Training a Puppy to Walk on a Leash

If you follow the steps outlined below you should have your puppy leash trained  within a couple of weeks. One of the first things you need to teach your young puppy is how to behave on a leash.

Don't just expect your puppy to know this stuff! Your goal is to clearly communicate to your dog, what is acceptable behavior on the leash, and what is not. After training a puppy to walk on a leash they are much safer and more manageable, plus it means walkies is an experience you can both look forward to and enjoy.

If it takes you and your dog a little longer, don't panic, it will be worth it in the end.It is a crucial skill to master for both you and your dog's future.The fact that you are reading this article Training a Puppy to Walk on a Leash probably means that you have a young puppy who needs to be leash trained.

Please be aware that everybody who takes your puppy for an on leash walk must convey a consistent message or set of rules to your dog.This is a great position to be in, as it is much easier to train a puppy the right way to walk on a leash, rather than trying to re-train an older dog.

Step 1

This first step can begin as soon as your puppy arrives at his new home.

All it involves is getting your young pup familiar with and comfortable wearing a collar. Place it on your puppy when you feed him or as you are playing, this provides a bit of a distraction from the collar.

He'll probably roll around trying to dislodge it, or try his best to scratch it off. When he is doing this it is important that you don't take it off him.

Wait till he has settled down and forgotten about it before you take it off. A simple light weight leather collar is ideal for this task.  

Step 2

Any light weight, thin leash is fine for this step.

You can buy your puppy a fancy leather leash after he is properly leash trained if you choose.He'll forget about it after a while.Once your puppy is happy wearing his new collar, it is time to introduce the leash.Same thing again here, you just want to get him comfortable with the leash, and to show him the leash is not to be feared.All you need to do is clip the leash onto his collar, let him check it out and drag it around the house (always under your supervision).

Step 3

Please read this article for leash training older dogs. You can also teach your puppy or older dog to walk on a loose leash using a clicker - loose leash walking.

Now that your puppy is comfortable in his collar and with the leash, it is time to pick up the other end of the leash. All it takes to achieve this is to follow the above steps, then apply some patience and persistence.  Don't yank him back over to you with the leash, just call him back over to you and praise him when he comes. Then set off walking again with your puppy by your side. The result is a nice loose leash hanging down between you and your dog. At this early stage you will probably find that your puppy loves to follow you around everywhere - use this to your advantage. If he wants to continue walking, it has to be by your side on a loose leash.

To start with just walk around the house with the leash in hand, and your puppy trotting along side you.When he is walking along on a loose leash give him plenty of praise, petting and even some treats. Make these first leash training sessions short, sharp and fun. Your puppy has to learn that when he pulls on the leash, he gets nowhere.

Never ever keep walking when your puppy is pulling on the leash, this only rewards his behavior and reinforces the habit. Don't yank him forward towards you, just call him over and reward him when he arrives. The same rule applies if your puppy sits down when you are walking. When he strains on the leash, stop immediately. This method of training a puppy to walk on a leash is suited to very young puppies, it requires no pulling from you or your dog.

Visiting The Vet

Take him for a walk, and try to collect a stool sample before you leave for the vet's office. Are there enough vets and vet assistants, and do they seem professional and experienced? You can take him into the office when your turn comes around. Does the clinic specialize in many different veterinary medicine fields, or offer just basic veterinary services? Make sure you're comfortable with his vet. If it's a first time visit, your vet will likely need a stool sample, and it saves you the trouble of having to visit again with a fresh sample.

Take him out for short drives regularly, or you risk having him think that you're off for a vet visit every time he gets in the car. Keep these things in mind to have a pleasant vet visit. If he's small enough, put him in a crate, and carry him to the vet's office. If your dog still hasn't been socialized and is aggressive towards others, keep him in the car, and inform the staff that you've arrived for your appointment. While you can't change the unpleasant nature of your vet's job, you can try to make sure your dog has as pleasant an experience as is possible when he goes to the vet's office.

By taking frequent joy rides, your dog doesn't become anxious as soon as he gets into the car. Do they have a diagnostic lab on site, to collect and examine stool and blood samples?

