Dog Training &amp Dog Obedience Guide

Posted by Snoop Dog | Cat and Dog | Wednesday 29 July 2009 6:00 pm

Why Dog Training Program is necessary?

Dog-Training program is necessary to build a strong relation between the Dog and his owner. A well trained dogs not only Builds Strong communication and understanding with the owner but also appreciated and receive lots of attention from passer-by when compared to an untrained one. Training of Dog does not depend on Breed, Age or size of the Dog. A proper training and guidance makes your Dog listen to your Commands.

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What Happens When Your Dog remains untrained?

An untrained Dog every time Create a nuisance in and around the house you live. And some time or the other you definitely have to take the situation seriously. Your Neighbor?s and Passer-by may suffer from the nuisance made by such difficult and untrained Dogs.

How to Train a Dog?

Training Secrets: Once again to remind you before we start, Age, Breed and Size will not affect Training. Every Dog can be trained, if we trained properly.

Now, if you have a Dog or puppy, you may be eager to start training. Before you start, follow the Training Guide lines The first and the foremost thing to teach your new puppy is that human flesh is much more sensitive than other puppies and that it really hurts us when they bite. This is called bite inhibition. A puppy has very sharp teeth and a weak jaw. This means that the puppy can cause you to be uncomfortable when mouthing or puppy biting you, but cannot cause severe damage. An adult dog has duller teeth and a powerful jaw. This means that an adult dog can cause significant damage when biting.

?Make your Dog understand why you are correcting Him
?Praise your Dog so that your praise has meaning and your Dog must understand praise
?Stop your Dog jumping on you.
?No violence. No hitting. No abuse. With your Dog and don?t put up with any such kind of nonsense, and never should you. Once you learn how to give properly timed corrections and motivational praise, you’ll notice your dog’s confidence begin to skyrocket and she’ll start to really love you as the pack leader? in her life.
?Avoid your Dog biting even when he is small

Lot more on how to train your Dog? Recommended Link

Basic commands that you should make your dog follow: When Training your Own Dog or taking help of some one else to train Your Dog, there are certain basic commands that must be mastered in order for the Dog considered truly trained. These Basic commands are:

?Train your Dog to sit on your Command is the vital part of any Dog Training Program. Every time you let the Dog in or out of the Door then ask for ?sit ?or ? Down? before you open or close the door.
?A well or Good Trained Dog remains stop, when his owner commands him to do so. Whenever you put down some food, ask your Dog to stay where he is.
?Make your Dog to respond to the word ?NO.?. It is a important word that can save you from lots of Trouble.
?It is important that any dog learn to walk beside its owner on a loose lead, neither pulling ahead nor lagging behind. Don’t indicate the walk in any way; just start running with your dog through your commands. Reward each correct response. After the last one, say, Praise Your Dog saying ?Good Dog?!

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Feel Proud to Be The Owner Of A Well Trained Dog:

A properly trained dog will respond properly to all the owner?s commands, and will not display any anxiety, displeasure disobedience or confusion. To avoid this annoyance with your Dog a good Training Program is necessary. A good dog training program will focus on allowing the dog to learn just what is expected of it, and will use positive reinforcement to reward desired behaviors.

Training frees Your Dog makes a strong bond with the owner and always be appreciated by the Neighbor and passer by. So we make you a proud owner of your Dog?

About the author Michelle Magne recommends (http://www.mydogtrainingguide.com) for high quality training of your Dog.

The Value Of The &quotConditioned Response Principle&quot In Dog Training

Posted by Snoop Dog | Cat and Dog | Tuesday 28 July 2009 2:00 am

One of the key principles of dog training is the principle of conditioned response. The idea is that you can set up your dog’s environment in such a way that it learns to abandon its destructive behavior through its own mistakes rather than by your instruction. Below are two common examples of problem dog behaviors and how the principle of conditioned response can be used to resolve them.

