Canine Ability’s 10 top tips for a happy, well-behaved dog
1. Exercise, exercise, exercise!! Did you know that most dogs do not get the required amount of exercise they need to be healthy? Daily, structured exercise is as important as fresh food and water to your dog, (running around in the backyard doesn’t count). Honor your dog by giving him/her fun games to play that exercise their breed traits for no less than 20 minutes twice a day, on a daily basis. You wouldn't even consider skipping feeding/watering him even for a day, right? Exercise is just as important to your canine friend!
2. Do you speak fluent Canine? If you don’t, you’re missing out on the most effective way to train your dog, and may actually be created behavioral issues through mis-communication. Effective communication is required for any successful relationship. Your relationship with your dog is no different! Learn effective canine communication (Canine Ability can help you with this), in order to create a firm foundation for learning and behavior modification.
3. Remember that respect is earned. Be sure to always be kind to your dog. If you are in a bad mood, get angry or frustrated during a training session, it’s time to end it immediately and come back later with a positive attitude. Training should be fun! Positive applications produce positive results!
4. Ditch the “Can’t teach an old dog new tricks” wives-tale! It’s never too late to train your dog! Dogs live in the moment and are environmental sponges…just waiting to soak up whatever you have to teach them! We’re always training our dogs—its up to us to determine whether we train good traits or bad ones. Just as humans do, dogs require education throughout their lifetime in order to keep them well-balanced. Keep at it, even after formal training classes have ended. Training is for the lifetime of the dog—not just for a six-week course.
5. It is very important to get professional help from an experienced behaviorist, such as Canine Ability Dog Training for behavioral issues as soon as they arise. It is much harder (and much more expensive) to treat a problem that has developed deep roots. Better yet, learning how to build a foundation of leadership (as Canine Ability teaches), will prevent many issues from starting in the first place.
6. Do NOT pet a dog without permission—and never pet it on or reach over its head! Putting your hand out for the dog to sniff is an antiquated method; one which can induce a bite. The head of the dog is the information center. Having strangers near the head is very uncomfortable for most dogs. Let the dog sniff you while you stand still at its side, then once the dog relaxes, stroke its back to make friends.
7. When walking your dog on a leash, never let your dog say “hello” to another dog, or allow another dog to greet your dog. This can induce a fight.
8. Take up a new activity with your dog! There are many wonderful dog clubs, activities, and events you can participate in together. Things like agility, lure coursing, obedience, therapy, backpacking/hiking, dock diving, flying disc, canine drill teams, fly-ball and more! These activities are beneficial to both you and your dog and will strengthen your relationship as well.
9. Treat your dog like the dog he/she was created to be. It is unfair to treat dogs like fur-children. If we truly love and want to honor our dogs, we owe it to them to learn their ways and treat them in a way they innately understand. Doing anything less is a huge disservice to our canine friends!
10. A dog who has no pack structure, outlet for mental/physical energy, and rules often exhibits unwanted behavioral issues. A trained and tired dog is always a happy a good dog!
Want more tips for a well-behaved dog? Contact us today to learn how we can bring out the ABILITY in your dog! (Proudly serving middle TN for in-home training and group classes, and world-wide for email/phone consulation!)
1 comment:
That is so true about keeping a positive attitude. We talked about relaxing during training and walking with Maggie, and I've done it each walk since. It's like night and day. I'm not stressed, so she's not stressed. :)
Post a Comment