Teaching Your Dog the “Go to Your Spot” Command

The “Go to Your Spot” command is a great command to have in your arsenal for a well-behaved dog. For this exercise your dog should have the basic understanding of the “down-stay” command. You will need a blanket, rug, or portable bed to use as the “spot” for your dog.
Start by walking your dog to the “spot” and say “go to your spot”, put the dog on the blanket, give him the “down” and “stay” commands. Once he is in the “down-stay” you can release him. Repeat this process several times, increasing the duration of the “down-stay” as the dog understands the steps involved.
Once you can walk him to his “spot” and he starts to “down” automatically, it is time to begin omitting the word “down” from the above sequence. The new sequence will be: bringing your dog to his “spot” as you tell him “go to your spot”, then putting your dog into the “down” position (he may already go without you doing so) and giving him the “stay” command. Again, repeat this process several times, increasing the duration of the “down-stay” as the dog understands the steps involved.
Now it is time to tell your dog to “go to your spot” and expect him to lie down and stay there, without actually giving the “down” or “stay” commands. If he does not “down” or “stay” when he is in his “spot”, put him into position, and make him stay until you release him. Make sure to do this every day, in different places, so that your dog becomes reliable and can be left “in his spot” while you go about daily activities.
Long down stays are important in general, whether or not he is “in a spot”, because they help you to maintain control over your dog. By your dog having to work for you, it facilitates a relationship in which you are dominant (in charge or the alpha figure) in your and your dog’s mind.

Why Dogs Dig Holes – Seven Secrets to Stop Dog Digging Problems

It seems like every time you turn your head, your dog digs another hole in the yard. How can you stop dog digging before your lawn looks like an artillery practice field? In order to get your pup to stop digging holes, you need to understand why he digs in the first place.
Why Dogs Dig
Here are common reasons for this dog behavior problem:

• Certain breeds, including terriers, labs, and hounds are more prone to digging.
• He’s bored or lonely.
• He needs a cool place when it’s hot, or he’s trying to find shelter when it’s cold.
• Terriers especially like to hunt moles and other creatures that live in the ground.
• He’s attracted to the smell of the fertilizer you just used, especially if it’s manure.
• He can’t resist digging around in the soil you just turned over in your garden.
• If he’s digging under the fence, he may be trying to escape.
• Canines instinctively bury food. In the wild, they come back to eat it later on.

How To Stop Dog DiggingOnce you’ve narrowed down the reason for your dog digging problem, it’s easier to take steps to solve it.
1. Choose your breed carefully before adopting a new pet. Although all dogs will dig, you can avoid many problems by choosing a breed that’s less inclined to dig.
2. If your canine spends a lot of time by himself, he’ll more than likely figure out how to occupy himself, usually in ways you find annoying. It’s up to you to provide something for him to do while you’re gone to prevent a dog behavior problem like digging. You may want to consider hiring a dog sitter to spend time with him, or take him to a dog day care where he’ll have other dogs to play with during the day.
3. Provide adequate shelter for him. During the cold months, he needs a dog house or some kind of shelter from the wind. In the summer he needs a shady cool area so he can get away from the hot sun. You may even want to provide him with a wading pool so he can play in the water and keep cool.
4. When you’re working in the garden, put out a sprinkler. When your canine friend starts digging in the loose dirt, turn on the sprinkler. You may even want to put it on a timer so that it comes on when he’s not expecting it. This is very effective, because he thinks that the garden is doing it to him, not you, so he’ll be less likely to dig when you’re not there.
5. Mix some chili powder with water. Use this mixture to water plants and other areas you want to dog to avoid. Canines don’t like the smell of chili powder, so they tend to avoid the area. If this doesn’t work, try using ground red pepper instead.
6. If your pup is trying to dig under the fence, bury chicken wire a couple of inches under the ground.
7. Avoid giving him bones. Instead give him a toy that you can stuff with food. He’ll stay occupied for a long time trying to get the food out.
Stimulate Your Dog’s Mind
Spend at least ten minutes a day training your dog. You’ll enjoy the time spent with your pet, and he’ll enjoy learning new things. A good dog training course will help you teach your dog what he needs to learn.

