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10 Greatest Puppy Training Tips of all Time!
If I knew then what I know now. K9 Magazine is proud to offer these pearls of wisdom, plucked from the knowledge banks of the many dog behaviour experts and trainers who have lost blood, sweat and tears in discovering some of the best dog training tips ever for puppies…
The 10 Greatest Puppy Training Tips of All Time According to Dog Training Experts
10) When trying to settle a puppy into a new home, providing them with a warm hot water bottle and placing a ticking clock in the room where they sleep will help to replicate the body heat and heartbeat of their litter mates and can really help them to relax in their new environment.
9) When taking your puppy to the Vet for its first inoculations, health checks etc, it is good practice to sit with your puppy on your lap and not have him or her on the floor. Apart from being able to comfort and re-assure the puppy easier in this position you must also consider the fact that there may be a number of sick animals in the surgery and your puppy is vulnerable if they come into direct contact with infectious animals that may also be in attendance at the same time as your pup. Make a very deliberate effort to ensure your puppy’s trips to the vets are as fun as you can make them. Don’t allow your puppy to think you are nervous or concerned, instead make a game and even take a toy to amuse the puppy with whilst they sit on your lap.
Always ensure from the earliest possible moment that your puppy is given his or her own, private sleeping place that is not used by anyone else in the family or another pet. Your puppy will benefit from short periods left alone in his or her ‘den’ with you always returning to reward the pup when he or she is relaxed and quiet.
7) Try to make sure your puppy is entertained adequately for short but regular intervals during the day. Long periods of being left unstimulated may lead to destructive or disruptive behaviour later in life. Little games playing ‘fetch’ with the pup’s favourite toy will have the beneficial affect of stimulating the pup, increasing his or her bond with you and allowing the pup to expend short, sharp bursts of energy.
6) Don’t over-train your puppy. Remember, a one-year old dog is, effectively, the same as a seven-year old person. It is a good rule of thumb to keep reminding yourself ‘would I expect a three, four, five or six-year old child to accomplish some of the tasks I am asking of my pup?’ Manners, house-cleanliness and the very basics (including socialisation) are all you should really seek to instil in your puppy until such a time, as they are mature enough to undergo a more formal training regime. Puppies can deceive you into thinking they are ready for training but will ultimately ‘rebel’ against discipline as they get older. Ensuring you have taught your puppy to respond to his or her name, what is and is not acceptable in terms of house-manners and establishing an uninhibited relationship with your pup is more important than any other discipline in the early stages of any dog’s life.
5) OWWWW! Teach your puppy that biting or nipping is not a pleasant experience for you by reacting as if in pain to their playful nips. Rather than scold the dog, let him or her know that nipping is not a pastime that you wish to engage in. Letting out an over-exaggerated expression of pain will more than likely shock the puppy into ceasing this behaviour. You will be glad you put an end to this behaviour early on instead of confronting a ‘playful’ 2-year-old with a full set of adult teeth!
4) Decide early on what is and is not acceptable in your house. If you don’t want your pup to use the living-room sofa as a raised dog bed when they get older then don’t encourage him or her to come up for fuss when they’re young just because they look sweetly at you and are small enough to pick up.
3) Jumping up. All puppies love to jump out when greeting anyone. Rather than reprimand the pup, simply ignore the behaviour and wait until he or she settles down and is not jumping up before lavishing any attention on them. Above all else, don’t encourage the behaviour by patting or praising the dog when they are in the ‘jump-position’ or you may run in to problems as the dog gets bigger and views jumping up as an easy way to receive attention.
2) The puppy’s name will be with them for life, make sure they know it by associating it with all things pleasant and fun. In the same way dog’s cotton on in a very positive way to words such as ‘walkies’, ‘biscuits’ or ‘dinner-time’ they should be given the same association with their own name. Too often the only time the puppy hears his or her name is when they have done something naughty. ‘Jasper, stop doing that!’ ‘Buster, leave that alone!’ It’s tough but try to ensure that you NEVER use the puppy’s name in a negative scenario only positive ones. Instead of ‘Jasper, leave that alone!’ simply, ‘Leave that alone!’ or better yet ‘No!’. And instead of ‘walkies’, biscuits or ‘dinner-time’ try ‘Jasper, biscuits!’, ‘Jasper, walkies!’, ‘Jasper, dinner-time!’ Golden rule. Your puppy should associate his or her own name with all that is pleasant and fun and nothing that is negative. The word ‘no’ is negative and it is enough to cover all undesirable behaviour.
