Even dumb dogs are clever. Just think of the many ways they get humans to do what they want. Few can resist the soulful eyes and the offered paw when eating something the dog also views as tasty. One of the reasons for the many-thousand year association between humans and dogs is the latter’s great…
Most dogs will display a tendency to jump on people at times. How often will vary with breed and by individual. One theory suggests that dogs are trying to get close to the person’s face – not to attack, but to interact. Other dogs, especially of the same breed, have faces close to their level…
Debate continues unabated about whether or not crate training dogs is healthy or harmful. ‘Crating’ involves placing a pet in a cage, usually plastic or metal of roughly the size of the dog, for a period of time during the day or night. Proponents argue that crating gives the dog a sense of ‘property’, a…
Sometimes the distinction between training and control is too easily lost. Using commands and hand gestures, with leashes or treats, to solicit desired behavior is training. Using choke or ‘no-bark’ collars, electronic fences and similar devices is for control. Control isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Dogs naturally have and seek a social hierarchy in which…
Dogs are surprisingly complex creatures. Some official estimates of the number of breeds reaches as high as 800 in Western countries alone. Even given that distinguishing one breed from another can be carried to absurd extremes, the variety is astonishing from a human perspective, who have, perhaps, a dozen ‘breeds’. Complicating the picture still further…
A ten-week-old puppy should not be expected to respond upon command like a pro, anymore than would a child being taught to add and subtract while attending preschool. A puppy has the ability to learn upon completion of the seventh week of his life. Since that ability is there, it is important that the things…
The next step in preschool puppy training begins at around 10 weeks of age. We are now going to introduce your pup to the “stay” command. But first, a quick word of caution from the last training article. It involves the rewards given to the puppy when playing the fetch-sit game. As you near the…
At this point during the beginning of preschool puppy training you should now have your puppy slowly conditioned to expect his daily 10 minute walk, while learning that praise and tasty treats go hand-in-hand. As you continue each walk with your puppy, take notice to see if he is preoccupied with the sights or sounds…
While learning the fetch game, it is important that tasty treats be used in place of too much praise, as previously mentioned. The importance of praise hasn’t been firmly written on the chalkboard of his mind – so until it is, give your pup what is known to be a positive reward stimulus – food!…
The first positive command that your puppy should learn is the command to sit. By making it the first command, it therefore becomes the first positive word which we will write on the puppy’s “chalkboard mind”. In other words, at this age his mind is like a chalkboard – and not too much has been…
