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Introduction Dog Training
Introduction Dog Training
Introduction Dog Training
Preamble The Human Dog Team Training Techniques Rewards Punishment First Steps On The Leash Further Training Tips
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I. Preamble
Dogs should be given the opportunity to sample as many experiences as possible from a puppy age onwards. Dogs which join their family in as many activities as possible, while learning commands at the same time, will show more comprehension in the long run. Also, those dogs are likely to develop a higher eagerness to learn and obey than others.
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Attention is a privilege for the high-ranked members of a canine pack. Use this fact to introduce yourself as the leader. To reinforce this, try to always be the one that decides on start & end times of social contacts, games, petting and exercises with your dog. Dogs have a keen grasp on a humans amount of confidence. When YOU feel uncomfortable, your dog is very likely to pick up this feeling and usually this will reflect on the learning progress as well as results. If you are unsure about your dog carrying out the commands you give or you are afraid that he will rather follow other impulses, there is a big chance that your dog senses this lack of confidence. Grow your confidence, love and pride for your dog by giving him the opportunity to follow your instructions through regular exercises of commands and practise them in different situations. A dog is usually willing to perform any behaviour laying in his nature and which is anatomically possible for him, as long as he understands what he has to do and is sufficiently motivated.
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We can leverage this by using command-words, whistles, clicker etc., followed by praise & food treats to condition the dog to an unconsciously executed or reflex- action. For example, if your dog sits down by himself, firmly say SIT and praise him with a small food treat and/ or lots of petting. If you continuously follow this regime, you dog will soon connect the command SIT with the physical action of sitting down. Operant or better known as instrumental conditioning is a form of learning in which a response that releases either a reward or a punishment is caused by a certain stimulus (learning through natural consequences). However, you should always enforce motivational and rewarding training & behaviour amendment methods as these act as positive affirmations for the relationship with your dog.
IV. Rewards
First of all you should always keep an eye on your dogs food intake and weight. Throughout intense training phases, you might want or need to amend your dogs usual food-portion, depending on how much food treats your training sessions require. Alternatively, some dogs also respond great to toys as rewards. Additionally this can be a great way for the dog to let off steam, gain some physical exercise and reduce mental stress. Another two very important rewards are verbal praise and stroking not only to praise for correctly executed commands and training sessions, but especially for bonding between you and your dog. After a while, remember not to reward every single time after a successful exercise, especially when your dog is already able to master it to a hundred percent. This will help to keep the exercise exciting and surprising for the dog. Also, it is important to reward the dog in the right situations and at the right timings so that the dog connects his action with the reward. Otherwise your dog may link the reward with the wrong action. Studies have shown that the scope of linking rewards to actions can lie at a short time such as only 1 second! Therefore keep in mind that your dog will always connect his last action with any immediately afterwards received reward or punishment.
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V. Punishment
First of all, dogs do not have a bad conscience. Even when it seems like your dog would, he is simply feeling your anger and intimidated by your voice and body language. Additionally, it is very illogical for your dog that he gets punished for a misdeed that happened hours ago and is unlikely to connect this punishment with his actual action back then. A direct method of penalisation is to punish a dog physically, which in most cases will result in immense fear and aggressive behaviours.
A more sensible way of punishment is the indirect method which doesnt affect the dog physically or verbally. Ideally, a trap for the dog is set, so that the punishment does not depend on your presence. This might be a construction such as some empty tins that fall on him as soon as he tries to steal something from the table. As your dog wont be able to explain this shocking experience else wise, he will assign it directly to his action and in future refrain from it. Methods like this are usually more effective as the punishment is timed and controlled by the dogs misdeed. However, any form of attention, also punishment, can present a success for the dog. Therefore ignoring your dog often is one of the most effective punishments. If certain behaviour doesnt lead to success, it wont be motivating for your dog and therefore he will sooner or later stop doing it. Its simply uneconomical for him. Furthermore, it is always beneficial to train and implement correction-words like No! or Leave it!. This can support you in helping your dog to make the decision of being well-behaved. If, for example, he bites on your shoes, you could let him carry out the Leave it exercise, followed by a retrieve game with one of his toys and hand him a chew bone afterwards.
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It is essential to firstly just give your dog the command once and speak with a clear and understandable voice. Then wait to see if the dog is going to execute it. If he doesnt, you should give the command once again and ensure that your dog pays attention while you do so. Always speak voice commands clearly and with the same pitch as dogs will remember the sound of the word, but usually not the word itself. By repeating commands that wont be executed by your dog, especially when combined with continuous shouting and whistling, often the so-called cow-bell-effect will start to develop. This means that your dog will interpret your shouting as a sign for signalising him where you are similar as if you would wear a bell on your neck.
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Avoiding this will also present an advantage in emergency situations when your dog is not used to loud spoken or screamed commands. He will then be more likely to be alarmed and refrain from what he was going to eat or do. The learning and mastering of commands can be divided into 3 Phases: Phase 1 - > Explaining the command Phase 2 - > Training the command (in every possible, and also in unfamiliar, situations) Phase 3 - > Mastering the command In phase 2, keep alternating the locations of where you train the command, so that your dog doesnt connect it to a certain place or situation. Disobedience and misbehaviour often arise when owners speak out praise or reprehension at wrong timings or for incompletely performed commands. Look out to not strengthen them by repeating those mistakes rather start over at phase 1 and take it from the start. Also remember that your dog will always learn and not only during exercise times!
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Try to vary the places & timings of when you give commands and mix up the exercise routine with different training combinations to keep the training exciting! If you train a new command, avoid places that offer a lot of distractions & remember to keep training times shorter in the beginning so your dog does not get overwhelmed. Dont be resentful your dog isnt either! Try to forget any fault or misdeed your dog may have made immediately and if you have trouble doing so, let your dog make an exercise for which you can definitely reward him. This will make him & you feel better straight away! It is very likely that you will give different commands to your dog out of your specific exercise and training sessions. Therefore, try to focus on strengthen the commands your dog can already master well throughout the whole day and in different day-to-day situations.
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The founder of Dogswish, Pia Offord, grew up with 7 Siberian Huskies, parents who were highly engaged in dog agility and a father who served as a professional dog-handler within the guard-and security business and could therefore gain prominent knowledge and interest in canine behaviourism already from a young age. Voluntary work in veterinary practices and kennels helped her to develop an excellent in-depth view in behaviour management as well as in basic animal handling & medical care. Her passion for animals, people and experience gained from years of leadership, including management, training and development of staff, helped Pia to understand basic learning abilities and approaches, which are closely linked between human as well as canine / feline creatures, and encourage her to consistently study this specific field further.
Contact
Dogswish Caterways Brighton Road Horsham West Sussex UK RH13 6PP Tel: +44 (0) 140 389 1821 Fax: +44 (0) 872 111 3554 E-mail dogswish@dogswish.co.uk Web site http://www.dogswish.co.uk Blog http://dogswish.wordpress.com Our aim at Dogswish is to develop the knowledge and understanding of dog -owners relating to their dogs behaviours and help them to achieve a balanced, happy and fulfilled life together.
All contents Copyright 2012 Dogswish. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is strictly prohibited.
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