run faster than is typical for her breed. Hurried movement only prevent the dog from appearing in the most favorable light. Let the dog to move as fast as it is natural for her. For the evaluation to be done correctly, the motion of the dog must be powerful and strong, but not faster than a typical for this breed velocity.
Coming back to the judge, try to stop your dog at about one and a half or two meters from the judge and put her in the right position. If stopping the dog, you will show her something tasty, this would allow a judge to see how the dog looks when she is curious and exited. Choosing a treat, take the one, you usually use during the training sessions with your dog. Also instead of a treat you may use your dog's favorite toy.
And now, the moment of the award. Remember that whatever is your personal opinion on the issue of justice and fair results, ??everything that happens you must take with dignity. Even if you did not get the best result, congratulate the winner. Do not show openly your disappointment. Be sure to praise your dog! Be like a true athlete! If you win, show your appreciation, pride maybe, but not conceit! Because it is better to be able to lose with dignity than to show unworthy behavior in case of victory. Good luck!

So, you and your dog arrived to the Dog Show. Since it's inception and until the end you have to remember, for whom, in fact, this all is organized, and to devote yourself for this time to your dog completely. Try to come to the place of the Show in advance, before everything will start. This will allow your dog to have a look around. And you will have enough time to prepare your dog and yourself for the performance.

Dog Whispering: Is It a Magic?

What does it mean - to be a Dog Whisperer?

Imagine someone, who can "speak dog's language", someone, who is able to perform a "two-ways" communication with the canine species, someone, who trained himself to understand, what is the dog "saying" and why... A Dog Whisperer. A person, who could learn to deeply understand, how exactly the dog's mind and natural instincts are working, and according to his studies this person is building a special - very strong - bonds between him and the dog, allowing the pure communication, free of all those barriers and obstacles, that usually separate and disturb humans and dogs from understanding each other.