1. My dog is digging up my yard. How can I stop this destructive behavior? First, you must purchase some chicken wire from your local hardware store and some styptic powder from you local pet store. Before you begin, you must observe your dog’s favorite digging spots and pinpoint them in your mind. Then, you must remove your dog from the yard, and you must not allow it to watch you as you set up its environment. Cut about a 4 by 4 foot section of chicken wire and plant it under the dirt in all the locations where you dog likes to dig. Once you’re finished, release your dog and wait for the conditioned response. More than likely, your dog will go back to the locations where it dug before and proceed to dig as usual. Except now, it’s going to learn a novel lesson. Namely, that digging is going to cause it serious discomfort and pain.

Once your dog associates the condition (digging) with the negative response (pain) it will automatically stop its destructive digging habit. There is, however, one drawback to this technique. If you have an aggressive digger, then you should monitor your dog for any cuts or bruises. That’s where the styptic powder comes in. If you notice a cut in your dog’s paws, gently pour the styptic powder on the cut and allow it to cauterize the bleeding. Within a matter of days, you can condition your dog to abandon its destructive digging habit by using the principle of conditioned response.

2. My dog chews my furniture, my shoes, and my valuable belongings. What can I do to end this destructive behavior? Go to your local pet store, and purchase a spray bottle of bitter apple. Remove your dog from your house and do not allow it to see you set up its environment. Spray your valuables (i.e. furniture, shoes, and socks) with bitter apple and place them in locations that your dog can easily access. Then allow it to come in and let the trap do the rest. As usual, your dog will go back to its old habit and start to chew its favorite shoe or furniture. But now, it’s going to get a bitter surprise. Your dog will associate the condition (chewing) with the negative response (bad taste) and it will stop its destructive chewing habit. It’s important to remember, however, that all dogs need to chew, so you must repeat this process a second time.

Now, you must place your dog’s favorite chew toys next to the items that were sprayed with bitter apple. This time, your dog will be reconditioned to chew its own toys rather than your valuable possessions. Thus, by conditioning your dog, you can positively reinforce a good habit (chewing designated toys) over an undesirable one (chewing your valuable possessions).

As you can see, by applying the principle of conditioned response you can teach your dog exactly what you want without ever getting frustrated with the training process.

Armen T. Ghazarians offers advice, information, and articles regarding many aspects of professional dog training for all those who are not professional dog trainers themselves. For more articles like this one, visit his website at http://www.newdogtrainingsecrets.com

Training Your Dog To Sit And Stay

Posted by Snoop Dog | Cat and Dog | Monday 27 July 2009 2:00 pm

One of the first dog obedience commands you will teach is training your dog to sit and stay.

This is an important command for you and your dog to master. It will clearly define you as the dominant one in the owner-dog relationship, and will provide a solid foundation for more advanced training later on.

You can start training your dog to sit and stay at around three months of age. Some general things to keep in mind when you first start out:

  • Keep the training sessions short, ten minutes is fine initially.

  • Make the training fun, don’t make it feel like a chore, to you and your dog.

  • Sessions should be full of praise and positive reinforcement (more about this later).

  • Be repetitive, practice over and over until it clicks with your dog.

Training Your Dog To Sit

The first step in the process is getting your dog to sit on command. There are three training techniques I use with my dogs, depending on their age and temperament.

1. For young puppies I like this method. When you see your puppy about to sit, or in the act of sitting, just say Sit in a firm tone. When your puppy sits praise him. In your dogs eyes this technique builds an association with your verbal command sit, and the act of sitting. Most puppies make this connection very quickly.

2. For older puppies or dogs this method works every time. With your dog standing in front of you, grab a tasty treat and guide it over his nose, then continue up over his head. Hold the treat a couple of centimeters above your dog while performing this motion. It will cause your puppy to follow the treat up with his nose, and at the same time plant his behind on the ground. You should say the command Sit as your dog is getting into the sit position. Praise and reward your dog as soon as he sits. After a while you will only need the verbal command, not the treat.

3. You need a collar and leash for this next technique, which is best suited to bigger dog breeds. Stand next to your dog, both of you facing the same way. Hold the leash straight up tight, directly above your dogs collar. At the same time push down on your dogs back and say sit. As soon as your dog sits, reward and praise him. Within no time you can stop pushing him down, then stop holding the leash up tight. All your dog will require is your verbal sit command.

