Dog Obedience Training Advice

Obedience training is an important part of responsible dog ownership.  Obedience training techniques lay the foundation for a well behaved and well adjusted dog, who has no trouble participating in family life at home, and is equally at ease in the presence of others.

The lack of proper obedience training can be traced to the number of dog attacks that occur in the UK.  A dog that hasn't been trained to obey his master's commands is a nuisance to society, and sooner or later, ends up as a social outcast.  He is unsafe to have around children, even those in your own home. He is a nuisance to neighbors, a threat to people in the street, and a danger to other dogs that he runs into at the park. 

The Importance of Dog Obedience Training

Dogs have a pack mentality - they follow a leader.  In your relationship with your dog, you must always be the one he looks up to as "the leader."  Love your dog and shower him with affection, but never lose sight of the fact that you are the master. This is where many dog training techniques go wrong.  It's very important for a dog to recognize the status of your relationship. 

A dog who has been trained to obey his master has no problem when his master calls him to "stop."  On the other hand, if obedience training is ignored, it's likely that your dog will have a skewed up vision of his life.  He may be confused about his relationship with you. Confusion isn't a good thing for a dog. In fact, dogs like having clearly marked boundaries, and everything spelled out clearly in black and white. A lack of obedience training opens you both to the possibility of a tension filled power struggle.  This attempt to dominate you is a dangerous and undesirable trait in a dog, and must be eliminated as soon as possible, through obedience training.

Obedience training helps you to be aware of your dog at all times.  This means that when you're out and about, you're certain of what your dog will do in a given situation. It also means that your dog is always aware of the sort of behavior that's expected of him.  If your dog hasn't been trained to respond to your commands and obey them, you expose him and others to danger when you go out with him.  In fact, you expose your own family to danger because you can never be one hundred percent sure of how he will react to a situation or a person. 

A dog that has been trained to obey through obedience training techniques is more confident and self assured.  You will be more confident having him in the house, and out in the company of others. 

Obedience training has has been found to be very stimulating to a dog mentally, and leads to a happier and well adjusted dog all round.

Here are some ways to increase the effectiveness of your dog obedience training.

• Use positive reinforcement for desirable behaviors. 
• When the behavior is undesirable, make use of proper corrective methods. 
• Make sure you don't ignore any kind of behavior, whether desirable or undesirable.
• It causes confusion if you don't follow a sign of progress with a reward or words of praise, or if you ignore undesirable behaviors like chewing. 
• Never correct him if he hasn't done anyhting wrong at that exact moment. This is crucial.
• Timing is of the utmost importance in dog training. Don't wait to correct him; ensure he makes the connection between his bad behavior and your correction immediately.
• Make use of repetition to establish proper learning. 
• Keep training short and simple. A few minutes a day is quite sufficient.
• Start with simple commands, and once these have been firmly established, progress to more advanced lessons.
• Make obedience training a daily part of your life. Commands like "sit" and "heel" can be used in everyday situations.
• Be consistent with the commands you use, and make sure each member of your family is also aware of this. You don't want to end up with a dog that's totally confused because every one in the  house has their own methods of training.
• Ideally, you should be the one training your dog, because you're the one living with him. When you're the one training him, he learns to recognize you as the leader of his pack, someone to be obeyed at all times.

Having a pet dog is not only about feeding him a healthy diet, exercising him and taking care of his other basic needs.  A dog needs to be mentally challenged, and trained to know his place in the world. Obedience training is the only way you can accomplish this..