Give Your Dog Some "Manners": Teach Her Where And What She Can Eat

Every dog owner more or less is informed how to feed his dog. But how to make your dog to behave with the food properly? Good question. Well, you will just have to educate your dog right. ??And what is education anyway? After all, every day we face different situations and our response to them consciously or unconsciously, is already a kind of education. Here, we liked some behavior and we praised the dog, there - we did not and immediately punished the dog. Sometimes we just want to spoil our dogs a little bit and we give them treats for just nothing. And it goes like this every day, and our four-legged friends grow and absorb ??then the first, the second and the third.
In the end you get what you put in your dog by yourself. Unconscious education, without any principles and laws makes some sort of a "reckless" creature out of your dog. And you can not control the dog's behavior. Her manners are shocking not only for you but also for everyone around you. ??She suddenly barks or picks from the road ??the "leftovers" and she is simply not responding to your commands. ??And above all this remember - it is very difficult to correct bad behavior in the adult dogs. After all, they find their behavior natural and they remember everything since the "puppy" age. Eating food, that occurs on the path is laid down in the dogs by nature, like in humans - to eat using their hands. And the difficulty lies in how to wean the animal from the ancient instinct with a millennium of experience?
The first difficulty lies in training the dogs with imprinting. The dog is remembering the first thing, she saw. For example, if a dog-mom ate a piece of food lying outside of the bowl, then the puppy will do the same. If such a situation will be repeated for a second time, the dog as an adult will be unconsciously repeating "captured" in her memory behavior.
As another difficulty can be considered our attempts to wean the dog from the instinct of "foraging" with all sorts of obstacles, arguing that the animal gradually ceases to respond to the stray food. On the one hand your actions are correct, but on the other hand, you can not really follow your dog always and everywhere. Here comes the rule of "unplanned" reinforcements.
Very often, a reason your dog is looking for "something edible" lays in the dog's ??poor diet. Many dog owners are taking their pets not as a carnivore, but as a herbivore. The diet of these dogs includes food that is not matching the needs of a dog's body. Instead of meat she is fed with rich in carbohydrates and cooked food. Hunger and the need for a growing body makes the dog to constantly ??search for more food or for the other kind of food.
To protect your dog from the wrong deeds, it is important to teach her a few rules of a "food behavior".
Rule number one. It is important that your dog will eat only from her bowl or your hands. Do not let any other kind of feeding. Wherever you are, it is desirable to serve the dog food only in containers. Such behavior will fulfill your dog is thinking only of the bowl.
Rule number two. Command. This means that from the very young age, you accustom your dog to start eating only with your permission. Specifically you are producing the sense of self-control in your dog. For example, when feeding a puppy, stop him in front of a full bowl for 15-30 seconds and only then give the command to eat. As they grow older, increase endurance, bringing up a habit for your dog to start eating only on your command.
Rule number three. Avoid eating of food that has fallen. When feeding the dog, show by your behavior that what falls outside of the bowl, or is not in your hand, can not be eaten. You do not need to beat a puppy or yell at him, just hold him and then offer another piece from your hand. Leave a fallen piece to lie on the floor until your dog finishes the food in the bowl and then just put it to the garbage - in any case never feed your puppy with the fallen piece.
For your dog to know the rules it will be helpful to provide her with a special classes. ??Start to educate your puppy from 2-3 months of age. When feeding, you can specially on purpose drop a piece of food while watching the reaction of a puppy. If he goes after the fallen piece - pull him away immediately and feed from your hand. As your puppy will grow older, teach him not to react to the fallen pieces of food. Teach your dog to sit longer beside the full bowl, while feeding her from the hand with some nice treats.
If you are walking and driving a dog on a leash, try to throw around some pieces of food. This technique will let you to know how the dog has learned the rules. Once the animal is stretched out to your hand, but not to the fallen piece, you can praise yourself!
Rule number four. Do not let your dog to eat from the other people's hands. Make it as a rule for your dog not to take any food from the hands of strangers in any situation. In this case, the dog should not react to someone else's hand with aggression or fear. As in urban areas some little children may want to feed the dog, and in this case the dog's behavior plays a big role.
To train a dog to perform such behavior is quite real. It is important that your dog had learned that the stranger is never feeding her. Even if he is stretching out his hand with a piece of food, he just will not give it to the dog. ??And here once again it is good to notice that in this case the dog should not be producing any feelings of aggression or cowardice.
The correct response in the dog is achieved through the special training. For such classes you may attract ??friends and relatives. They need to perform the following action: show the dog a tasty treat in the hand, and when she comes closer - clamp the food in a fist. It is desirable that the helpers were as much as possible. ??If people are always the same, the puppy quickly learns his lesson and the result may be negative. When your puppy refused to take the food from someone's hand - immediately prise him yourself.
It is important in such exercises, that feeding behavior is not completely denied. Puppy grows and ??for him it is quite natural to look for more food. If there is none available, the dog will start to look for the food "on the side".
Rule number five. Perform all of the rules described above. There should be no exceptions. All these rules are clear of "not getting food" from another source. That is how the dog will start to understand: there is no reason to go for something, that will not be given anyway. ??Danger in this situation may come as a "accidental" eating of food that is not from your hand. It is desirable to eliminate such behavior, or all of your classes will be done for nothing. And the process of your dog's education will become much more difficult.
Remember, negligence in raising a dog is not allowed. If you're a bad teacher, you provide a negative effect on the dog's behavior. She will not learn anything good, but - in the opposite - strengthen in her misunderstandings. Unfortunately, in this case only ??the "painful" signal will help - indicating the food ??outside of the bowl or the palm of your hand ??as a threat.
Perhaps the food reflex is the strongest one in dogs and the most difficult to fight. Therefore, there are many ways to organize a proper nutrition. As mentioned above, it is exactly the unhealthy diet that leads your dog to the wrong actions. The dog will start to act as a "food getter".
Very positive effect comes with the "second rule" - to eat only on the command of the owner. The following rules determine the eating places - only from a bowl or hand of the owner. To break the habit of picking ??the street food, a dog can wear a muzzle or you can give the command to carry something (if your dog is taught to retrieve already).
Positive action may be developed with an incompatible behavior. During the walk you teach a dog to bring you the different items in exchange for the treats. You may also cover the "forbidden" pieces of food with pepper or something else spicy, that will not harm your dog's health, but give him a bad feeling for this kind of food.
All you have to do basically - to choose the right for you and your dog method of education and stick to it. Take your four-legged friend seriously and responsively, and you will never have to be ashamed of his behavior or to worry about his health.

Every dog owner more or less is informed how to feed his dog. But how to make your dog to behave with the food properly? Good question. Well, you will just have to educate your dog right. ??And what is education anyway? After all, every day we face different situations and our response to them consciously or unconsciously, is already a kind of education. Here, we liked some behavior and we praised the dog, there - we did not and immediately punished the dog.

How To House Train Your Puppy

Sure it is one of the most exiting moments in the life of your family - when the new puppy just arrived. Of course this little fluffy creature immediately becomes the center of everyone's attention. But it is very important for you to remember, that the arrival of this cutie first of all means allot of work to you, and allot of new studies for your pup. So the proper puppy training must become one of your priorities for the next several weeks.

Intraspecific aggression in dogs

Intraspecific aggression in dogsProbably the most common type of aggression, which meets a dog owner, especially the owner of a male, is the intraspecific aggression directed to the other males (in the other words - the aggression of dominance).

