If you are someone who has chosen to have a small dog breed for your pet, I bet it is probably because you want a companion to hang out with inside your home. This makes obedience training for your small dog important. If your little pal is going to be sharing the living quarters with you he’ll need your guidance to teach him the behaviors you expect him to have.

Smaller dog breeds are often both intelligent and headstrong, and are likely to test you to see how much they can get away with. You will want to make sure to obedience train your little dog in order to avoid a battle of wills with him. To be in charge and train your dog to follow your lead,  you must be the Alpha dog-not your little pet.

It is always best to get started with your small dog’s training early on, since it is a lot easier to obedience train a young puppy  before he has acquired any bad behavior problems. If you have or are about to get a new puppy, it is a good idea to start your little pup’s training  by taking him to a group puppy training class.

These classes are great, and they  will serve to both socialize your puppy and at the same time teach you how to get him started with his basic obedience training. Socializing your puppy or young dog is a very important step towards reducing a dog’s aggressive urges. Through lots of interaction with other dogs, he gets feedback from them about whether his behavior is appropriate or not. That is how dog’s living in nature learn  their place within their packs.

If your small dog is isolated from other dogs or people, he may  have a greater likelihood of expressing aggression towards other dogs or visitors. To avoid this from happening you will have to give your dog lots of guidance- and obedience training is the best way to do that. By doing a good job of obedience training your little pal, you will also be able to correct other behavior problems common to easily excitable smaller breeds, such as excessive barking.

As with larger breeds,  you should use only positive reinforcement training techniques throughout your smaller dog’s training. Never use harsher correction techniques, such as hitting or yelling at your dog. This will end up hurting your training efforts and undermining your dog’s trust in you.

By following a good dog training program you will learn how to understand the ways dogs communicate with each other. With your understanding of a dog’s point of view, you can avoid common training mistakes (such as treating your dog as if he were human), and have good results much more easily and quickly.

Training your dog using techniques a dog can easily relate to is the key to getting great results. You will earn your dog’s respect and trust by learning and using good communication and training methods- making it possible for you to become the Alpha dog. Once your dog recognizes you as the Alpha leader, he will be  eager to follow your lead.

Smaller dog breeds often have problems with excessive barking and aggressiveness towards other dogs and sometimes towards people. These are nuisance behaviors that you can correct and control through obedience training. If you don’t make the effort to be in charge, these little aggressive dogs can take over the household. The basic obedience training, if done properly, will alleviate these types of typical behavior problems.

You must be consistent and use only positive training-giving your little guy plenty of praise and rewards when he performs his training exercises. This encourages your little pal to always try to do what you want.  For good results with the training sessions,  repeat the basic obedience training exercises frequently each day. Each session should be limited to about 10-15 minutes.for a short period of time every day will be necessary. Stick with the training, and before long your little pet will be performing the correct behaviors you are teaching him. The better behaved your little dog is, the more welcome an addition to your household he will be.

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When a dog behaves inappropriately during training is it okay to use a leash correction?

In recent years it has become increasingly popular to use positive reinforcement methods when training dogs. The theory being that the dog associates the treat with a good behaviour and will repeat the action in order to gain more treats. As training develops and the dog gets more willing to perform the action, the treats are lessened in frequency until the dog eventually will respond to the request without treats being presented.

More traditional training methods started off with treat training but would progress onto corrections during the ‘proofing’ stage and would call for the dog to be corrected with a sharp ‘pop’ of the leash if it did not perform the requested command.

The problems with traditional training methods are that they can in extreme cases lead to fear (either of a situation, an object or the trainer) and nervousness. Neither of which make for a happy dog nor owner, and could lead to further problems such as aggression.

That said there are occasions when a leash correction can still be used effectively and humanely, without detriment to the dog or the trainers relationship with the dog. Leash corrections can be used as a means of attracting your dogs attention back to you rather than to punish him for a command that wasn’t carried out.

The force of the correction must only match the intensity of the distraction. If the dog does not respond to the attracting of his attention without applying inappropriate force, then the trainer has been too delayed in applying the correction. The leash correction should always be carried out in a calm controlled manner. Leash corrections should never be carried out in anger or frustration.

A dog can go from calm to extreme excitement within seconds, and the sooner the trainer realises that a distraction has occurred the smaller the amount of force on the leash will be needed to focus the dog back to the job at hand. It is therefore extremely important to concentrate fully on your dog and learn to read his body language so that the early signs of distraction (pricked up ears, fixating stare, stiffened body, etc.) can be acted upon soon enough to prevent escalation.

Certainly the leash correction has it’s place in today’s dog training methods, but it should be used as a way of getting the dogs attention during intense distractions than to ‘show the dog who is boss’.

Remember, always consult a professional dog trainer if you are unsure.  

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