1) From the moment your puppy comes into your life teach him that coming to you when called is nothing short of being the best thing in the world. Puppies can’t resist humans who sit down on the floor with legs spread apart so, while they’re easily persuaded to come by this very simple gesture, make the most of it by using their name, sparingly, but making a huge fuss when puppy arrives. Try it at times when pup is pre-occupied with something interesting and make coming back to you the most enjoyable and rewarding experience in the world for him or her. You will really see the benefits as the dog gets older.
Obedience training can certainly be accomplished at any age, yet we must use discretion when training the older dog, since obedience training is psychologically demanding. We should differentiate between old and seriously infirm. To effect a good program of obedience, we must always have infinite patience. But, with the older dog, we sometimes need more patience and gentleness than usual.
The older dog is approached with the same basic techniques as his more youthful counterpart, but certain compensations should be made. Hand signals need to be more distinct, to accommodate a gradual failing eyesight. Verbal commands should be extra clear and lengthened to counteract any possible hearing impairment. When in doubt, the learning or placing phase of obedience can and should always be carried on for an extra few days to an extra week. We don’t want to encourage resistance by exerting weak corrections, so we must compensate with extra placement.
A dog who is older will not move as quickly as he did in his prime. If your dog is not taking advantage of you but is simply sitting more slowly, then you must allow those extra few seconds before exerting a sit correction. Should the dog be arthritic or suffer from serious hip dysplasia, you may want to dispense with the SIT command altogether and just have your dog do a Stand-Stay at your side when you stop. In this way you will have heeling control without discomforting the dog unfairly. Once your older dog is sitting with reasonable speed and comfort, it takes very little extra effort to make him stay. A Sit-Stay increases your control over the sit.
A dog who finds it hard to negotiate walking, or one who lies down and gets up very slowly, will have to be placed on the down for an extra week, on a soft surface, so he won’t resent it. When you return to heel your dog off, he may very well require more time to get up from the Down-Stay than from the Sit-Stay. This holds true even with a young healthy dog. So you must have extra patience allowing him to rise as you give the command to HEEL.
Many natural canine reactions can be misinterpreted as ‘aggression’ by uneducated humans. This is generally the main problem with dogs and their owners, when a situation arises in which the dog feels threatened his natural response is to defend himself. To the untrained eye this seems like unmitigated aggression, but would anybody with an ‘untrained eye’ own a dog anyway? You bet they would!
There are many conventional ways of treating this aggression, but a lot of the time they are ineffective due a lack of understanding of canine behaviour, If we took a step back and reviewed each and every situation in which our dogs showed aggression we would probably find that we would react in much the same way. However, there are some dogs who demonstrate various degrees of aggressive behaviour which we as dog owners need to understand and then deal with.
It is essential to understand what is likely to make a dog react aggressively. This is quite simple, if it would make you or me react aggressively then it would probably make a dog do much the same. So the first step in dealing with aggressive behaviour is to eliminate as many situations as possible where a dog may want to bare his teeth or growl. It is important to understand your dog and how his mind works to the point of knowing which dogs or other pets he would not wish to associate with. For example, it would not be advisable to leave two dominant, male dogs together unattended if one or both of them was not used to company from other dogs. This boils down to common sense. Dogs should be able to interact with other dogs, but this needs to be done over time if you have an ‘aggressive’ dog.
