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TRAINING YOUR DOG FOR A BETTER LIFE
Training your dog is a long and rewarding process. By teaching your dog to obey you, you're increasing the quality of life for both dog and master. As with every healthy relationship, both parties need to develop an understanding of who is the boss, what their expectations are, and so on.
Imagine being able to take your dog out for a walk without being jerked around on a leash. Telling your dog to 'stay' and knowing that you won't have to keep your leash handy. Imagine letting your dog play with the kids and knowing that no one will need a band aid or disinfectant later.
When it comes to dog training, psychology is simple. Good behavior needs to be rewarded, and bad behavior needs to be corrected. By rewarding good behavior, your dog will learn to enjoy obeying you, and to associate good feelings with good behavior. Similarly, your dog will learn to avoid bad behavior, and all the headaches that could cause you, and, indirectly, your dog.
That's all there is to it.
Rewards are pretty easy -either by heaping praise on the dog, giving a thorough petting, Giving a treat, or what-have-you. Care should be taken not to overdo it. Rewards are rewards, not bribes, and if you resort to using rewards as bribes, your dog may learn to never do your bidding, unless you have tasty treats or a tennis ball on hand.
If you find that you don't like the idea of over-feeding your dog, you can use a technique called 'clicker training'. You'll need a child's toy that produces a loud clicking sound. The idea behind clicker training is that you should feed your dog some treats, and every time he gets a treat, give a loud 'click'. Your dog should eventually start associating the sound of the click with getting a treat, and from there, associate a click with good feelings.
DOG OBEDIENCE TRAINING SCHOOLS
You should not wait until there are signs of bad behaviour before considering obedience training classes for your dog. If you have obvious behavioural problems, a dog obedience school is an excellent solution, but you should start thinking about it before obedience problems develop.
Obedience problems with your dog are not always apparent. You might sometimes overlook minor indiscretions – chewing, jumping up, excessive barking – that can be signs of a more serious problem.
By themselves, these may not be serious obedience problems for you or your dog, but it is the inability to control them that should be of concern. Allowing certain bad behaviour can lead to frustration when trying to correct it later on, or when obedience training for other habits. That frustration can lead to other obedience problems for your dog and a strained relationship between you and your pet.
Again, if you clearly have dog obedience problems, it would be in the best interests of both you and your pet to enroll in an obedience training class. Even when you know a little bit about training your dog, perhaps especially then, formal dog obedience lessons will help you and your dog in many ways.
Of course, you will be able to address any particular obedience problem, but you will accomplish more. Formal dog obedience classes will form a basis for future learning between you and your dog. Your pet will be more confident in everything they do. They will be happier and more eager to please than ever. Most important, obedience training lessons will lead to a better relationship between you and your dog.
However, you need to make sure you choose the right dog obedience school. If you receive the improper obedience training, problems could become worse.
The dog obedience training specialists at Alpha Paws will assess your dogÂ’s obedience training needs before developing a plan specifically designed for you and your dog. Alpha Paws uses a natural approach in their dog obedience training school that not only results in improved obedience, but it teaches your dog how to learn.
CHOOSING A DOG TRAINER
With so many dog trainers out there, it can be hard trying to choose the best one for your dog. Trying to determine which dog trainer is the best qualified to train your dog can be a difficult task.
The American Dog Trainers Network recommends the following criteria for choosing a dog trainer for your dog:
Reputation: Recommendations from your vet, other reputable trainers, friends that have had their dogs trained, etc. can help a lot in deciding which trainer to go with.
Experience: You should look into each potential trainer's background before deciding on your dog's trainer. Years of experience and areas of expertise are just a couple of things to look for. A good, professional dog trainer won't hesitate to answer your questions, so be prepared to ask a lot of them. Afterall, your dog is part of your family.
Training methodology: Reputable dog trainers care about every dog's welfare. They will know that harsh or abusive handling methods are counter-productive and not good for the dog in general.