Males, depending on the breed: small breeds at the age of 6-8 months, large - at 8-12 months, start to mature, to realize themselves an adults. They actively mark their territory, they begin to review their hierarchical status, and starting from this time most of the encountered males are perceived by your male dog as potential enemies. Adulthood, depending on the breed, starts approximately at 1,5-3 years.

It is the most likely that the fight will happen between the dogs, that are roughly in the same size and in the same age. Large dog does not perceive a small one as a serious competitor, and a small dog is not going for a suicide, to be eligible for re-division of statuses with a large dog (although many small breeds of dogs are quite eager to fight - the owner should remember about this).

Obedience Training (introduction)

Obedience Training is important. Obedience Training is vital for the healthy relationship between you and your dog. Obedience Training is what ideally every dog owner has to provide for his dog. This and many other similar opinions you will certainly here as long as you have a dog and you decided to make at least a smallest research about owning one.
Why? Is is not enough that your cute little pup is naturally smart (look, how fast he could remember not to do his poo in the house!) Well... No. It's not enough.

Sports You Can Play With Your Dog

Beautiful, healthy, athletic ... That's what the dogs are! Sports are useful for people, but if you engage in active sports together with your beloved dog, then it is twice more useful. So, what kind of sports you can do with your dog?
Cani cross
The rules in this sport are extremely simple. It reminds you of a regular jogging with the dog somewhere in the park in your free time. In Cani cross there is determined a specific distance, which a dog and a man must overcome together- in a pair - or rather, in a friendly team. Moreover, they are running on an equal footing: the handler should not pull his dog, the dog should not drag the handler away - the judges are following athletes along the line.
In Cani cross the man is connected with the dog by one elastic cord, which is attached to his belt.
Agility.
Agility in fact is also a race. This racing is so interesting and so much ??fun! The Agility competitions are so spectacular that very quickly they were able to conquer virtually the whole Europe, South America, the United States and Canada. For dog lovers it is an excellent opportunity to actively spend time, which is useful for themselves and for their dogs, and also - a hobby, allowing to learn how to train their dogs.In Agility the dog has to overcome a certain obstacle course. The owner of the dog is not allowed to give his pet any treats or even to touch him, at the same time the owner has to guide the process by giving some commands or signs to his dog. Agility is a perfect way to define the abilities of the dog, because the aim of the game is to teach the animal how to pass a difficult race. Agility also helps very well to teach the dog to live in a society, educates and, of course, favorably affects the physical health of the animal.
Agility is available for any dog - purebred or mixed. There are no limitations on the size of the four-legged athletes, because the obstacles are always set individually.
Sled dog racing.
Only at the beginning of the last century sled dog race was recognized as a sports discipline. Although this method of transportation - with the help of dogs, harnessed to a sled - is quite old (the most ancient sledges found in Eastern Siberia were made about four thousand years ago).
How did this kind of racing appear? Of course, the most natural way. People tend to compare the strength and speed of their vehicles. The miners of Alaska were not an exception. And since they were using exclusively dog sledding - there it was: such an interesting kind of competitions came up.
That is why normally only the dogs of some certain breeds are participating in the sled dog racing: Alaskan and Siberian Huskies, Malamutes and also - all sorts of hybrids of these breeds of dogs.
Today the sled dog racing became a fairly common form of sport. Probably, it will even enter the Olympic list.
Skijoring.
This is a sport for the winter season. The dog and the athlete must overcome the required distance, and they are held together by a special tow rope.
Not every dog will wish to participate in such competitions, but only the one whose passion for running is in the blood. In addition, the thrust exercises and training are certainly required.
Summer version of this sport, used also for a year-round training of a sled dogs for the winter competition - Bikejoring (another name - Dry Land). As the name implies, the man is moving on the bike, the rest is just like in the Skijoring.
Almost any dog can participate in these types of competitions. Typically, the best achievements are made by Dobermans, Boxers, Giant Schnauzer and German Shepherds.
Frisbee Dog
An exciting mobile game where the owner of the dog throws the disk, and the dog needs to catch it and return back to the owner. The distance of the throw is usually up to 50 meters. In this game energetic dogs who like to have fun, sometimes may perform absolutely amazing acrobatic tricks!
Frisbee Dog is available to the dogs of all sizes. Sometimes a little dog can easily win the competition of a serious level. The most unusual, or the most spectacular jump may be also prised.
Frisbee Dog will let you to experience the joy of movement, excitement, just to have fun, and all that - along with your four-legged friend. Incidentally, this kind of competition is acceptable even for people with disabilities who can participate, like everyone else.
Weight pulling.
Here the dog has to pull a sled with some weight for a short distance. There are different weight categories, but, of course, this kind of sports is only for a big dogs, which are able to pull a great weight. Usually sled dogs succeed very well in the Weight Pulling. Pit Bull Terriers, Bull Terriers and Rottweilers are showing a very good results as well.
Musical Freestyle
This is the most beautiful of all dog sports, besides, virtually all breeds of dogs are allowed to participate. And over time the Musical Freestyle became increasingly popular.
In freestyle dogs are trained so that they could dance to the music together with the sportsman. The dance of this unusual couple is demonstrated at the event.

