Training Pure and Simple
Sometimes training your dog to do something new can be frustrating. It takes a lot of effort before the new behavior finally clicks into place. Throughout the training process, your dog makes every attempt to connect with what it is you're asking her to do. Until that happens, she will be stressed, which is physically harmful to her body.
Colonel Konrad Most is recognized as the father of traditional dog training. He trained military dogs in Germany and his book, Training Dogs, A Manual, was considered the bible of dog training when it was published in 1910. Many military programs still use his methods, which rely on collar corrections and discipline and reflect the same discipline that soldiers receive.
It helps to recognize when your dog feels stressed. That way you can tweak your training method and routine to reduce your dog's apprehension. The goal is to create a happy, positive work ethic for your dog so she can act and feel her best. Carefully look at your dog's body, head, and facial features for these signs of stress:
Muscle tremors or body shaking
Excessive panting and drooling
Sweaty or very warm pads of the feet
Extreme shedding
Dilated pupils
Diarrhea or frequent urination
Repeated chewing or scratching at feet or body
Head and tail down
Skittish behavior
Withdrawn or pacing activity
Training Fundamentals
There are many ways to train a dog. People even invest in trendy gadgets, such as harness leashes, electric shock collars, and invisible fences, to do the training for them. Some training methods are better than others, but the one you select has to be right for you and your dog.
How do they train dogs for movies and television?
Many trainers use a clicker. Once the cameras start rolling, the dog is expected to act with the trainer close by but out of sight. If the dog does a good job, she hears the clicker. No click means the dog will have to repeat the behavior until she gets it right.
When you choose a training program, the first step is to decide what it is you want your dog to do. Find out as much as you can about your dog's breed and the job it was originally developed to perform. If you have a mixed breed dog, study her body type and features and estimate what breeds might be in her ancestry. This evaluation may help you decide what job strengths she may possess.
If you've always wanted to volunteer with your dog in search and rescue work and you have a Chihuahua, you'll have quite a training job on your hands, and you'll need a lot of time and patience to get the job done. If you have a Bloodhound who was born to sniff out and find people, your training will be comparatively easier. Working with your dog's natural gifts will make the process much easier for both of you.
Every dog can be trained to do almost anything, including the basic obedience commands: sit, stay, stand, down, and come. All methods rely on trial and error — trying new techniques to see how they work, then refining the directions, language, and rewards to achieve the result you want.
Using New Techniques
Training methods are always improving. A trainer will use a technique as long as the dog is learning quickly. But if a routine is difficult and the dog just isn't getting it, the trainer will test new techniques. The trick of training is to keep trying different things until something works.
So much of effective training depends on the dog. This has nothing to do with how smart a dog is, but rather how willing she is to please you. Many trainers say that they would rather have a dog of medium intelligence and a great amount of heart than a dog that's smart enough to perform brain surgery but couldn't care less about the patient. Training a dog like this is a real challenge, making some breeds easier to train than others.
Border Collies, Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, and German Shepherds have reputations for being smart service and working dogs. In reality, they are skilled at deciphering hand signals, facial expressions, and body language. This makes it easy for them to understand exactly what people want them to do. They will do anything to please their owners, while dogs that have been bred to work independently from their trainers are trickier to manage.
