Articles
Newsletter
| Choosing The Best Dog Obedience Schools For Your Pet |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by Lee Dobbins |
| Thursday, 24 July 2008 23:10 |
|
A search in your local shoppers guide or newspapers will yield dozens of ads for dog obedience schools that will help your new canine family member fit in with the other animals and people in the house. So how do you choose the one that is right for you? Today, several methods of training dogs are used, they include calm, positive reinforcement techniques, "alpha" dominance, and cruel punishment. Most trainers will have chosen their own method to fit themselves and their clients. Positive approaches are becoming more and more common and this is probably what you will run into when looking for obedience schools. Another factor is your dog, and it's background. Is it a puppy, or a rescue dog with their inherent concerns? What is your desired outcome from training--basic obedience, as a pet for the family, show, tracking, or any other dog activities? Once you have established your training goals and you have your dog's personality in mind, make a list of all the local dog obedience schools information that you can find. Then check out their web pages. You can check with other dog owners to see if they have a good dog trainer. Also contact your local veterinarian or kennel for suggestions. Schools that train using positive reinforcement are going to yield the best results. Ask friends who they'd recommend. Some trainers will offer to come to make house visits to train your dog, but then he'll be missing out on socialization opportunities with other canines. Locate the times of the beginner class and see if you can sit in just to watch; if you don't like what you see, find someone else you do like! It is a great a idea to sign your puppy up for a play group to ensure it has proper socialization. However, if you have a rescue dog with aggression issues you may need more than just a regular trainer. In this case, you may need a certified animal behaviorist. Be extra cautious with aggressive animals! Some trainers use tools like collars for training. "Gentle Leader" head collars are just about the most-effective collar available; contrary to the belief of many, pinch collars only work on a limited number of dogs. If your dog isn't required for his first training session, don't be shocked -- it's a good thing! Clicker training (or any positive training) needs a training session for owners so you learn to properly use the tools and to communicate effectively with your dog. These are some ways to tell if the program is a positive training class: 1. The school, as a whole, will have a positive tone. 2. Training is founded on a reward system: a requested behavior is awarded with a goody, accolade, or anything else the dog appreciates. 3. Unwanted behavior is dealt with by distracting the dog. It usually only takes a bit of effort to distract the dog and let him know his behavior is unacceptable. 4. The method of dealing with undesirable behavior is to give the dog a command that he can not achieve while engaged in said behavior. For example, command him to "sit" to stop him from jumping up on guests when they first enter your home. 5. Training is based on patience so that the dog has sufficient opportunity to obey or display the required response. There are other methods to training your dog that you can use in addition to local dog obedience schools. Hollywood canines get their talent by way of "clicker training", a very effective and efficient means of training dogs. If you want to review other methods, there are plenty of credible websites and training books available also. About the Author: Is your dog a bad boy? Find out how training him can be as easy as 123 with the dog training techniques you'll learn about at http://www.positivedogtrainingtechniques.com/. Kindly provided by LJ-Marketing.dk You are welcome to use this article on your own website, if you include the link just before this text. |
Stumble It!
Members : 1254
Content : 2297
Web Links : 1
Content View Hits : 309202
Content : 2297
Web Links : 1
Content View Hits : 309202