House Training: Facts and Fiction

If your little dog has a potty accident, your best course of action is to clean the mess up and don’t shout at him. – TRUE
Punishing or scolding your puppy won’t help him learn the bathroom basics. That’s because he won’t remember that he’s the cause of the little puddle or pile that’s got you to upset. Clean up with no comment and promise to your puppy that you’ll keep a closer eye on your house trainee.
You can spend less of your money if you buy your puppy an adult-sized crate for him; no matter what his size is (if the crate is all you’re gonna buy.) – FALSE
A crate that’s too big for him will encourage your puppy to sleep at one end and eliminate in the other. Still, getting a crate for each stage of his growth can be expensive. To prevent in-crate accidents and to save your money, choose an adult-sized metal crate that comes with a divider. The divider will keep your puppy from using the entire crate and can be adjusted as he grows.
Crates are cruel and doesn’t facilitate in the house training. – FALSE
A properly used crate isn’t cruel at all and makes the house training process much easier. Crates appeal to puppies’ instinctive desire to get a snug, secure den to call their own. Your puppies’ desire to refrain from dirtying the den will help him develop the physical control he needs to become a dependably house trained.
Puppy house training should begin as soon as you bring him home. – TRUE
A puppy of any age can start learning proper potty protocol. Teach him to enjoy his crate. Feed him and take him out at regular intervals. Watch her carefully whenever she’s out of her crate. That said, he possibly will not be full house trained until she’s six months old or beyond.
Your dog will always tell you when she needs a trip to the outdoor potty. – TRUE
If only this were true… Most dogs take awhile to figure out how to tell their people that they need a bathroom break; and some dogs never learn how to get such a massage across to their people. But even if your dog doesn’t come and tell you she needs to do the doo, you can watch him for signals that a bathroom event may be imminent. Intense sniffing, pacing, and circling all may indicate that your pet download is coming.
Club soda can be an effective stuff to clean up your dog’s bathroom accidents. – FALSE
Club soda may get rid of the stain from a little puddle or pile, but it won’t get rid of the odor. Unless you remove the odor with enzymatic cleaner designed especially for this task, your dog almost definitely return to the scene of his crime and performs an encore. Don’t use ammonia, either; to your dog, it will smell like urine, which is an open invitation for your dog to come back to the spot he anointed before and do it again.
A dog rolls over his back and dribbles urine needs remedial house training. – FALSE
A dog pees while he is on his back does not have house training issues. Instead, he’s extremely polite and/or a little bit scared. This type of behavior is called submissive urination, and it occurs when a dog is showing respect or deference to another dog or person. If your dog greets you in this manner, adjust your body language to be a little less authoritative – ignore him for a minute or two when you first come home, don’t look directly at him and crouch down on the floor so that you’re at his level when you touch him.
You can consider your five-to-six-month-old puppy be house trained if he has not had an accident for four weeks or so. -TRUE
House training takes a while, but you can consider the process complete if you take your dog puppy is at least six months of age and has been free of accidents for at least a month. Younger ones do not have the physical capacity to hold their poop and pee dependably and a dog of any age that keeps getting accidents really can’t be considered fully house trained.
A puppy should be able to hold it for the same number of hours as months in his age, plus one. In other words, a two-month-old puppy should be able to refrain from eliminating for three hours. – FALSE
The old rule about a young puppy being able to hold his fire for the same number of hours as months in his age plus one does not square with reality. Some puppies may be able to follow his rule, but all of them won’t. A puppy younger than three months may need hourly bathroom breaks during the day, at least until he gets the hang of what he is not supposed to do in his crate and what he is supposed to do outside. Once your puppy is older than three months of age, you may be able to taper off the potty breaks a little bit, and by four months of age, she hopefully will be able to hold it for the night.
Dogs pee and poop just to spite their owners. – FALSE
Dogs are vengeful creatures. They eliminate in the house for one of these reasons: they may be sick, they’ve had to wait too long for the bathroom break; or their owners haven’t house trained them properly.

