Agility is really the pinnacle of dog sports. The most talented dogs prevail. There are no two ways about it. But there is a lot that goes into a winner’s (and even a loser’s) performance behind the scenes and before the competition oven takes place. This will be the focus of this article: agility training. It is not an easy thing. Do you think dogs will naturally jump pall around and weave through poles? No, they won’t. You have to train them.
The sport of agility for dogs was started in the UK in 1978. It was at the Crufts Fair and it was a legendary day. Since then everyone the whole world over has become familiar with this great sport whether they know it or not. It is the sport where the owners have their dogs jump all over beams and run up steps and follow commands. It takes a whole lot of dog agility training in order to achieve this. You basically have to devote all your spare time to it if you want your pup to be a success. By the way, some people think it should be limited to medium and large size dogs but this belief is a little outdated. Chihuahuas are great at this sport. Believe me. There’s no reason to be biased against any sort of a dog competing in this majestic and great sport. None at all!
The hardest thing to do as regards agility training for dogs is to get them to understand the Pole Weave. This is where they have to weave in and out of stakes in the ground. They pass the first on their left, then the second on their right, the third on their left, etc. This is so hard to get them to do. There is no precedent for this sort of activity in nature. It is totally unnatural. I don’t know who thought it up but they were a genius. The dogs who can master this one skill will probably go on to be top dogs in every competition in which they compete. This is agility’s toughest obstacle and the one that creates the real winners.
Now that you have a better idea of agility training, do you think it is too much? Do you think your dog has it in him? You’ll never know until you try. It’s really all about meeting the dog “where he is” and training him from that point.
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Learn the Bird Dog Training
Bird dog training starts at an early age in the puppy’s life, otherwise, the ‘education’ will be slow and less successful. It initially relies on going through regular obedience training, as the puppy dog has to learn ‘whoa’ (stop), ‘come’ and ‘heel’. It’s absolutely necessary that the dog obeys the ‘whoa’ command no issue how far from you it may be or what it may be doing. You will not have the ability to shoot any kind of birds otherwise. But this really is only along with the daily benefits of behavior dog training in general.
As soon as your dog masters the stop command, you could just correct other actions every time necessary. Obviously the reward system sets issues in motion, for bird dog training. Right after your dog performs the task, it should be rewarded either with affection or with food. Pay attention to the fact that some breeds possess innate hunting abilities, and they make the finest choice for bird hunting. Once the instinct is greater naturally, it becomes a great deal simpler to coach it.
Bird dog training differs based on breed and trainer. The training as such begins through motivating the puppy dog to search for food that’s invisible in the handler’s pocket. This assists your dog make fantastic use of its nose and learn from an early age that it is honored for doing a great job. As soon as you start with food, the next step is live game bird. A caged bird will make dog get acquainted with what is anticipated from it. Numerous games may be used to encourage the pointing conduct in puppies.
A major part of bird dog training includes getting the animal used to the gunfire sound. The training method is to gradually expose the puppy dog to ever louder sounds. You should teach until it grows accustomed to it and no longer responds adversely. After all, there’s no way for a timid dog to turn into a hunter for that simple reason that it will take flight whenever hearing the bang. In case you don’t have time, means and experience to coach your dog in your own home, there are lots of training centers to move to.
Specialized dog training could conserve you against lots of difficulty, nevertheless, it is important for that master to take part at least to some of the training periods so that the puppy/dog and master learn to speak and work together. The trainer should leave you in charge, simply because along with giving your dog the right commands, it is also important to possess a leader’s perspective. Therefore, your dog will understand you as the dominant alpha dog, and will adhere to your lead. There is not one other way for it!
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Training an Older Dog – Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks
If you have adopted an older dog only to learn it has some behavior problems, don’t worry-you can teach an old dog new tricks. It is a good idea to know something about a dog before you adopt it, but sometimes you just won’t know what you are in for. Adopting an older dog means he may come to you with some behavior issues. Common problems pet owners have with newly adopted older dogs, are aggression, barking too much or even soiling inside the house. Whatever the case may be, if you use the right techniques when training your new pet, you will be able to help him to behave properly, learn his place within your family, become a great addition to your household.