The Stay part of the Sit and Stay is our next step. Since we have already trained our dog to sit on command, I prefer to use a release or away command, instead of stay. This is because when I tell my dog to sit, I really mean sit and stay, until I tell you to do something else. The release command I use is off you go.

The process goes like this. Tell your dog to sit, he’ll stay in the sit position, then break or release this sit command by saying off you go. You should use your dog’s name then your release command to start with, which will cause your dog to come to you. When he gets to you praise and reward him. After a while you will only need to use your release command, your dog will understand that he is free to go. If your dog breaks the sit command before you issue the release command, say no! and put him back in the sit position and start again.

Over time you can increase the time and distance between getting your dog to sit and then releasing him from it. You may even want to add some distractions, or do your training in different locations. When your dog holds his sit position even when a cat cruises by, you know he is ready to move on to more advanced obedience training commands.

If you understand and apply these methods you should achieve the desired result. It may take a bit of patience and plenty of repetition, but you will get there.

Chris Smith is a dedicated dog owner and creator of http://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com

Find out the best way to obedience train your dog at home. The latest cutting edge and proven techniques.

Puppy Training 101

Posted by Snoop Dog | Cat and Dog | Sunday 26 July 2009 2:00 pm

Bringing a new puppy into your home can be an exciting experience, but also will inevitably provide many challenges for the new dog owner. Puppies are as law abiding as they are old. Puppies tend to compensate for their anything goes behavior with oodles of cuteness that results in the owners pandering to the pups, and thus not training them properly. Many will think they have the will power to withstand the cuddly cute manipulations that puppies are famous for, however few will succeed. The key to training puppies is to lay out several ground rules for you, and abide by them daily. This is why professionals often refer to puppy training, as in all truth being people training instead.

Designate off limits zones in your home before, or during the beginning of dog ownership. Puppies tend to operate on a free style basis that allows them to go, sleep, and urinate wherever they please. Remember that dogs typically mark their territory through urination. So the more you make your house feel like the puppies new home, the more the pup’s going to want to a whiz in it. So the first step to avoid such a problem is creating off limit zones. Typically the easiest way to make this happen is close the doors to any and all rooms that are unavailable for the puppy to be in. Once you have created off limit zones for the dog it will limit your pee patrol to a few rooms, and once you get the dog trained to go outside you’ll be in really good shape.

Choose and portion food wisely for your new canine friend. Dogs like to eat as much as they can, as often as they can for no particular reason. Be sure to make eating a daily routine in which you serve the dog the food, thus the dog understands who is in control of the food. Food can be your biggest weapon in training a dog.

Fence in your yard if it’s not fenced yet, this will be the easiest way to train your dog. With a securely fenced in yard dogs will have a controlled environment to play, go to the bathroom, and sit when they are not wanted inside. Without a fenced in yard dogs will be forced to abide by your walking rules, which can vary in time and duration, and often don’t occur enough. Trust me, it’s much easier to let a dog outside in the fenced in yard than to walk them 5 times a day.

Take pride in your duty as a dog trainer. Don’t be afraid to really get involved in training your dog, and becoming an interested participant in your dog’s growth. As with most anything in life, the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. This is key with training dogs, the dog will be very responsive to your efforts if you take pride in training it. As long as the dog sees you working as hard as it is on abiding by rules, and working towards a routine the easier it will be to train the puppy in the long run.

Be sure to purchase a book on the breed of the puppy you have purchased. Breed books are typically right on target when discussing dog habits, issues, and personalities specific to the puppies particular breed. Owning a dog book will give you insight on how best to train your new puppy.

Clark Covington is a professional author who provides information on dogs and dog training for Dogs ‘N’ U. Also stop by our dog forum.

How To Train Your Dog… Once You Realize That He Is Not A Human

Posted by Snoop Dog | Cat and Dog | Sunday 26 July 2009 6:00 am

Training your dog can be a long and difficult task. If you already have or are planning on getting a dog, you need to be sure that you are completely up to the challenge. Training your dog is not a simple, one-week or one-month task ? it is something that you will continually have to do, ?til death do you part.