Gradual introductions to other dogs should help Rover feel more at ease in the presence of Fido and Scout. But this is not to sat that there will not be problems involving aggression, because there could be. This is why it is important for dog owners to know how to read body language. Just like humans can demonstrate aggressive body language like pointing and staring, dogs often initiate confrontation through body language. Tell tale signs include ears becoming pricked up, raised hackles and bared teeth. These are definite signs of aggression and should be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
There are many methods of treating this problem in dogs, one of the more radical yet effective ways involves the use of complimentary medicine. Holistic remedies such as the use of flower extracts offer alternative methods of correction. Used along side conventional behaviour modification techniques cherry plum extract offers an effective alternative to chemical drugs. It helps curb aggressive behaviour and is often effective alongside a dedicated behaviour modification programme. There is however, no substitute for a good well disciplined training regime to help control the behaviour of your dog.
If your dog does not respond to conventional methods of correction it is important to look at what causes his aggressive tendencies and attempt to remove the problem at the source. A dog is very sensitive to his environment, any tension or fluctuation in atmosphere will be sensed by the dog. If he feels uneasy he could turn that feeling into aggression. Monitor his behaviour to see if there is anything causing him irritation or bother. Trial ad error is often the only way to detect the root of the problem, if this is the case and still you cannot find any cause of cure for the aggressive behaviour consult your vet who may be able to refer you to dog behaviourist.
Sometimes the simplest solution is the most effective. A lot of dogs are effected by their diet. Once again trial and error could reveal the root of your dog’s unwelcome behaviour. Certain foods trigger certain reactions in dogs. Allergies can cause your dog to become aggressive. Other symptoms of allergy include hyperactivity, loss of appetite and stamina.
If your dog is feeling run down or generally ill this may cause aggression. Echinacea is an excellent supplement to boost the immune system and is readily available from many health food shops.
Your dogs exercise routine may be agitating him. Does he appear exhausted or even hyperactive after exercise? Is he receiving too much or too little exercise? Once again vary his exercise and diet in order to eliminate causes of aggression.
Holistic remedies, although effective are no substitute for a well trained dog. They are most effective when combined with other behaviour modifying measures.
An analytical look at Canine Learning Styles By Richard J. Atkins, Ed.D.
Everyone has a different way of learning. Some of us cram the night before the big exam, others absorb information over a long period of time. Some of us respond well to discipline and a fear of failure, others need a guiding hand and reassurance. So is it right to assume that all dogs, of all breeds will respond to one generic teaching style or is the one on one training style the way forward?
All domesticated and working dogs have one thing in common; each was taught and trained to a level of acceptability for its owner. In fact, an animal that does not learn, will not survive. Any animal must be capable of learning. If not, evolutionary selection takes its course. The animal falls victim to its own mistakes and unfortunate results follow.
One thing, of many in common between dogs and humans, is learning. Through formal education, humans are taught to reason and develop a system of living that moves them forward to their own definitions of success. Schools supplement that formal process by facilitating the mastery of human socialization skills. Dogs too, undergo a somewhat formalized education process. If the canine is to be domesticated or put into service, its education takes on different methods and modes.
Current research suggests that humans learn in different ways from each other. Each person’s learning style is unique. By logical extrapolation, one would expect that dogs also have different learning styles. By identifying what trainers perceive as some of their learning strengths, the training of dogs can be approached in different ways.
Determining the ways in which canines prefer to learn, according to trainers’ perceptions, may ultimately provide numerous benefits to the research community in its effort to increase trainer efficiency and to capitalize better on canine productivity.
Animals were studied in the nineteenth century to provide better insight into the morphology and physiology of humans. This early research satisfied the need to understand the forms, structures, and functions of animals, but did not provide information concerning how animals learn; how they acquire knowledge. Explorations of the ways in which animals obtain learning came later in the twentieth century.
Extensive research had examined the linkage between personality traits and learning-style preferences (Davis, 1985; Given, et al., 1999-2000; McPherson, 1998). It is possible that the personality traits of canines also might reveal some connections to learning-style preferences. Informal preliminary questioning revealed that any owner who had had more than one dog described the ways in which each differed from the other when learning. Therefore, this study was designed to determine whether certain breeds of dogs shared similar learning-style characteristics or, if differences between and within breeds were as prevalent as they appeared among human beings and whether the finding had implications for schooling.