Making the Vet a Dog's Best Friend

OK, it might be a bit much to expect a dog to become seriously fond of the the guy who prods him for no apparent reason, and inserts foreign objects into his genitalia. Do they offer emergency services? When looking around for a vet, check his clinic and waiting rooms. Lie your dog down, and examine his eyes, mouth, teeth, and paws. Help your new puppy socialize with other people.

Taking Your Pup to the Vet

If your puppy is still just a few weeks old, you have either taken him to a vet for his first physical, or are planing on doing so. Practice having him on a leash. Practice mock physical examinations in your home. Associating a car with unpleasant experiences is one reason why dogs develop separation anxiety. Keep a few chewy toys handy, so he can occupy himself. It helps kill off some of the anxiety he may feel. A puppy who has very limited exposure to strangers is more likely to feel threatened and nervous in the presence of a vet. Having all these things done in the security and comfort of home can make a dog feel less threatened when he's splayed out on the vet's table and being prodded with steel objects.

Take along a few treats for your dog to snack on while he's in the waiting room. You will likely have to wait for your turn, and there will be other animals there. Rub his belly, and feel around his abdomen the way a vet does. He's not just the guy who prescribes medication when your dog falls ill, but also helps prevent diseases by examining your dog, and catching an infection before its too late.

A dog who's afraid of cars needs a whole other regimen of training to recondition his behavior. This doesn't mean only members of your family, but also your neighbors, friends etc. At the Vet's Office Talk to your pet throughout the examination in comforting tones, and reassure him. Choose the Right Vet Your vet is going to be the second most important person in your dog's life, after you.

For more Information  Click Here

 

Barking Behavior

It becomes harder to get him to stop. Even the smallest dog can let loose a volley of yelps at a high pitch that can wake the neighborhood. If your dog is trained to respond to "stop barking" on cue, you'll find it much easier to control his barking, making for a happier you and a quieter neighborhood! If you're in the habit of confining your pet to a kennel or chained in the yard for long periods of time, he feels frustrated and bored, and before long you have a cacophony of barks coming from the yard. Remember, once a dog gets into the habit of barking out of boredom, he begins to enjoy it. Be consistent in your reactions to his barking. Dogs bark as a means of communication, the same way humans talk. An effective way to get around this confusion is to use obedience training. If you'd rather he's crated, keep the crate in a central place in the house like the family room or the kitchen where he's never alone. When you chain him in the yard, and allow him access only to your immediate surroundings, your dog runs out of things to do, and feels bored.   He needs to experience new sights and smells.Make use of toys and puzzles to help occupy your pet and prevent boredom. Expecting your dog not to bark is unrealistic. Having the sound of people all around him calms him down. Dogs need stimulation, and they need exercise. Make sure you take your dog for walks regularly. You may not be aware of it, but your dog could be completely confused by your reaction to his barking. Use the "Stop barking" command in a loud voice when he begins, and if he stops immediately, give him a treat right then, and praise him and pet him.   Other sites provide a platform for frustrated residents who refuse to tolerate barking dogs in their neighborhood. As an owner, you might praise him barking when he's excited to see you, and might encourage him to bark when someone's at the door .If you're in the habit of rushing to your dog or turning your attention to him as soon as he barks, you're establishing an action -reward relationship in his mind. If you can't handle noise, and would rather have a pet who's deathly silent though out the day, you should probably get a cat.   Using obedience training for your dog is not only a great mental stimulant for the dog (which reduces the need to bark), but also a good way to help your dog recognize when you need him to stop barking. Make sure you give your pet plenty of exercise - at least two walks a day is ideal. If you scold him when he's barking when you're asleep, he's confused about whether barking is good or bad. Don't take a dog bounding about your garden to be a happy dog - he could be fidgety and restless, waiting to get out.   Why Does your Dog Bark  A dog who barks constantly ignoring all commands to stop could be doing so out of boredom. If you have trouble getting your dog to quieten down, don't underestimate the extent of the problem. He thinks all he has to do to get your attention is bark, and so he continues. And therein lies the problem with your dog barking. There are groups of frustrated citizens who post videos of their neighbor's dog barking on the Internet to make a case against the owner. When they are robbed of either of these, they vent their pent up energy in barking. Don't ignore a barking dog's nuisance factor .If he has been house trained, allow him free rein in your house up to certain limits. People have filed lawsuits against their neighbors over their pet's constant barking.   How to Stop Your Dog Barking Dogs are social animals, unlike cats. The number of people who are willing to tolerate a dog that's barking constantly in the neighborhood, is rapidly shrinking. Practice this constantly until he makes the connection between quieting down and the reward. It's an extremely annoying thing to have to force your neighbors to tolerate. If he yelps even once after the command is given, scold him, but don't whack him. Dogs by their very nature, are noisy, exuberant and loud. Your dog could also be barking to get your attention because you unknowingly taught him that barking gets your attention. They love being around people, and even other dogs.