Here are some tips to help you train your dog:

?First of all, you must realize that your dog is not human. Therefore, you should not attribute so many human characteristics to him. For instance, your dog did not pee on the rug because he is ?angry? at you ? more likely, he was marking his territory or he simply needed to be let out sooner! Because our dogs are not human, we should not try to remedy their problems as though they are. We should not punish an ?angry? dog by sending him to his dog carrier or try to win his affection back by filling him up with treats. Rather, we should be sure to let him outside when he needs to go outside.

?Again, dogs are not human. It is in their nature to work for their food. In other words, you should not simply give it to them without having them earn it. For instance, rather than simply giving your dog his food in the morning, take him for a long walk and then feed him. Or go out and run him around your back yard. You can even have him carry around a weighted doggie pack before you give him his food. Do not give him his food before he earns it. This may seem harsh, but it is the way that it works in the animal kingdom. Out in the wild, a dog would have to work hard, chasing down his food, before he could get it, and sometimes he would not get it and would have to wait until the next day for a meal.

?It is important to be consistent! You cannot simply make your dog work for his food three days out of a week and then simply give it to him the other four. Owning and caring for a dog is a full-time job.

?Make sure that your dog understands who is the pack leader. (In case you are wondering, the pack leader should be you!). You will both get along much more easily if you make it clear from the onset that he is the subservient one in the relationship and that you are the one who gives him his food, etc.

?A system of rewards and punishments can be used to train dogs. The key is, you need to reward or punish them immediately, otherwise they may not understand what the reward/punishment is for. For instance, when you take your dog outside and he pees outside, immediately give him a treat. If, on the other hand, you let him outside, then he pees, then he frolics and chases a bird, and then you give him a treat when he comes back in, he may connect the treat to going outside, rather than for peeing outside.

?Also, a reward system works best if it is not always expected. In other words, if you give your dog a treat every single time he pees outside, it will not be as effective as if you only give it to him some of the time (and it makes it a lot easier for you, too). Otherwise, in the former reward system, if you miss a few days, your dog may start peeing inside again. In the latter situation, your dog will be used to not getting a treat for a few days, but will still be expecting one in the future if he continually goes pee outside.

?Learn about your dog breed. Different dog breeds react differently to different situations ? they are bred for different purposes, and they have different capabilities. Make sure that you know as much about your own dog breed as possible so that you know how best to train your dog.

As you can hopefully realize, training a dog can be a lot of work, and only those who are up to the work should consider owning a dog. Remember, the more time that you spend working with your dog, the better your dog is going to work with you. Also, realize that your dog is not human ? this can be a hard concept to grasp, but the sooner you do, the better your relationship with your dog will be.

Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on dogs and dog training, please visit Dog T-Shirts.

How To Find A Certified Dog Trainer

Posted by Snoop Dog | Cat and Dog | Saturday 25 July 2009 6:00 am

Are you in the market for a dog trainer? Do you want your dog to learn from a top notch certified dog trainer? You may have dreams of seeing your dog in professional dog competitions and shows. Therefore, you need to have your dog trained by a certified dog trainer to ensure the best results.

Why should you hire a certified dog trainer instead of a basic dog trainer? A certified dog trainer is one that takes their dog training career seriously enough to become certified. You can feel comfortable in the fact that they have met high dog training standards and passed certification exams and tests. You don?t want a fly-by-night dog trainer, but a certified dog trainer that is in it for the long haul.

How do you find a certified dog trainer? There are numerous dog trainers available in the market place today. Dog trainers range in age, skill level, and experience. Your neighbor might tell you that they are a dog trainer because they have read a few books on the subject and taught their dog to fetch the newspaper. This is not sufficient dog training experience.

You should consult a variety of resources. Try asking your dog breeder, groomer, and veterinarian. They can direct you to local dog training schools that have certified dog trainers on their faculty. Various pet supply stores have dog training programs that train and certify their dog trainers. Example pet supply stores include PETCO.

However, research what they mean by ?certification?. Is the certification by PETCO standards only or by a universal certification? Find out what the requirements are for their certified dog trainers. Only then can you determine if their dog trainers will supply the skill level and experience you desire.

