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Obedience training and your dog

By: Barry Gilbert

Obedience training is one of the most important and most
effective things any owner can do for his or her dog. A
properly obedience trained dog is a happy, productive and
safe member of the family, while a untrained dog can be
destructive and even dangerous.

Dogs are designed by nature to follow leaders, and to
look for that leadership. As pack animals, dogs
naturally follow the directions of their pack leader. In
the absence of a strong leader, the dog may assume this
role itself. Dogs that think of themselves as the leader
of their human pack can become uncooperative, destructive
and even dangerous.

Proper obedience training opens up important lines of
communication between handler and dog. The basis of any
obedience training program is to gain the cooperation and
respect of the animal. This respect cannot be exerted
through rough handling methods or mistreatment. It must
instead be earned through leadership and proper training
techniques.

Basic obedience training consists of teaching the dog
what to do and what not to do. When it comes to desired
behaviors, it is important for the dog to learn and
respond to basic commands, such as heeling when walking,
stopping on command, sitting when directed, coming when
called and staying where the handler directs.

The list of what not to do is also important when it
comes to obedience training. Some of the don'ts of
obedience training include - not jumping up on people,
not forging ahead when walking and, not chewing the
furniture or your property, and not getting out of
control when exposed to novel situations.

In essence, obedience training involves establishing the
social hierarchy that is so important to dogs as pack
animals. When your dog follows your obedience commands,
such as - come, stay, sit, heel, etc., he or she is
showing compliance and submissiveness. This is the same
type of behavior a submissive member of a wild dog pack
would show to the alpha dog in that pack.

As with any type of dog training, it is important that
obedience training sessions be fun and rewarding for both
dog and handler. A happy, healthy dog will be best able
to learn, and keeping the dog happy during the training
sessions will make life easier for both yourself and your
dog.

Obedience training has many benefits for the dog as well
as the handler. For one thing, a well trained, obedient
dog can be permitted a larger amount of freedom than an
untrained dog. For instance, a dog that has been
properly trained to come when called can safely enjoy
some off leash play time at the local park.

There is always a debate over whether it is easier to
obedience train puppies or older dogs. The fact is that
both puppies and older dogs can be successfully trained
to be willing, obedient companions. It is generally
easier to train puppies and young dogs than it is to
retrain dogs that have developed behavior problems. Even
problem dogs, however, can be successfully retrained
using basic obedience training and control concepts.

When obedience training puppies, however, it is
important to remember that puppies generally have a
shorter attention span than to do full grown dogs. It is
important, therefore to keep training sessions short in
the beginning.

It is also important to incorporate lots of play with
other puppies, dogs and other animals, as well as lots of
different people. Proper socialization is very important
to creating a safe, healthy and happy companion dog.

There are many obedience training classes held in all
parts of the country, and new puppy and dog owners are
encouraged to enroll in one of these classes. Not only
do puppy kindergarten and dog obedience classes provide
important structure for the dogs, but it provides
important chances for properly socialization the puppy as
well.

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