Four decades ago, researchers began to investigate possible explanations for students’ academic successes and failures. They found that few people learned in exactly the same way and that wide variations existed between parents and their children and among siblings. Those differences then were analyzed in depth by various pioneers in education and psychology.
The design for this study was a survey. Ultimately, answers culled from the survey questions were subjected to a content analysis. Because the questions were open-ended, respondents answered in whichever ways were most convenient for them.
The rationale behind developing this study was to open a field of inquiry and initiate an, as yet, unexplored analysis of how dogs appear to concentrate on and process new information. Although an extensive body of research exists for humans and learning styles, as well as canines and learning, the interactions between the human learning-styles model and canine learning had not yet been examined.
One respondent stated: “I try to suggest to people that they do not join a group class because that teacher is basically standing in front of a group of 20 people instructing them all simultaneously with the exact same instructions and doesn’t take into account any individual dog’s learning style or learning-style preferences… It’s definitely important, I think, for us to realize that there is individual learning style characteristics [sic]. That’s probably been the downfall to many, many dogs that have ended up in shelters—because some trainer chalked them up as being untrainable or stupid or stubborn because that dog couldn’t learn the only way that that trainer knew how to teach”.
As one result, these findings may have applications for educators and trainers in that they may bring awareness to educators who work with students and are not achieving the results they desire. This research may remind educators that if animals, such as dogs, exhibit some preferences for learning—and perform more effectively when those preferences are accommodated—other beings who do not perform to desired standards may need the accommodation of their learning styles to ensure greater success. It may be possible that this study serves those in the education community with a reminder to consider the individual nature or both learning and instruction.
Of all the different techniques mentioned by respondents, Lure and Reward was the most frequently utilized training method and Modelling was the practice least employed. Training professionals relied on numerous strategies (classical, clicker, collar, compulsion, correction, drive, food, lure-reward, modelling, motivated, negative reinforcement, operant, positive reinforcement, praise, punishment, repetition, shaping, and variety) to achieve results with the animals they educated. This shows that, because dog trainers used different techniques, these dogs required different approaches to get them to perform. This reinforces or further validates the belief that dogs and other animals do exhibit learning-style preferences.
More than 66 percent of the sample indicated that canines did exhibit different learning-style characteristics. The findings revealed a perception that certain dog breeds exhibited distinctly different learning-style profiles from those of other breeds. The data that supported this hypothesis revealed a number of these preferences.
Sporting, Herding, Terrier, and Miscellaneous breeds were seen as highly Motivated, Persistent, Responsible, and Sound-Sensitive. Conversely, they seemed somewhat likely to prefer warmer Temperatures and had Time-of-Day preferences for training or learning at night.
Non-Sporting and Working dogs were perceived to prefer cool Temperatures, were Persistent, and receptive to Sound. They also were somewhat likely to be Team workers. However, Non-Sporting and Working dogs were highly unlikely to be Visually oriented or highly-Motivated and had little preference for learning at Night.
Hounds and Toy Dogs were classified as Visual learners and demonstrated high Persistence. These dogs preferred warm Temperatures and were sensitive to Sound.
It is worth noting that certain breeds of dogs that were thought to demonstrate these learning-style preferences were bred to perform different tasks. This may provide a partial corroboration for the different strengths each breed exhibited.
More than 66 percent of the sample affirmed that individual canines often were unique in their behaviours while either learning or being taught. This demonstrates the individuality of learning-style preferences among canines. These respondents indicated that learning styles were, in fact, individual to each canine.
They supported the concept that canines, like humans, require instruction that is best suited to their needs. This demonstrates that canines are, in fact, individuals. Each canine has its own distinct learning-style profile as an individual—outside of similarities found within its breed.
Participants in the study confirmed that specific breeds preferred specific clusters. Three breeds (German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, Border Collies) and five learning-style characteristics (Sensitivity to Sound, High Motivation, High Persistence, High Responsibility, and High Visual) were most highly linked in this response. Fifty-two percent, of trainers were aware of canines’ preferences for clusters of selected learning-style variables. Identification of these learning-style strengths may not be surprising to many dog trainers and breeders, precisely because many of these canines have been bred to perform activities utilizing these very assets, which may or may not previously have been formally recognized as breed characteristics.