You need to find a dog trainer that has had comprehensive training and can proudly demonstrate that they are a certified dog trainer. Be aware, though, that there are many ?certified dog training? schools and home correspondence courses available. Not all of these schools are credible nor do they provide proper instruction. You need to find a dog trainer that has certification as described by the Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers.

The Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers is a well respected organization that provides testing and certification services for dog trainers. They administer specific dog training tests in various states around the country approximately twice per year. These intensive tests root out the professional dog trainer from the average dog trainer. Check out their website at: http://www.ccpdt.org/.

The Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers also provides a listing of certified dog trainers. You can search through this listing to find a certified dog trainer in your area. This roster of certified dog trainers comprises certified dog trainers all over the world. The certified dog trainer list will give you their contact information including name, city, phone number, and e-mail address. Another great feature is that they list the date the dog trainer became certified. This will let you know how many years they have been in the dog training business. Peruse the list at: http://ccpdt.org/rstr/index.html.

Certified pet trainers do not only need to pass a certification exam and testing, they must also continue their education through workshops, conferences, and other means. When selecting a certified dog trainer ask them about the extent of their continuing education. You want a certified dog trainer that continues to hone their craft. They should actively learning about various dog training methods. This demonstrates that they are committed to providing the best dog training.

A certified dog trainer should have at least three to five years of dog training experience. This is especially true if they charge higher fees. You can take the plunge with a newly certified dog trainer if cost is an issue. Newly certified dog trainers may charge lower rates in order to establish a list of clients and garner experience. ?Master? certified dog trainers are those that have twenty to thirty years of experience. They may have great skill and in depth background experience, but may come at a higher price.

You have the beginning knowledge regarding finding a certified dog trainer. Spend time searching resources available through your dog breeder, veterinarian, and pet supply store. Scour the book store, library, and Internet for detailed information. You can find a certified dog trainer in your area as well.

You wouldn?t go to an unlicensed doctor would you? So why would go to a trainer that is not certified? Certified dog trainers are out there and ready to help you and your pooch learn valuable skills. They are committed to your dog, their career, and learning everything they can about becoming a top notch dog trainer. Who knows, your certified dog trainer may help your dog win the Westminster dog show. Not only would your dog be trained well and achieve glory, but the expense would be well worth it.

Visit the dog products website to research dog breeds & get free tips on dog training, dog health, dog grooming & how to find dog sitters & dog walkers.

Veterinary Care: Choosing The Best Vet For Your Dog

Posted by Snoop Dog | Cat and Dog | Friday 24 July 2009 10:00 pm

Choosing a vet for your dog is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for him, so it’s important to take your time and make an informed decision.

Referrals from other pet-owners is a good place to start when looking for a vet. Even though your friends may have different expectations than you, at least you’ll have a list of good prospects to check out.

The first thing to consider is how you feel once you’re in the examining room. It doesn’t matter how many diplomas the vet has, or how many credentials are framed and hanging on the walls of his office. What really matters is that your dog — and YOU — feel comfortable. Make sure you can communicate well with your veterinarian, and that you feel comfortable asking any questions at all regarding your dog’s health. If you feel that your veterinarian isn’t taking the time to answer your questions in terms you can understand, it’s probably time to look for a new vet.

Ask what types of services are available at his/her particular clinic. It’s also important that you have a number to call in case of after-hours emergencies. If you plan to purchase pet health insurance, make sure the clinic you’re at accepts it.

Some vets consider some vaccinations essential, while others don’t. And some vets have a particular schedule for vaccinations, while you may have strong feelings about the extent to which your dog should be vaccinated. Be sure you and your potential veterinarian agree (or agree to disagree) on this important topic.

Once you’ve decided on the veterinarian you want to work with, don’t be a stranger. Your puppy will be visiting the clinic often, since most vaccination programs start at about 6-8 weeks of age and continue every few weeks until your pup is 3-4 months old.

Basic vaccinations, like the one for rabies, are absolutely necessary; however, depending on where you live, others may be optional.