Love for dogs: The best dog trainers have a general love for dogs, or they wouldn't and shouldn't be involved in that line of work. You'll know a great trainer by his or her joy of living and working with dogs.
Extensive behavioral knowledge: Dedicated trainers keep up-to-date on all of the latest training methods by attending dog training and animal behavioral courses, conferences, seminars, workshops, etc. whenever possible. Make sure you inquire about any recent educational courses that the trainer has attended.
Teaching and communication skills: Dog trainers that have good teaching and communication skills make the learning process easier, quicker and more enjoyable for the dogs.
Affiliation with reputable organizations: You can always tell a good dog trainer by the organizations, associations and clubs that he or she is affiliated with.
Ethics or profit?: You should find out what motivates a potential dog trainer. Is he or she in it strictly for the money, or for their love of dogs?
Unless a dog trainer comes recommended by one or more reputable source, it really is a case of buyer beware. Anyone can call themselves a dog trainer. Do your homework when choosing a dog trainer for your dog. Your dog is part of your family, so you should put as much effort into choosing a trainer as you would in choosing your dentist. The wrong kind of training could damage your dog for life.
CLICKER TRAINING FOR CATS
Clicker training is a reinforcement or reward for a cat when training them. Clickers are use most often for support when training a cat for a reward. Cats associate the clicker with a good behavior they will use for a long time. Clicker training is associated with classical condition (they associate the sound with food.) and operant conditioning (cat performs movement to receive food).
Why use a clicker and not tell a cat or make a sound to get your cat to do a trick? A clicker has a sound a cat can hear and associate good behavior. With words, our tones in our voice can change from time to time, which a cat can become confused with the training. With talking for the commands, a cat could mistake the commands. With using a clicker, it is more of a training tool to get the behavior started with the cat. Then you can put the clicker away for that behavior or trick once a cat has learned the behavior
When taking the cat out for a walk or on a trip, the clicker is a good item to carry along with you. Cats can get distracted with other people, or animals in the area. With using the clicker, it will reinforce the behavior that you have taught them. In addition, a clicker can help you with having your cat walk with you instead of wondering around.
With the clicker, a cat can be trained using three easy steps: Get a behavior, mark a behavior, and reinforce the behavior. Get a behavior is the first step. A good example would be for the cat to jump a hoop. The cat will have to know that when you click that they get a treat. Start with very small treats in your pocket. Clicks, Treat, Click Treat do this for a few times until you see the cat coming for the treat on the click. Next marking the behavior: You will have to show the cat the hoop. Once the cat touches the hoop, click, treat. Then show the cat to go though the hoop once it does click, treat. Continue to do this until the cat goes though the hoop on its own or your command. Reinforce the behavior Remember to have snacks handy so when you do see your cat go though the hoop a snack is available.
Training a cat with a clicker can be fun for both you and the cat. Taking steps in training will be rewarding to you and the cat. Try not to rush a cat in training, as they can become confused especially if they did not get the step before down. The training will take time and steps to achieve this behavior. Patience, love, and rewards will be the key factor in training your cat.
The clicker is a good exercises tool for a cat. 10 to 15 mins a day you should get your cat to exercises. For exercising, you can have the cat use a hoop, play with a toy, and climb on the scratching post or something that focus on the cat getting exercise. Exercises will help the cat to stay healthy and help to keep it out of mischief.
Clickers can come with books to help you train, treats, and a clicker. Clickers come in many different size shapes, and color. You will want to research the clickers out. Check out a pet store, Internet sites give lots of information on training and using a clicker. Check out companies that make the clicker by using Internet to see what kind they offer and any additional information that you might need to get the process of training done. Check out articles about the clicker. Talk to someone that has used one. Talk to your area veterinary about training with a Clicker
Once you have used a clicker, the cat will get good exercise and be a healthy cat. The cat will be happier and you will be happier with the new behaviors that you have taught your cat.
