Dog Courses

You can train your dog in a number of different ways. My prefered method is reward based training. It is my belief that you really can “catch more bees with honey than vinegar”.  They don’t need to be the uber expensive treats, just something that your dog likes and will make him or her understand that they did what you ask.

The first part of letting your dog know you are happy with him is your praise. “Good dog”, “good puppy”, or anything like that is what you want to do.  Make sure you say it in a “rewarding tone”.  Don’t say “GOOD DOG” loud and forcefull, that to him would be a comand, not a praise. Remember when you were a kid in school, just learning what 4×3 is? Did your teacher yell “THERE YOU GO, YOU GO IT” or say “there ya go!” in an excited happy voice?  Same concept here, its all about tone.

Next its timing. If you tell your dog to sit and he sits and you aren’t ready with a treat or praise he isn’t going to know if he did it right or not. The point of reward based training is to reward at the excat moment the dog does what you tell it. Have your hand on a treat, don’t let him see it, make the comand, and as soon as their but hits the ground praise him and give him the treat.

Now, think of this. If you come in from walking your dog and tell him to sit while you take his leash off and look for a treat for him and he lays down because its taking too long, what do you think is about to happen?  You told him to sit, which is what he is getting the treat for, but you took too long and he got bored so he layed down, and you are about to give him that treat.

You meant to give him the treat for sitting, but you ened up giving him the treat for laying down. If you keep doing this, he might hear “Sit” and lay down instead.

This is where timing comes into play. You want to reward him for doing the comand, not for not doing it. Understand?

So what if you don’t have a treat ready and he lays down? Do not give him the treat while he lays, get him up and tell him to sit again.  His brian processes like this: I hear sit, I sit, I get treat and praise, I did good.  Not like this: I hear sit, I sit, I wait, I lay cause im tired, I get treat for sitting but it took to long, I know why I got the treat.

Dogs don’t care what happened 2 mins ago, they are here and now animals. They don’t care if they did the comand right or not, they just do.  I want to say dogs are like The United States Marine Corps, DON’T THINK, JUST DO!!!!

I hope you read and understand what I’m saying. Please ask if you have any questions about when to treat and praise your dog or puppy.

A friend of mine has a dog. His name is Zues.  He is a stout boxer with the mind of a dog Einstein.  Its funny to watch him and talk to him, he undersands everything that is said.  Say his name and he’ll turn his head. Ask him if he has to pee and he’ll nod and run for the door. Tell him to sit and he will roll his eyes. 

Zues will do what you tell him, within reason.  He can sit, lay, fetch, and stay.  If anyone knows or has a boxer you will understand how hard it is for them to do that much.  Their mind keeps wondering; they hear a noise, they want to know what it is and where its comming from.  It wasnt always that way for Zues.

When I first met him he was about 9 months old and full of energy.  He would bark, he would jump, he wouldn’t quit.  I loved the dog just the way he was, but that too was about to change.

A few months ago the mother of my friend, whos dog it was, became ill with lung cancer.  As her chemo went on she became weak.  She couldn’t take care of him and walk him like she used to. Thats where I decided to take the leash, so to speak.

I was watching natgeo one night and caught The Dog Whisperer and thought “hell, if he can do it, Im sure i can too.”  So I got a book and decided to try my hand at training him.  My main goal in all this was for my friends mother to be able to walk the dog (around the house, for some fresh air) and not to have to worry about him running off or dragging her whit him. 

Zues didn’t like it at first.  I was the first one who put the leash on him the correct way, I came to the house everynight to walk him and show him how a dog should act. It took a good, solid month for him to finally get that I was going to tell him what to do. I was going to let him walk, I was going to be his temporary master.

After time went on and he progressed in his training, I became more confident of our abilities.  After we got walking down I showed him how to sit. Sitting only took a week.  After that I thought him how to lay, which again, only took about a week or so.  After that, stay, then catch, then speak. 

I felt great about him being able to be trusted on walks and what not.  Mom takes him out everyday and they both love it.  I feel something missing within me now.  I have read before that boxers love to think and work. So I figure “why stop now?”. I’m going to train zues to do something, weather it be tricks, agility, or to help with yard work (which he does, he will take limbs and sticks and chew them into a million pieces). 

Im not sure how this is going to pan out, and ill keep everyone posted of our progress as we go along.  If anyone has any suggestions of tricks to teach him let me know.  Once I teach him ill post a video so everyone can watch him!

Keep it barkin!

Like dogs, dog courses come in all shapes and sizes. Some dog courses are still VHS, others are DVD. Some dog courses are over the internet, while still others are live or in class.  No matter what your choice is they should all deliver the same thing. A dog that sits, lays, pees and poops where you tell it.

Dogs are smart, smarter than they let on. Usually when a person thinks their dog is stupid for not sitting when told, it isn’t that the dog is stupid. It is because the dog doesn’t feel like listening to the person giving the comand. What does that say about the person?

Dog courses aren’t meant to turn your dog into a robot, it just makes communication between dog and human a whole lot easier.  Dogs know what you are saying and they can feel your energy.  So, to find a dog course that can deliver the method of training you want your dog to have.

One last thought: I think that teaching your dog the comands yourself creates a stronger and longer bond between you and your dog. Also, reward training will always create a bigger reaction in your dog than punishment training.