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 contrary

The 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 home

Be 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.

This book is currently one of the highly favored dog training guides online and its author is Daniel Stevens. As an owner of several dogs, I already knew a few tricks when it comes to handling my pets. However, with a great deal of good feedbacks I have read regarding this book, I should say it is not a bad idea to give it a try. So what exactly is this book all about?

The book covers a range of information and goes a great deal more than problem behaviors. It includes helpful advice on choosing a dog for those who are decided to get one for a pet or companion. It offers effective guidelines for first time dog owners, such as breed information, housetraining puppies, etc. The book is packed with other interesting informational facts about dogs that anybody would surely benefit from.

Within several weeks since I got to practice the program I have learned so much about dog behaviors and how to respond accordingly. The dog training techniques are presented in more practical approach and the book offers step by step solutions in clear and detailed explanation. This is a quality book which will provide first time dog owners both systematic and creative method to train their dogs.

Sit Stay Fetch has recently undergone a change of name as the book is now known as “The Secrets Of Dog Training.” I have to say the name befits the true intent of the book, though it may no longer be a “hush hush” as the secret is open now to all interested to obtain it.

The book is an E-book, so you pay for it and then you can download it. They even give an eight week money back guarantee, so if you try the book, and it doesn’t help you can return it within two months! That is a really great deal. The bonus is, because it is an E book, it is easy to scroll through to the parts that you want to read and you don’t have to store it at home and flip through pages and pages, trying to find what you need. I don’t know who started the rumor that this book was a scam. These days people are less trusting. I assure you, however; this book is indeed real, well written, and easy to read for first time dog lovers.

The book contains some pretty interesting reading and I have no doubts in recommending this dog training guide to anyone who owns, or is thinking about owning a dog. The book really helps the user gain insight and comprehensive view of dog training. It is a great assistance and there is information guaranteed to be useful to all dog owners.

Getting training of self-defense is a thing that will always benefit you and you will always feel proud of what you have done because there comes certain moments in one’s life when one faces a known or unknown predator who is willing to harm the defender and when one has a good practice of different self-defense techniques then one does not need to get confused or afraid of the attacker because he is aware of all the possible threats of the predator and also knows how to deal with the predator efficiently and confidently. Here he will definitely seek help from the different self-defense moves and techniques taught earlier. Therefore we can say that self-defense training does benefit a lot and you never know when and where you feel the need to use your right of self-defense.

Now the question arises is that how to learn self-defense moves and techniques. The ideal way to learn the basics of self-defense is to get admission in any institution where you can get training of any of the self-defense courses like judo, karate, martial arts, kung fu, taekwondo etc. But there are some people who can afford to give time to such institute or they don’t have much money to meet the expenses of the required training course.

Therefore for such type of people there is a very easy way to learn some self-defense tricks and techniques without much investment because now Internet and advanced technology has solved lots of our problems. Now you can get online and download or watch videos in which you can see the tutors teaching you useful techniques of self-defense.

The videos of self-defense training are easily available on the Internet. Some of them might be totally free of cost but for more professional stuff you might need to pay some money but still the fee of this would be not so much and I think an average person can easily afford to pay for it. You can really benefit by watching these videos as they will show you a variety of useful tactics and tricks that how you can save yourself and apply some techniques against your predator for seeking your self-defense. You can also buy CDs, DVDs, and Cassettes about self-defense training. This is also a good deal but the idea is that you need to practice those techniques at home regularly to master them as early as possible.