When you first adopt an older dog, be sure to really check it out for any behavior issues. If your dog has any aggression problems-maybe he is aggressive towards other dogs, people, or over his food. You will need to pay immediate attention to correcting aggression problems, as these could lead to someone getting bitten. Try to determine if he has any behavioral problems needing special attention and the level of his previous obedience training-if any at all. Try giving your new pet some basic obedience commands and see how he responds. If he doesn’t know the basic commands, you’ll know he hasn’t been given any training. If he responds fearfully to a command to come or sit, this may mean he was abused by a previous owner. Make sure he is totally house trained, too. Take a thorough look at his disposition and behavior so you can see where to begin training your older dog.
The best way to get started training an older dog is to follow the advice of the best professional dog trainers, and use a step by step program that takes you from basic obedience training exercises right through more advanced training. This takes all the guess work out of how to train your older dog, and also will enable you to avoid making the same mistakes everyone always makes when trying to train their dog without a good system in place. All the best professional trainers emphasize using positive training techniques. Using positive reinforcement, you will give praise and rewards to your dog for correct behaviors, and teach him how you want him to behave. You will also learn how to communicate with your dog in a way that dogs understand. Knowing how to use your voice and your body language has a lot to do with training your dog effectively.
You will learn how to be your dog’s leader-the Alpha dog. Once you have earned his respect, confidence and trust as the Alpha dog, he will be eager to follow your leads. It is a dog’s essential nature to try to please the superior members of his “pack”-that’s you and your family.
The whole family needs to learn to be consistent with the training, to avoid any conflicting and confusing training. With the right training methods your older dog quickly learns his place within his new “pack”.By establishing yourself as the Alpha leader, you will good results with solving behavior problems your dog may have brought with him.
Training an older dog to be the best addition to your family that he can be will provide you with a pet that you can be comfortable with in any social situation. Since you adopted the older dog to be a new part of your family, don’t allow him to be anything other than a joy to have. Be sure you take the time to train your older new best friend and have the best relationship with him you can have.
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How to Teach a Dog Tricks in 2 Weeks
Training your dog to obey is important and when you can teach him a few tricks, it can be a lot of fun to spend time showing off to family and friends. Many different dog breeds are fairly easy to train when it comes to teaching them new tricks. With a few good tools you can teach your dog tricks in just a couple of weeks. Here are a few tips and ideas you can use to help you dog learn faster.
Use a Collar
First, if you want to teach your dog tricks fast, start out by using a good collar on him. The collar can allow you to easily control the dog and it also allows you to use a leash on your dog as well. Using a six foot leash with the collar can allow you to easily control him, keep him from wandering off, and can also allow him some freedom during the training too.Teach Basic Commands First
Before you even try to start teaching your dog any tricks, you need to each him some basic commands fast. Many of the best tricks are going to use basic commands as well, so you need to teach him the basics. Start by teaching him to sit on command. Other good basics to start out with include commands like come, stay, and lie down. Once he knows the basics, teaching him tricks will be much easier.Start Out Easy
Don’t start with the tough tricks when you’re trying to teach your dog tricks in just a couple of weeks. Go with something very simple to start out with. One good trick to start out with is shaking hands. Starting with the easy tricks allows the dog to build up some confidence. It will also help you to build up the training until you are able to teach tricks that are more difficult.Keep Training Sessions Short