Click Here to find more information

Playing with your puppy

If on the other hand, you immediately stop playing with him and walk away, he slowly but surely begins to understand that biting equals no more play .If your pup decides to try his biting prowess on another dog, and that dog yelps and walks away in disgust, your pup has just learned a valuable "no biting" lesson! In these new and unfamiliar surroundings, your pup begins to search for his litter mates and potential bite victims, and lo, he finds them soon enough - your hands and ankles!

Teaching a puppy that biting doesn't equal play in your eyes is necessary, although it might not seem like such a bad thing when your pup is just a baby. His natural instinct is to bite for play, and if you can break the connection between biting and play, or biting and fun, you're on the road to a bite free dog and a safer you!He'll soon stop biting because he doesn't want to be left alone without his play mates! When they arrive in your home, they bring all these behaviors with them.

They might have hardly enough strength in their little legs to walk straight, but that doesn't stop them fro staggering over to the pup nearest to them, and biting him or grabbing hold of his neck and trying to shake him. Let him know it hurts you, and immediately stop playing with him. Remember, your puppy is not biting you because he is a vicious animal. If you have kids in the house, it's all the more reason why you should break this biting habit as soon as possible. Make sure you have lots of chewable toys around the house.

Teach Your Pup Not to Bite

To make your beloved pooch stop using your hands and feet as chewable toys, you have to teach him that biting means the end of play. Playtime is one of the best parts of owning a pooch - make sure you teach him to play fair. Teach your kids that when your pup bites, they should immediately stop playing, and leave the room. The next time your puppy bites your hands, yelp with pain yourself. Playing comes naturally to puppies - it's how they socialize with their litter mates, and how they explore the world around them. If your pup isn't trained to curb these play biting tendencies, he will carry this behavior into adulthood, when it could prove dangerous to the targets of his play. Punishing and yelling therefore, is not going to help, because biting is perfectly normal behavior and just part of his curious and naturally rambunctious personality.

Puppies can begin biting as a form of play as early as 4 weeks after birth. While he's looking up at you wondering what happened, immediately give him a chewy toy to play with, so he can turn his attention to the toy. Keep a stash of toys, and rotate them as he gets bored of the previous ones. Plus, shy dogs can be made to come out of their shells and mingle in a group. Even so, a nip from a a pair of sharp little incisors can make you yelp.

They encourage socialization with others like him, and they help establish "bite inhibition. In fact, biting and nursing is all puppies do at this stage, besides emptying their bowels and bladder at regular intervals.

What is Play Biting?

Take care to choose a playgroup that's made of similar dogs, so it's not overwhelming. Your teaching your pup that this behavior is not just acceptable, but also rewarding. These play groups have the same benefits that children's playgroups do. See if you can find a play group for your boisterous pooch. Within a few days, you're likely to have red marks of his play all over your hands and feet, as he begins to use your body as one large chewable toy. Puppies use their mouths they way a child uses his hands - to explore, feel, experiment with new objects, smells, tastes, and textures.

Avoid tackle games or playing tug of war with your pup - these are all games that require him to bite, and it will be difficult for you to get him to break the biting habit if you're constantly playing games that encourage him to do exactly that. Another trick you can try to break the connection between biting and play, is to make a sound loud enough to startle him, making him drop his hand. Ask your vet if he knows of doggy play groups in the area. Or go online and search for doggy playgroups by breed. Here, you're trying to get him to see that biting you is no fun at all, while biting a chewy toy is definitely fun. Never offer your hand to a puppy to bite - some people think it's cute when a pup latches on to their hand and begins chewing.

If you continue playing, he'll assume the biting is a good behavior, because he hasn't lost anything after biting you.