Dog Training and Separation Anxiety

Every dog owner must realize this fact that you as a human have lot of company around. You have friends, family, colleagues and you can easily communicate with others. On the other hand your dog only has you. He needs you to love him and understand his needs. Besides food, water and medication, your dog needs your attention the most. Most of the behavioral problems that you will come across in your dog are directly the result of your duration of time you spend with him.
Most dogs dread the moments when you leave for work with him alone at home. They feel dejected and lonely and the only person they want is you. In most cases your dog may not understand what you are saying but your voice and your presence around makes him comfortable.
For different breeds this is different. And this also varies from dog to dog. Some become aggressive to seek your attention while others start whining and barking after you leave. They become a nuisance for your neighbors who are there to listen to your dogs unending yelps till you get home. Some dogs take up chewing which can be a very annoying and rather destructive habit.
These all together are known as symptoms of separation anxiety. This can be corrected by dog training and lot of love. Through dog training you can make him understand that you have to go to work and in the mean while he is at liberty to do few things which can help him spend his time without you and without disturbing the neighborhood peace and sanity or cost you heavily in terms of damage at home.
Obedience dog training can be targeted to reduce and even eliminate separation anxiety altogether. This can lead to a healthy and objective companionship between you and your dog. Those dogs who are not trained or their owners do not understand their pet’s anxiety out of love end up in a dog rescue after being abused. This is not how a companion should be treated for showing love in his own way which you do not understand.
For more information on Dog Training Aids please visit http://www.MyDogTrainingAids.com which is an educational website devoted to helping people understand how to train their dog in the shortest possible amount of time.