You may be tempted to jam as much training into each day as possible so you can help you dog learn more tricks in a short period of time. This is not going to work. You will find that your dog performs better if you keep the training sessions short. Usually the sessions should be about 15 minutes at a time. However, since the sessions are short, you can try doing a couple different sessions each day.Use Positive Reinforcement
It’s definitely a good idea to use positive reinforcement if you’re trying to get your dog to learn tricks fast. Whenever he does well during training, praise him. Lavish your dog with attention. It’s also a good idea to reward your dog with some treats so he starts corresponding doing well with rewards and positive praise and attention.Vary Your Sessions
In order to make sure your dog learns as many tricks as possible, vary the sessions from time to time. This not only will allow you to teach him even more tricks, it also helps to avoid boredom. Don’t make everything about learning new tricks either. Take time out to simply play with your dog so you don’t overload him with new things. -
Tilia (Labrador Retriever) Obedience Training Camp
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Rescue Dog Training – How to Become the Alpha Dog of Your Home
When you first bring a rescue dog into your home – especially an older one who may be very set in his ways – your first responsibility is to get to know your dog. This requires constant and careful observation. You must spend time getting to know your dog, learning how to read him so that you will understand which training techniques will work best with your dog. For instance, if your dog has quickly assumed the role of “Alpha dog”, your task at hand will require immediate and influential action. However, if he is demonstrating tentativeness, he may be simply in the “role confusion” stage and only needs to see signs of leadership from you to learn where he belongs in the family hierarchy.
So job one is observing your dog’s behavior to determine what type of training will be required and in what doses. If your dog tries to “lead” you or other members of the family, he is trying to take charge. More specifically, if your dog exhibits some of the following behaviors, then you would do well to take the appropriate steps to assert yourself as Top Dog. It’s in everybody’s best interest – including your dog – that he learn from the get-go that he belongs in the lowest place in the family’s pecking order.
To determine if your dog thinks he is “leader of the pack”, look for the following behaviors:
Shows teeth, snarls, or even attempts to bite when you try to remove a toy or bone from him
Always has to be out in front – pulling on the leash, rushing out the door ahead of you
Challenges your authority, from simply ignoring your instructions to outright disobedience
Eats food on his schedule – that is whenever he feels like it – and not on your schedule
Is always trying to control his territory – like sitting in the middle of the hall – forcing all to walk over or around
Pushes his way onto your bed despite your commands to the contraryThe recommended techniques required to establish you as “Alpha Dog” may at times seem harsh. But asserting yourself as leader will be doing your dog a huge favor. For a dog to assume the role as leader in a human environment can become very stressful for your dog. This could lead to anxiety, nervousness, constant barking or even aggression. Dogs simply want to know their place in the family pack and what is expected of them. Oftentimes, an “aggression” problem is really attributable to “role confusion”.
So, how do you go about reversing roles? Start with these four general rules:
Rule 1 – go slowly. In fact the more aggression your dog has exhibited, the slower you should go. You do not want this to become a challenge to your dog to compete with you, but rather a life lesson.
Rule 2 – no more “something for nothing”. Teach your dog that all the good things in life must be earned including play time, treats, walks, petting, even meals.
Rule 3 – do not tempt bad behavior. No more dashes out the door unfettered. No leaving food on easy-to-reach counters. No more treats simply because you looked down and saw two soulful eyes beseeching you.
Rule 4 – Make your dog totally dependent upon you. Become the provider of his every life-sustaining necessity and his every life-enhancing nicety.