More Information Click here

Paper training

An alternative to using paper training indoors, you could use a great training tool for clean, indoor use like the WizDog. If most of the floor is covered and your puppy chooses the area that isn´t, he or she needs some more time to get used to going on the newspaper. Even then, however, don´t expect a dog to hold it for more than six to eight hours. Remember to give your dog plenty of opportunities to go throughout the day until they are 8 months to a year old. Doing this, your puppy will only be able to go on the paper and will soon prefer to do so. After a few days or a week, remove a small area of the newspaper uncovering some of the floor. First, pick one room where your puppy will be and cover the entire floor with newspaper. If you choose to paper train your puppy or dog in an attempt to house train them, there are a few methods that work well. Then, they will have developed a schedule of some sort and are able to control themselves for much longer. Until this happens, keep one room that is dog proofed so that mistakes don´t spread throughout the home. This is a Revolutionary Dog House Training Solution! If puppy doesn´t have an accident off of the paper for a few days you can uncover some more. You may want to have your puppy using the paper for life, otherwise only keep newspaper down until the dog is able to hold it for six hours or so at a time, something that happens at around 6-8 months, depending on your dog. If puppy has an accident off of the paper, recover the floor again for a few days and then try again. Solving the Biggest Headache in Dog Ownership Indoor Dog Mess. You do this papertraining a little at a time until only a small area, relative to your dog´s size, remains. For more information Click Here

Teaching Your Dog to Sit

When your dog can sit in any situation, inside or out, with other dogs or people around, you'll know that you have now successfully trained your dog or puppy to sit. Ideally you will have all of your dog's attention. You can even give a gentle push on his backside to give him the idea. Return this a few times until you're simply saying "Sit" and your dog promptly does just that.

Say "sit" and then repeat the above steps, followed by praise and a treat. The first step in teaching your dog to sit involves finding a quiet location. After your dog is sitting, give him some praise and the treat. You eventually want to phase out the treat and simply rely on the sit command, although it is a good idea that in the future, when you plan on giving your dog a little snack or treat to use the sit comman to reinforce the process.

After your dog sits a few times with the above method, add a firm command,  "Sit" to the process. If you choose to use a treat, you can hold it over your dog's nose and slowly move it above his head. You will also want to try different parts of the house as well as outside. Using a small treat is appropriate here, but you can also use a clicker or some other form of positive reinforcement. Make sure the dog is not ready to eat or needing to go to the bathroom. Teaching your dog to sit is one of the most basic, important, and fortunately easy, things you can do.

As your dog's eyes and nose follow the treat he will likely sit down by himself at this point. You want to remain consistent with your overall approach to dog training here. Also, learning to sit is one of the most important, basic dog training tools you can use and you will use it in many of your other dog and puppy tricks and training methods. At this point you are not even giving commands, your just starting the basic motions. You'll want to keep the first session relatively short, but give it another try in a few hours. Even a relatively young puppy can learn this trick after a few sessions, and a quick learner can learn to sit after only a few minutes. Repeat this a few times until your dog get the idea of what to do quickly.

For More information Click Here

Responsible Dog Ownership

Here are some golden rules for owning a dog.
They serve a lot of different purposes such as an alarm, a hunting companion, an exercise partner, a playmate, a show dog, etc. Most importantly, you will commit your dog a lifelong companion that you will love and care for, provide good nutrition and hygiene, regularly exercise, provide mental stimulation, regular check-ups and vaccinations and lots of love and attention.

There are many reasons people will get a dog, and it is difficult to say the one "right" reason to do so. But what exactly does being a responsible dog owner mean? You should protect him from any harm, instill good doggy manners and teach him what is right from wrong. First of all, you´ve got to make sure that your dog does not become a nuisance to others.

In sum, it really comes down to proper control of your dog, good dog training, cleaning up after your good friend, and giving him or her the proper attention and exercise that is needed. You should become involved in activities that both you and your dog find enjoyable such as agility training, fetch, Frisbee, running, swimming or learning tricks. Your dog shouldn´t be out roaming the streets, destroying property, chasing animals or children, leaving excrement in the park, barking incessantly, etc.

You might consider a dog obedience training school if you need help. You should be committed to properly training and socializing during the critical time early in his life. Owning a dog is a serious responsibility, one that should not be taken lightly. But, to put it simply dogs are great companions and should be considered part of the family. Well, when broken down, it is easy, but it does involve a few different elements.

For more information Click Here