Here’s a short list of suggested vaccinations, but we recommend checking with your veterinarian for the best advice for your particular breed and age of dog:

* Rabies * Parvovirus * Distemper

* Canine Hepatitus * Coronavirus * Parainfluenza

* Leptospirosis * Canine Cough * Lyme Disease

It’s also extremely important to protect your pet from heartworm. This is a potentially fatal infection that is caused by a parasite spread by mosquitoes, so it is simple to prevent. Be sure to talk with your vet about protecting your pet from this dangerous, life-threatening infection.

Lisa Pallardy is the owner of http://www.BarkTalk.com an interactive site for dog lovers to find articles and information on dog training and care, post photos of their pets, and talk with other dog-lovers. She is also the mother of 6 children and lover of 3 dogs. In her spare time, she makes greeting cards from children’s artwork at http://www.MyLittleRembrandt.com

For more articles like this one on dog care and dog training, or for links to resources where you can purchase dog supplies, visit http://www.BarkTalk.com

Dog Training Step 2 To The Canine Good Citizen Title

Posted by Snoop Dog | Cat and Dog | Friday 24 July 2009 6:00 am

Step 2 of 10 to earning a Canine Good Citizen title for your dog is the following:

Sitting Politely for Petting. Goal: Evaluator pets dog. Dog must show no shyness or resentment.

If you did the training I suggested in Step 1, this one ought to be a breeze for you and your dog. To briefly recap, you want to first work with someone you know that can help by ignoring the dog if he jumps up or barks, growls, or hides behind you. By not looking at the dog and ignoring what he is doing, the other person is showing that unwanted behavior is not acceptable.

Once the dog obeys your sit command, then, the other person can speak to the dog, even pet him if the dog stays seated. Once the sit is broken, though, the helper needs to return to the ignoring stance.

Then, you’ve taken the dog to parks and other places where people are likely to be and asked some of them to help you teach your dog to sit quietly while you either speak briefly to the person, or the person is asked to pet the dog, so long as he will sit still. Explain to them before you permit them to pet the dog that you’re trying to teach the dog to sit quietly for petting and if the dog jumps up, to please refrain from petting him at that time. It is rewarding unwanted behavior. Most people will have no problem with that.

Lastly, you want to teach the dog to be around children’s playgrounds with all the quick-moving little bodies and shouting going on. This will also be useful in another phase of the title work, but for now, you’re looking to find some children that will also listen to you when you ask them to pet your dog and to stop if he gets up from the sit. With children, though, I suggest you ask them to please pet the dog under the chin first.

Actually, that’s an excellent way to approach any dog. Reaching for the head is perceived by the dog as a domination action and might result in problems. Reaching for the chin, however, is the greeting of an equal or subordinate. You’ve seen dogs lick another’s chin, haven’t you? By asking people to first scratch the dog’s chin, then move to the head or back, you slowly let the newcomer dominate your dog rather than starting out that way.

It shouldn’t take long for your dog to calm down enough on meeting people that he can easily pass the second test for the Canine Good Citizen title.

(The information in quotes at the beginning of this article is involved in the CGC test taken from the AKC test scoresheet.)

C. Rogers Upson has been training dogs and studying them for nearly 40 years. Her website is Dog Potentials and she has two dog-related stores at Keeping to the Borders and Dog Potentials-The Store.

Things To Know About A German Shepherd Dog

Posted by Snoop Dog | Cat and Dog | Thursday 23 July 2009 10:01 pm

A sound temperament is a must in a German Shepherd Dog (GSD). By sound, I mean a disposition where one minute you can let a protection trained GSD play alone with your 5-year old child, pull on its ears, pet its head, tug on its tail and NEVER-EVER be in harms way; while the next minute, it should turn into the terminator and crush its enemies as soon as it senses an intruder.

There are three conventional methods of dog training that you can choose from in order to train you German Shepherd Dog (GSD). They are training with treats, training with treats and clickers, and training with praise. All three methods of training will work; however, there is one that stands out from the rest. That is, oral praise. Why? Because you want your dog to listen to your commands even when you don’t have any toys, clickers, and/or food. Imagine you dog wanting to jump at your every command simply because it wants your praise and love and not because you are going to bribe it with treats. Once your dog gets used to getting treats for performance, it will cease to perform when you don’t have any more treats left. So, treat your GSD with kindness, and train it with praise!