Beautiful, healthy, athletic ... That's what the dogs are! Sports are useful for people, but if you engage in active sports together with your beloved dog, then it is twice more useful. So, what kind of sports you can do with your dog?

Teach Your Dog "Shake-A-Paw" Trick

This trick is a very funny and - most important - easy something, you can teach your dog.
The target here is to make your dog to "shake-a-paw" on your command. It is really very cool trick, that will make you and your friends to laugh, also, while you will have your dog doing this trick properly, you will be able to move to some more complicated tricks with the paw.
What do you need for this trick? First of all, your dog must be "clicker trained". Then, of course, you are going to need a clicker and loads of tasty treats.
Teaching your dog "Shake-A-Paw" trick is quite simple and does not need any complications. Normally it takes just a couple of days for the dog to study this nice trick, but even if it will take a little longer with yours - no matter, finally you will get your dog to do it on your request.
So, let's get started!
First of all you have to get your dog sitting in front of you. Then you just take your dog's paw by yourself, hold it in your hand for couple of seconds. Then immediately click the clicker and prise your dog with the tasty treat. This you will have to repeat several times, then give your dog a little break, then - another session. The final target of this first step - is to show your dog, which exactly behavior you expect. Also it will help your dog to get used to pick up his paw and put it in your hand.
Next step - you are not taking your dog's paw, but now you have to try to make him to move it himself (you may push his paw a little bit for example). It is important that you will prise your dog with the clicker even if his paw just slightly moved. Keep going with this step until your dog will give you his paw every time you place your hand in front of him.
As long as your are sure that your dog studied the first two steps, you can already add a cue word for this trick ("Shake hand" for example, or any other word, you like, but do not change it, keep the cue word always the same). Since now you should reduce the amount of clicking and giving the treats - let's say, you will click the clicker every second time your dog is doing the correct thing. But do not forget - every time you click the clicker - give the treat, because this is the promise you gave your dog, do not break it. Any time you are clicking the clicker, your dog must be prised with the tasty treat.
So, repeat the trick with the clicker for some more time, and then you may gradually reduce it, and then - cancel at all.
Now you are almost done. All is left - just to polish the "Shake-A-Paw" trick with your dog. How do you do this?
You get your dog to do this trick in different time, different situations and different locations. Also you may teach your dog to offer another paw on the command. You can also try to refuse from your visual cue (do not give your hand to the dog anymore) and only try with your cue word.
As long as all this is done, you may congratulate yourself and your dog. "Shake-A-Paw" trick became so easy now for both of you. Enjoy!

This trick is a very funny and - most important - easy something, you can teach your dog.??The target here is to make your dog to "shake-a-paw" on your command. It is really very cool trick, that will make you and your friends to laugh, also, while you will have your dog doing this trick properly, you will be able to move to some more complicated tricks with the paw.What do you need for this trick? First of all, your dog must be "clicker trained".

Territorial aggression in dogs

Territorial aggression in dogs is something, that we - the city dwellers - actually meet quite often, while walking our dogs. Most of the dogs naturally tend to protect things: their yard, apartment, house, and, for example, a car, especially if the dog is sitting inside it.

Training dog to Remain Calm

dog bite cyclistsThe effective methods of teaching the dog to be calm and quiet with the people passing by, cyclists and passing cars. For sure many dog lovers and dog owners time after time are facing such a common problem, as excessive "love" of your pet for catching cyclists, chasing cars or biting the jogger's heels. No use to say that sometimes it may bring the dog's owner to the boiling point. What can you do about it? There is only one correct answer: it is necessary to teach your dog some self-control.

What Games You Can Play With Your Dog


How to entertain your pet, so it was still for the benefit of his health (and, of course, in any case brought him no harm)? It is particularly important to correctly identify the issue, if you have a small puppy, or vice verse - an old dog, or a bitch that is in her heat. Here are some ideas how you can play with the dogs.

What to do when Your dog is digging holes at Your yard?

dog is digging holes at Your yardSo, you brought home a new family member - a dog. Every day you see how it grows and develops. But there are some moments in her behavior that you do not understand. For example, what is the need for a dog to dig holes? What caused this and whether such behavior is normal?