Dog Training – 6 Cool Tricks to Teach Your Dog

Now that your dog has mastered all of the necessary commands to be well behaved, it’s time to have some real fun! It’s easier to teach your dog tricks once he’s learned how to respect you and you’ve earned his trust. Those necessary commands help him to do that.
Try these tricks to entertain both of you!
1. Fetch. It’s no fun to play ball with a person or an animal that won’t give the ball back. Teaching your dog how to fetch will make you both wish playtime would never end.
If your dog is a retriever, you’re ahead of the game. Your dog is hard-wired to want to fetch. But other breeds catch on quickly, too. You just have to be more patient and consistent. Train with your dog just a few minutes a day to be the most effective.
To teach your dog to fetch, you need a retrieving training tool called a dumbbell. You can buy it at the pet store. It will be a wooden or plastic tube with flanges on both ends to keep it from falling out of your dog’s mouth. Be sure to buy one that your dog can pick up easily and one that will allow him to close his mouth around the middle, not the flared edges.
You start training a dog to fetch by teaching him to open his mouth. Say “Take it” and offer him a food treat. Once he starts opening his mouth in expectation when he hears you say, “Take it,” slip the dumbbell inside his mouth. Leave the dumbbell there for a second, then praise him and give him a treat. Try this about four times, and then stop. Do this part of the training for a few days until your dog gets used to having the dumbbell in his mouth.
Now, start putting the dumbbell in your dog’s mouth and command, “Hold it.” Gently hold his mouth around the dumbbell for a few seconds. Then say, “Give,” and let him spit the dumbbell out. Be sure to praise him and give him a treat. Do this exercise for a few days until your pet will hold the dumbbell in his mouth.
Next, hold the dumbbell in front of your dog’s mouth and command, “Take it.” Pull his head toward the dumbbell if you have to. Be sure to praise and give him a treat, even if he just moves his head toward the dumbbell. Practice this until he’s used to taking the dumbbell in his mouth. All you have to do now is increase the distance slowly. Continue working on “Hold it,” and “Give.” It might be a good refresher course for “Come,” too. Before too long, your dog will put it all together!
2. Speak. This is usually a simple trick for your dog to learn if he’s vocal already. The trick is to entice him to do it on command and from distances.
First, choose a hand signal – some trainers make a twisting motion with a closed fist; others open and shut their hand using their fingers and thumb. Using your hand signal, command your dog to “speak.” When he barks, reward him and praise him. If your dog doesn’t bark automatically, continue to give the command until he gets frustrated and barks, then quickly reward him. Keep practicing and he’ll soon understand.
3. Shake hands or “Gimme five.” This is perhaps the easiest trick to teach your dog. Give your dog the “Sit” command. While you gently hold his paw with one hand, say “Gimme five” and hand him a treat with your other hand. You shouldn’t have to do this more than a few times for your dog to get the hang of it.
4. Give me a kiss. This is another easy one. Most dogs will kiss you whether you want them to or not! All you have to do is get them to do it on your terms. Command your dog, “Give me a kiss,” and then put your cheek in front of his mouth. When he licks your cheek, praise him and give him a treat.
5. Roll over. Start by giving your dog the “Down” command. Kneel beside him and gently roll him over on his side and command, “Roll over.” Keep rolling him until he’s upright again, and then give him praise and a treat.
A couple of caveats about this trick:
- Don’t keep trying it if it’s obvious your pet doesn’t like being on his back. Some dogs have stronger backs than others, and if you are successful in teaching your dog to roll over, it’s probably a trick you want to retire when he’s middle aged. Most elderly dogs have back and hip pain, and there’s no point in making your pet suffer.
- Be sure to only perform this trick on grass or carpet. Asking your dog to roll over continuously on a hard surface could hurt him.
6. Play dead. This trick produces gales from laughter from school-age boys, so if you have one of those, you might want to get him involved with training the dog on this one. A good time to practice this trick is you’re your dog has just exercised and is ready to rest. There’s a prerequisite, too – your dog must know the “Down” command.
Give your dog the “Down” command and notice what side he’s leaning on. Gently push him on over as you command, “Bang.” As he rolls over, praise him and rub his tummy. Repeat until you don’t have to use pressure to force him to roll to his side. Use the “Stay” command to stay “dead.” Add the hand signal, a pointing forefinger, as you command the “Bang.”

Housetraining a Puppy 101 – What to Do When Accidents Happen

Have you ever been over to a friend’s house when they were housetraining a puppy and seen their reaction to the puppy having an “accident” inside the home. It’s a fascinating study in human personality to see how different people react to this common occurrence. While some people respond in an understanding, gentle way, still others begin to yell or grab the puppy and forcefully drag it out of the house. In the latter case, you can’t help but wonder if those people discipline their children in a similar fashion.
The bottom line in housetraining a puppy is that accidents are bound to happen! We are talking here about very young animals that rely upon you to teach them everything that they must know to get along peacefully within your home. In order for their education to be as smooth and effective as possible, they need to know that they can trust you to be consistent and loving in your reactions to both the things they do well and the things that they do badly.
One common mistake in housetraining a puppy occurs when the owner punishes the animal for a mess that he or she did not catch it making. Your best bet in these cases is to simply clean the mess up and go on about your business. Since the dog won’t remember making the mess, rubbing its nose in the soiled area will probably leave the animal wondering when you developed a fetish for bodily excrement! It will also damage the trust that is so important to your training of the puppy.
You can, however, discipline your puppy if you catch it in the act of urinating or defecating – as long as that discipline is appropriate, and unemotional. As a general rule, try to discipline your puppy in the same way its mother would. Mother dogs that catch their puppies doing something inappropriate shake the fur at the back of the puppy’s neck to let it know that it is misbehaving. A firm shaking of the neck fur will send the message you want, especially when coupled with a firm “no.” Yelling and screaming at the animal will just frighten it.
Housetraining a puppy, however, should never involve punishment. Keep in mind that you are dealing with one of the most natural functions of a dog’s life – going to the bathroom. Your goal cannot be to punish the puppy for going in the wrong spot. Rather, your goal must be to teach the animal exactly what is expected of it. That takes time and, in some cases, a saint’s patience.
Yes, it can be frustrating when you are housetraining a puppy that just doesn’t seem to “get it.” It’s a little less maddening, however, if you can manage to keep in mind the fact that your puppy is in many ways no different than a small child. Just as you would not expect your human child to learn how to use the child potty on the first few days of training, you should not expect your puppy to do so either