This research has highlighted that canines learn differently from each other. It has demonstrated that, to some extent, dogs require some individualized instruction. The expert trainers and handlers who participated in this study acknowledged that these members of the animal kingdom have preferences for certain ways to learn.
Certainly, dog trainers will benefit from the work presented, as this research has indicated the need to examine the instructional requirements of the animals being trained to maximize their efficiency and trainability. In turn, this will increase trainer effectiveness. An important consideration here is that trainers’ and trainees’ learning styles may profit substantially from arranged compatibility.
Educators will benefit from the findings presented in these chapters because it will confirm for them that individualized instruction serves individuals well. A logical extrapolation to follow the recognition that humans learn better when their learning style is accommodated would be that other beings respond similarly. It is a call to the research community to delve further into the potential educational increases that might be experienced by those who have hitherto been denied the chance to excel in their fields because they have not been taught in a style that is beneficial to them.
Further Reading:
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Introducing Canine To Feline
The relationship between cats and dogs is one of legendary status. Natural, sworn enemies of the animal kingdom. The lumbering dog and the fleet of foot cat have been at each others throats for generations. But does it have to be this way?
In short, yes. Cartoon makers would be out of business and the world would probably come to a grinding halt if cats and dogs actually decided to call a truce. We as humans do have the ability to act a mediators between the warring factions and in some cases, we can get the two species to co-habit with no problems.
When a cat and dog have grown up together, either when the kitten was introduced or the puppy, there is normally a healthy relationship built up over the course of time. In a lot of cases cats and dogs actually do get along and even ‘LIKE’ each other. Problems tend to arrive when adults of either species are suddenly introduced to an established household (and pecking order). This situation may arise because someone has asked you to look after their pet for a short while or you may have been kind enough to adopt an adult cat or dog from a rescue Centre.
Upon introduction of a new four legged creature to the home, established members may become jealous, defensive, aggressive, withdrawn, protective, possessive or all of these things. Dogs tend to react worse to the introduction of a cat than vice-versa. Dogs have a natural place within a pack and new animal will be seen as threat to that position. Cats tend to deal with the meeting of a dog with distain and often come across as un-interested. This fine. It is when there is a clear animosity between the two that problems occur.
Dogs instinctively chase other animals that move or run suddenly. Cats do not particularly enjoy being chased by other animals and thus friction occurs. Training your dog not to chase the cat is a must. It is essential that you correct your dog for chasing while at the same time, you must ensure that you do not build up a will inside the dog to chase when you are not there.
In many cases chasing behaviour is more of a problem in dogs that have NEVER been allowed to chase. Take for instance, two identical puppies are born. One is sent to live with an owner who lives in a small flat, in the middle of a busy city. Contact with other animals in nil. This dog, on a walk to a park, sees a cat for the first time in his life, slips the lead and begins the chase.
This is dog instinct in action. The dog has no reason to chase the cat but animal instinct dictates that he should. The other puppy meanwhile, was sent to live on a huge farm surrounded by ducks, livestock, chickens and other farmyard animals. He is allowed to roam free on the farm from a young age and is never prevented from chasing anything. As a youngster this dogs instincts are just the same as the other dogs. He chases all the animals but achieves no success in catching any. The chasing soon becomes futile and his other canine strength kicks in, intelligence. This dog neither has the will or ambition to chase. He’s got it out of system and prefers instead to just watch the other animals and learns to live with them side by side.
This story illustrates that it is very often better to let two animals ’sort themselves’. They will establish a relationship, be it love, hat or just tolerance. By interfering continually, many owners can cause friction because of the restrictions placed on the dog. After all, he will wonder what it is that must be so good, that you are bending over backward stop him doing.
Be observant. Be vigilant. Make sure early contact is supervised. Make sure feeding is supervised. But make sure you don’t upset the natural relationship that will develop between the two animals.
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