Here are some tips and techniques to help you achieve role reversal with your dog:
When taking your dog outside, be sure to walk through the door BEFORE your dog
Always request and get a trick, even if just sitting, before receiving a treat or when you place his food bowl in front of him
When you dog occupies space that he shouldn’t – like the middle of a walkway or on your favorite seat or your bed – gently nudge him until he moves. If necessary, lead him to where you prefer he rest
Never give a command that you don’t intend to enforce. Don’t beg or yell. Help him to obey if necessary, like gently pushing his rear to sit. Once he obeys, reward him with praise
Feed your dog afterthe family eats. And, give him ample time to finish, but do not allow him to “graze”. If he doesn’t eat in a determined time frame (15 to 30 minutes), remove the food
You determine play time
You determine which games to play. Avoid games of strength and resolve like tug-of-war and even rough housing. Hide and seek or fetch are more appropriate (if you play fetch, insist that he return the toy to your feet). Do not allow him to play keep away
Provide your dog with affection, but in moderate doses and preferably as positive reinforcement for good behavior
During this role reversal period, always remain on a higher level than your dog – literally. Be sure to administer praise and even petting from an elevated position. Avoid sitting down to play with your dog. When your eyes make contact, maintain your eye contact until he averts his stare. After you gain the dominant position in your home, you will be able to relax these silly techniques
Do not allow jumping up on people or furniture during this period. This is a dominating behavior. Either ignore the dog or use a command such as “off” or “no” while gently pushing the dog to the floor
Do not allow your dog to pick favorites among family members. This can be accomplished by having everyone involved in the “role reversal” training. Allowing the dog to dominate just one person will defeat your purpose
Do not hesitate to introduce crate training. It will be a safe haven where your dog can escape the stress of trying to be a leader until he learns his rightful place in the homeBe diligent, patient and persistent and your dog will eventually understand that he relies upon you to satisfy all of his needs and wants. This is a happy place to be for your dog, for you and your family. Now enjoy the wonderful benefits of dog ownership.
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Training your dog to walk on the leash – The Online Dog Trainer
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Dog Training w/ Dogtra E-Collar Video Ebook Available 19.99
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Training Tips
As a trainer, it’s part of your role to get people in a receptive state for learning and to keep them engaged, interested and energised throughout the training.
There are lots of ways to do this, I won’t go into all of them here. Let me just talk about energisers.
Energisers are activities which are meant to, well – energise people.
Many of the activities which are described as energisers have nothing to do with the training material. In fact, that’s the point. One of the ways to energise people is to let them do something which has nothing to do with the course. It gives their minds a break.
Also, most energisers involve physical activity, getting people moving around.
This is important because sitting still for long periods leads to fatigue, simply because the blood isn’t flowing and carrying oxygen round the body as well as it does when people are moving around.
So, these are two approaches to energisers – get away from the course material and get people moving.
You can use a number of activities – throwing a ball around, a treasure hunt around the room where people find hidden items, a game of charades, all kinds of team games which you can find in books or on the internet.
However, I think you need to take care with energisers.
If you’re not careful, they can actually distract people and make it harder for you to get them focused back on the training. This can happen if they take too long or if they involve a lot of running about and people get “overexcited” as my Mother used to say. In other words, they get so involved in the energiser that they take a long time to settle again.
Also, it can be tempting to rely on energisers to make up for dull training materials or methods. Energisers should not be a substitute for making your training interactive and interesting.
You can, of course, use activities as part of the training itself – use games, quizzes, group work to get people moving around and inject some fun into the learning. Keep people energised throughout rather than leaving it for specific times, such as after lunch.
If you do get the sense at some point that energy is flagging, then change what you’re doing. Use variety in your approach to keep people’s interest and make sure everyone is involved in the learning, avoid too much presenting or lecturing which leads to people switching off.
I always remember a good example of an energiser going wrong from a course I ran several years ago. I asked one of the participants to come up with an energiser to use after lunch on the last day.
After everyone had finished eating, he asked them all to go outside to the car park. During lunch, he’d taken a screwdriver and removed the number plates from all the participants’ cars. He’d hidden them in the grounds of the hotel.
People went mad. They couldn’t believe he’d taken a screwdriver to their nice shiny cars and they weren’t pleased about having to search the grounds for their number plates. The activity took ages, especially since he’d forgotten where he’d put most of them.
When they had finally found their plates, it took a long time to get them focused again, in fact we had to have a break to let them calm down.
I learned a few lessons from that, I must say.
So, yes – keep people energised and watch out for fatigue setting in, but do it mainly through your training methods and don’t just rely on energisers to get you through the day.