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Obedience Training
Classes can be good, but in my experience I see too many dogs that
have been through the classes and found everything too stressful.
Too many barking anxious dogs, anxious owners over-correcting, and
over issuing of commands. Too much food on the floor, and generally
a little bit chaotic.
This is not what we want our young dogs to experience in terms of
relating to other dogs at an early age…stress.
As I say, classes can be good, but I urge you to check them out
before hand and to even stop if your dog (or you) finds it all too
much. Meeting well-balanced dogs in an open-air environment free
from these pressures will be far better. A few hours with a respected
local trainer in your local parks and streets would be far more
valuable as it’s geared towards real life situations.
Managing your Dog
By this I mean things you can do in the home in particular to ensure
your dog is being watched (more the younger the dog is…a little
like children) to ensure his actions are acceptable whilst in your
home. A very young dog that has complete freedom to go where it
likes (inside or out) is heading for trouble. As the dog matures
and it gains your trust, you can then allow him more liberty. Too
many owners start off the other way round, and then have to work
to pull things back. I see the first two years as crucial to maintaining
boundaries to the dog’s behaviour. With
Good manners.
Another area to maintain with any dog in the early years is ensuring
your dog is well mannered. Again, just like children, once you have
a foundation of well-mannered behaviour, you can begin to enjoy
what life has to offer more as you know you can enter into almost
any situation and come out the other side with your nerves in tact
and your head held high. Aspects to address to ensure your dog is
respectful and calm in the home and outside would cover:
Calm homecomings - Reward calm behaviour, not over
excitability. Sit = Hello.
Feeding manners - Ensure a good brand of food, a ‘Wait’
prior to allowing the dog to eat, and respect around you when you
are eating.
Sleep and rest areas – Home furnishings only
on your say so, and to sleep away from you to encourage an independent
dog.
Doorways - Calm and respectful leaving of the home
at doorways and re entry. Train in a simple ‘Sit and Wait’
for example. The same goes for car entry/exit.
Heelwork – An essential component to ensure
the dog is exercising self-control and following you. Head and body
harnesses should only be seen as a stepping-stone to walking on
a relaxed lead and broad fixed collar. Seek one to one guidance
if you are struggling with this aspect.
The recall – Suffice to say that a dog that
does not recall is a worry to you as an owner, and a potential nuisance
to other walkers when outside. Worst-case scenario is that your
dog causes an accident on a public road.
Poor recall can also lead to an exuberant dog getting embroiled
with other dogs in conflict…possibly leading your own dog
to become reactive to others as time passes. Not wishing to place
a negative slant on everything, but I see it so often, so I am keen
to address things on a preventative level where possible.
Exercise – A well-exercised dog is a relaxed
dog, and a relaxed dog is far less likely to spend that same energy
on being destructive, dominant, or indulging in any other unwanted
behaviours. Work on finding the right level of exercise for your
dog’s breed and age.
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Consistency.
Consistency means that you are doing your best within
the family at all times to ensure that you are all singing from
the same sheet. Children will need constant supervision and gentle
guidance to begin with (age depending) to ensure that they too are
doing their bit to show calm behaviour with the dog. Consistency
between the man and woman in the home can be harder to achieve at
times, as both can have their own ideas on how something should
be dealt with. Suffice to say, that it pays a great deal to sit
down early on and agree the way things are going to be done around
the areas I describe under good manners for example…this needs
to be extended across the dog’s routine.
Best start.
If you find yourself with a rescue dog,
much of this time may have passed already and you will be working
with this in mind. However, should you obtain a puppy at 8 weeks
of age, then you have a huge responsibility to go out of your way
to socialise your dog. This single-minded approach can in itself
take away most future problems, as you will be removing the element
or risk of developing fear. Even though you dog may not receive
the ‘all clear’ to mix with other dogs after it’s
injections at about 12 weeks, it is essential that you are creative
in introducing your dog to as many things as possible (dogs included!)
to make them normal and acceptable right from day one in your care.
This period closes down at approximately 16 weeks of age; so you
can see that you only have a couple of months to go about this process.
It doesn’t close completely, so look to maintain positive
meetings with all sorts for the first two years at least.
Prior to the ‘all clear’ of the second injection, you
can allow the dog to mix with other calm, healthy dogs in friends
and neighbours gardens for example. Keep your pup on a lead or long
line to allow intervention if needed. To avoid this can be a mistake,
as you will then only have approximately 4 weeks to socialise your
new dog…this is simply not enough for some. Introduce as much
variety as possible. Dogs and people of all ages, shapes and sizes
etc.
Some keywords for you to consider: Dogs, People, Cars, Buses, Livestock,
Pubs, Towns, Traffic, Your local vet…simply drop in for a
pleasant hello and leave again!
I’m well aware that it’s easy to talk
theory, and that no single article, or book will resolve the concerns
you may be experiencing. It’s not unusual for me to visit
a home and to see they have a number of popular books, they watch
all the programmes (not always a good thing!) and they have done
their level best to resolve things on their own. What can often
make a difference is that a trained eye can see what parts in particular
need addressing, and to work with what we have in front of us. Dogs
have a super ability to change and adapt in a very short space of
time, and this often leaves me both touched and impressed.
There is help available out there folks, you just
need to make a number of phone calls, ask some direct questions
to find out how the trainer works and handles dogs, and then to
come to a well balanced decision that will benefit both you and
the dog. I hope this article goes a way to prompting some thoughts
in you regarding leadership in particular, as all dogs require this
as a foundation to leading a balanced life.
Nick Jones MCFBA
Alpha Dog Behaviour.
Contact : www.alphadogbehaviour.co.uk
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