Training Dogs

Lassie, Benji, Rin-Tin-Tin…We all have fond memories when we think of dogs. Perhaps as a child, you were one of the lucky ones in the neighbourhood who’s parents allowed you to pick out a puppy from the store at the local shopping mall. You brought that puppy home and gave him a name like Spot, or Lucky. You brushed his coat, showed him to your friends, and even convinced your parents to let him sleep in your room. Having a puppy was a wonderful thing, until it was time to pick up his poop and take him for a walk…and that was about the time that your puppy, became your parent’s dog. 

Having a dog is a big responsibility, and too often children are over-eager to have one of their own. Chores are done, pennies are saved, and beds are made; all in an effort to prove to the parents that the child is deserving and responsible. The time has come and it has been decided that indeed the child has shown himself to be able to care for a puppy. Together the family visits the local animal shelter, a neighbour's pet who has just delivered a litter, a shopping mall pet store, and perhaps even a breeder’s home. An animal is chosen, and the child is ecstatic. Gingerly carrying the young animal to the car, and jabbering about wanting to show him off to all his friends.

Upon arriving home, the young dog cowers in a corner, trying to hide from the outstretched, sticky hands of half-a-dozen 6 year old. Eventually the puppy becomes accustomed to the noise and children, and confidently ventures around your home and yard, playing with his new owner. Time passes, and both the youth and his dog begin to grow. The child loses his baby teeth chubby cheeks as the animal loses his soft hair, and playful yelp. It is now necessary for this dog to be taken for longer walks and to be washed and brushed once a week. His little messes on the lawn have turned into big messes, and the days grow farther apart between cleanings.

The once adorable, playful and energetic puppy has now become a full grown dog, and through the eyes of the once eager child, that dog has lost his appeal. The duties that the youth once swore to follow through on, have fallen on older shoulders, as parents now pick up where the child has left off. More often than not, the dog watches through the window as the boy runs outside to greet his friends.

Rather than jumping aboard every time our children’s attention turn to something new, let us nurture their own growth, so that they may see the importance of caring for a living creature. Perhaps we ought to start small with the ever popular Chia Pet, upgrade to fish and maybe even a hermit crab. Later in life, when the responsibilities of caring for another can be better under stood, consider a puppy for your child; who by this time is perhaps a teenager or young adult. Dogs are beautiful and loving creatures that depend on us for many things. They indeed will be our best friend, but first, we must be theirs

When the next door neighbour (to use a cliché, from HELL, originally) locks his poor puppy black Labrador in this four by six cage and goes off to do his truck driving job for ten hours a day, he doesn’t get that as soon as he is gone, the dog begins to bark: woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. All. Day. Long. The dog barks at noises, at footsteps (of people INSIDE their homes), at sirens, at birds. He barks out of loneliness, out of frustration, out of anxiety, and out of fear. Occasionally he barks to protect his territory, pitiful as it is with its leftover poop, a water bowl turned over, and a single ratty chew toy the dog outgrew the first week it was brought to the house. Dear clueless human, have you ever heard of dog-training books?

When your fat freak of a self gets home, you enter your house—to the barking—and take your sweet time (to eat) before retrieving your supposedly beloved pet. You then take your dog inside, but leave him alone in some other closed-off room, so you can surf the internet for porn or sports or whatever. Instead, you could be reading one of the many EASY-to-comprehend dog-training books, learning to teach your incredibly smart creature to sit—next to you instead of in a dark room without loving contact. You could be surfing amazon.com or powells.com or another of the hundreds of online bookshops for dog-training books that will show you how to condition your dog not to bark at every living being and every change in weather. No, dear ignorant one, amazon.com is not a place to find amazons for your perversions, and powells.com is not a play on words for closet masochists. This isn’t about you any more than to educate you. Otherwise, we would be talking to the dog—who clearly has more sense, even if that sense is to report every disturbance or to chew every delicious piece of leather.