Training Your Dog to Overcome It’s Excessive Barking

All dogs bark and for a variety of different reasons. They may bark in response to a threat, either perceived or real , boredom as a result of being left alone, excitement when playing, to elicit attention or in response to some other form of stimulus, for example the telephone ringing. In other words, a dogs bark forms part of a wider context of communication that is better understood in relation to other signals, such as the individual dogs body language for example.
Having understood that a dogs bark is quite natural and therefore expected to a large degree, a dog who barks obsessively however, not only causes great stress to it’s owners but can become a wider social problem, leading to frayed relationships between friends and relatives and in some cases to legal action against the dogs owners.
Obsessive barking is usually a symptom of an underlying problem, therefore before you can help your dog overcome this unwanted behavior, it is important to address the motivation of his barking first of all.
Frustration and stress can be a major cause of barking, especially due to a dog spending too much time alone or not receiving adequate exercise or mental stimulation. If you think this may be the cause of your dogs constant barking, then regular daily exercise suitable to your dogs needs, plus stimulating games such as ‘fetch’ and ‘hunt the treat’ for example should remedy the problem. This is especially true for working breeds, for example the Boarder Collie and German Shepherd.
Separation anxiety or an exaggerated reaction to being left alone can cause your dog to develop a problem of constantly barking. In order to help your dog try to make both leaving the house and returning as uneventful as possible. To begin with, when getting ready to leave the house do so a good 20 minutes before you actually leave. While preparing to leave don’t talk to your dog or make eye contact with him, continue go about your business normally. When you are ready to leave don’t say goodbye, just calmly leave. When you return act in a similar manner, don’t talk to your dog, settle yourself down and after several minutes quietly call your dog to you and pet him gently and quietly. The key is to help your dog understand there is no big deal with you coming and going. In time your dog should get the idea, and his barking should dissipate naturally.
If your dog barks obsessively to stimuli such as a telephone or doorbell ringing for example, try teaching him commands such as ‘speak’ and ‘quiet’ for example. To do this attach your dog to a lead so you have more control over him and ask a helper to ring the door bell, When your dog hears the sound of the bell and begins to bark, give him the command ‘speak’, wait for a few seconds, then give him the command ‘quiet’ If he continues to bark, tug on his lead; the tug on the lead is not meant to be a punishment, but more to break dogs fixation on his barking. When he responds by becoming quiet, give him a treat and praise him profusely. Keep practicing this exercise until your dog can speak and become quiet on your command.
In some cases a dogs barking can stem from dominance or aggression due to him being highly territorial. This may be due to his personality, or his breed type for example. If this is the case with your dog, try managing the cues that elicit his barking behavior. If your dog goes into barking mode when he hears the mail delivery person arrive for example, try putting him in another room before your mail is delivered. If your dog dashes to the garden fence when a stranger passes by, remove him from the garden all together. If he has no reason to bark, then his unwanted barking should extinguish naturally after a short period of time.
Many owners who indulge their dogs, especially toy or miniature varieties often find their dogs become quite vocal in an attempt to get their attention. In order to counteract this unwanted barking, refuse point blank to be manipulated by your dogs behavior. When your dog barks to get your attention, simply turn your back on him and refuse to respond to him until he quiet. When he becomes quiet, give him a treat. Again try teaching him the ‘speak’ and ‘quiet’ commands.
Occasionally poor heath can be the culprit behind a dogs excessive barking; Arthritis, and problems with teeth and ears,can bring about unexpected bouts of barking, especially if the dog is getting older. If you think may be causing your dogs problem barking, make an appointment with your vet as soon as possible to have your dogs health checked.