Training a GSD which has not been genetically selected for working ability is that much more difficult than one that has already been selected for that trait. In my opinion, the age-old debate about beauty vs. functionality of the pure-bread GSD dog was settled by the founder of the German Shepherd Dog breed, Captain Max Von Stephanitz, when he said in his book,…Utility is the true criterion of beauty… (The German Shepherd Dog in Word and Picture, pg. 163). Many American GSDs today have been selected for beauty rather than functionality in order to win dog shows. In many of these dog shows, obedience and showmanship are separate events and a dogs’ working ability is never considered in events where the dogs are required to meet breed standards. Hence, you have the decline of the traits for which the breeds were originated for in the first place. So when you set out to buy your dream GSD, look for temperament, health, and working ability first, and beauty last.

The importance of beauty, however, should not be ignored when it comes to posing your dog for a memorable photograph. Unlike other breeds, GSD’s are shown differently in the breed ring. The proper method for posing your GSD for the breed judges is called a stack. Stacking is the method whereby one allows the forequarters of a dog to be shown parallel to one another when looking through the viewfinder of a camera and when one allows the hindquarters of the GSD to be arranged so that the limb facing the camera is placed backward while the limb facing away from the camera is placed forward. Most professional handlers who pose their GSD’s for photographers walk them into a stack instead of artificially manipulating them into it. If you plan to stack your GSD for a professional snapshot, remember to compose the image in such a way as to depict it from the tip of its nose to the tip of its hindquarters; NO MORE, NO LESS (please visit my web site to view photographs of how a GSD is stacked for the camera).

These topics cover just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to knowing the German Shepherd Dog breed. You can learn more about the GSD by visiting my web site or by getting involved in breed organizations like the German Shepherd Dog Club of America (GSDCA). With a little more reading, you can become familiar with this wonderful breed and all that it has to offer. And then perhaps you can decide whether this is the right breed for you or not.

Armen T. Ghazarians offers advice, information, and articles regarding many aspects of professional dog training for all those who are not professional dog trainers themselves. For more articles like this one, visit his website at http://www.newdogtrainingsecrets.com

Leader Of The Pack Dog Training

Posted by Snoop Dog | Cat and Dog | Tuesday 21 July 2009 2:00 pm

I have been professionally training dogs for 18 years … whew! That’s a long time. But the days have flown by and I have enjoyed most every minute of it. Dogs have given me a wondeful way of life.

Over the years I have been to many seminars and training schools. I have a massive library on dog training, animal behavior and psychology that would rival most any animal behaviorist. There have been many ideas expressed and I have learned from many of them. But it all boils down to one major point …

Dogs are pack animals.

Bring them home and you become a member of their pack. Every pack has a chain of command. If you lack consistent leadership capabilities, it is only natural for your dog to lead. It’s all about survival … survival of the pack.

Everything I do in training revolves around that natural premise for the dog order. And before someone misunderstands, it is not about dominating, intimidating. breaking a dog’s spirit or physically harming a dog.

It’s about leading.

How do you lead? Even without structured obedience training, it can be done in seemingly subtle ways … But, it makes a big difference for your dog.

You can start by you entering all doors before your dog. You see your dog believes he is entitled to enter first … NOT!

Don’t feed your dog until are ready. Have your dog’s attention by making him sit or wait. Be patient as you are in control.

You never allow your dog on the furniture without your permission … FIRST.

Don’t pet your dog when she wants you to … unless you want to be the one obeying. Turn the tables. Make her perform a simple command and then pet and praise the.

Never let your dog see you clean up after her (poop, etc.). After all, you don’t want her to think you are her servant, do you?

Ignore attention getting maneuvers from your dog such as barking, jumping etc. Give her attention at these times and you are insuring these actions will be repeated.

All are simple steps, but they start communicating to your dog that you are the leader.

I will be providing more examples in my blog … http://www.jimhodgesdogtraining.blogspot.com/

I hope to see you there!

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