In fact, you could read at least one of the thousands of general and specific dog-training books to understand WHY your poor beast is barking, HOW you can keep him from chewing furniture (so you don’t have an excuse anymore for why you lock him away outside so he won’t bother you but the neighbours instead). We work for a living, too. At home. We do not want to be responsible for, be a part of, or even HEAR the poor dog. We chose to be dog-less. You have made a choice…now take some damned responsibility for it. Get some dog-training books. Better yet, get some damned human-training books. You’re the problem, not the dog.

identification tag

A dog identification tag is absolutely necessary to care for the safety and protection of your dog. Dogs

 love to run and play in the outdoors, and sometimes they play dangerous, or forget to come home. Even if you keep your dog supervised at all time and don't let him go out alone, nonetheless you should still get him a dog identification tag since the chances are, sooner or later he will run out unsupervised.

Dogs are always waiting for the chance to sneak out by themselves so that they can explore and meet other dogs. Sometimes the moment I open the door, my beagle Daisy runs out yipping and yapping into the street. It can take hours to get her to come home again, and sometimes I just have to give up and trust that she will come home by herself this time. She usually does. So what would happen if, God forbid, she were to be hit by a car and injured, or perhaps be picked up by animal control, or get into a fight with another dog. If she didn't have on a dog identification tag, the both me and her would be completely out of luck. She might be put to sleep with no dog identification tag to tell the humane society that there was someone who loved her just waiting to pick her up.

Dog identification tags come in all sorts of stylish options. There are plain metal ones which look just like dog tags in the army for a sort of stylish plastic look. On the other hand, there are bright pink plastic ones which can be seen for blocks and blocks around for the way that they reflect light and their garish color. Daisy has a large one, a deep metallic green, which is an attractive color, yet reflects enough light that people can see it hanging from her neck. I showed her many tags, but this seemed to be the dog identification tag that she most preferred out of all of them.

I don't just make her wear it when she is going out, but all of the time. In addition to showing people where she belongs in case she is lost or hurt, it has the added advantage of showing them that she is a domestic dog and not dangerous. Although few dog maulings do occur, when they do they are so likely to be sensationalized, that it pays to let people know ahead of time that a strange dog is safe.

4 Simple Steps to a Well Behaved Puppy

By Guy Ray

Puppy training is a lot like training your child. When dealing with behaviour issues you should always be consistent. When you bring the puppy home decide on one person who will be training the dog.

Try to always have that person training the dog, this creates less confusion. Dogs are pack animals and will try to assert there dominance but a few training tips can help him see someone else as the leader of the pack.

Puppies like babies teeth. Biting and chewing are caused by the puppy teething. It can also be caused by excess energy and stress. Puppies understand low guttural sounds and will react to them. If he begins to bite or chew on something inappropriate then say "no" in a low guttural voice. Then proceed to give him a safe chew toy that he can chew and bite. Giving them chew toys that resemble things he cannot chew or bite will only confuse him , so be careful of what chew toys he receives.

 Barking is another common and annoying puppy behaviour. Excessive barking can be fixed with a little puppy training. It is often caused by loneliness or boredom. If the cause is loneliness then spending a little more time with the dog may be the answer.

 If this puppy training doesn't work it may be that it has become a habit. Try filling an empty can with some pebbles, when the dog barks roll the can in his direction and use the low guttural voice to tell him "no". The can is not to hit dog , only to startle him and grab his attention.

 Puppies like to dig. Sometimes it is because of the breed. Some breeds are just known to be diggers. Unfortunately there is no definite puppy training to cure this one. Instead try to understand why they are digging and fix that problem. It may not cure the problem but it may help. If the dog is digging during the summer months to find a cooler spot, try providing a cooler spot for your dog to lay down.

A puppy that jumps on you might be cute but imagine him as an adult dog jumping on you. Part of puppy training is fixing the behaviour problems before they become adult dogs. There is a way to discourage the puppies jumping. Avoid petting your puppy when he jumps, it will only encourage him. When your puppy jumps lean towards him and say in a low guttural voice "off". When he backs away tell him to sit and then praise him. This shows him that he will only get what he wants by doing the desired behaviour.

Puppy training takes patience and consistency. However puppy training is a lot easier than training an adult dog. Taking care of the problems while he is still a puppy will save you a lot of frustration in the end.

About the author: Guy Ray is a published web author on various subjects as well as a certified copywriter and webmaster. To learn more about how to properly train your puppy visit his site at            my trained puppy