Dog Training at ThePetCenter.com.
Training Tips
by Ms. Pat Sullivan
GOOD DOGS ARE MADE, NOT BORN
Manners…every dog should have them, here’s how.
We have a major problem in the U. S. today. Our dogs and our people aren’t getting along. The bond begins to break in early puppyhood when house soiling, chewing, biting and other problems aren’t stopped.
You’ll notice I said “stopped,” and not just “controlled”. If these habits are not stopped cold, bigger problems usually follow, particularly during a dog’s adolescent stage. If and when the dog finally makes it to adulthood (normally two years of age), one of three things can happen: (1) the long-suffering will learn to live with the monsters they have created; (2) those who are “fed up” will get rid of the dog by selling it, giving it away, surrendering it to a humane society or having it euthanized; or (3) those with patience will finally being to take control and train the dog.
All three can be avoided by proper training in the early stages of a dog’s life.
Most people think they can easily live with a dog — any dog. But without the knowledge of how to properly train our dogs and the ability to physically enforce the training, we can’t. In most cases we need to learn — via classes, private instruction, books — how to train our dogs. We also need to discipline ourselves in order to repeat the basic exercises (“sit,” “stay”, “come”) until they are second nature to our canines, and to enforce our rules on our pets.
There are many techniques that can be used to train a dog. Most important, however, is that the owner be willing to use the techniques, and to set and follow a course of action. Proper dog training is not a “quick fix” – it is an ongoing, life-long process.
By now, you’re probably saying to yourself, “I don’t want to deal with a method, all I want is a pet.” But what you really want is, in fact, a pretty tall order. All you’d like is for an infant dog to assimilate – with no hitches – our modern, urban human society with all of its complexities.
You’d like the puppy to learn, although it doesn’t speak a language, that is should not eliminate in the two thousand square foot area we call the “house,” but that it should do so on the grass or soil – and, if leashed, only when you allow it to. You’d also like the puppy to eat whatever you put down when you feed him, and to never touch food above his head.
You’d like him to sleep when you do, even though you’ve left him alone all day and he’s slept most of that time. He also should not whine or bark because that is considered to be disturbing, and should ride quietly in a car, walk by your side both on and off the leash, always come when called, and never leave the yard even if you leave him unattended for hours.
Well, dogs are made and not born into the above requirements. And to get them to that stage, you must train, and train, and train again. Whether you teach from books, classes, private instruction or your own past experiences, you must teach a dog to do what you want it to. That teaching, too, must be at a level the dog can understand.
You need a direction, you need patience, and you need time. Typically, you can expect to spend a year working on the basics, and two years for more advanced training. It seems like a long time when you’re just starting. But if you follow through, a lifetime of companionship and unconditional love will then be yours.
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