Posts Tagged Distraction

Leash Training Made Easy

Posted by admin on Tuesday, 21 April, 2009

Spring is here and that means nicer weather and more opportunities for taking your dog for walks. If your dog walks are anything but leisurely strolls, the following tips are just for you!

Change Your Direction

Abruptly changing the direction you’re heading in may be enough distraction to make your dog understand that he needs to follow you. Whenever your dog tugs on the leash or begins to get ahead of you, abruptly turn and start walking in the opposite direction. When his attention is averted and he returns to walk next to you, follow up immediately with lots of praise. A small dog treat helps, too. Don’t scold your dog for pulling ahead, simply catch him off guard and redirect him.

You may have to repeat this many times , even if it means your “walk” is only a few steps at a time, back and forth. The goal is to have your dog following you, and paying attention to the direction you’re headed in. Be generous with your praise and rewards and repeat this process several times. Your dog will slowly give up the tug of war game he’s been playing with your.

If you already own a remote dog trainer that offers both positive and negative reinforcement with tones, now would be a great time to put it to use.

Always Be Consistent

Once you’ve made up your mind that you want your dog to walk obediently beside you, don’t give in! Dogs can be easily confused when the rules aren’t consistent. Treat this as you would any other training session.

Practicing your dog’s new skills in a familiar place, such as your driveway or backyard, is the best way to start to your training. Once you’re confident your dog understands what’s expected of him, begin taking longer walks in less familiar places.

Keep Up the Good Work

As with all dog training, teaching your dog to walk properly on a leash is an ongoing process. It’s not something your dog will probably “get” in just one session. You’ll want to continue to use this technique occasionally to keep your dog on his toes and reinforce his new behavior.

Don’t be stingy with the praise and treats! Dogs love being rewarded for doing the right thing. Be generous with your praise and offer rewards when your dog is doing the right thing; he will be encouraged to continue payinging attention to you.

Prevent Your Dog From Barking – Step by Step!

Posted by admin on Wednesday, 15 April, 2009

If you want to learn how to prevent your dog from barking, then this article will show you how. Specifically, we’re going to look at why your dog barks, how to stop excessive barking step by step, and what to do if this plan doesn’t work. By the time you have finished reading this article, you’ll know exactly how to stop your dog barking.

Let’s start by looking at some of the reasons why your dog is barking. Usually, it’s because your dog is alerting you of a stranger coming, or wants attention.First, it’s a completely natural behavior – if you want to stop your dog from ever barking, then perhaps having a dog isn’t right for you!

You can’t stop your dog from barking permanently. But you can stop him from barking at inappropriate times, or you can train him to stop barking once you have been alerted.

So let’s look at how you can stop this problem step by step.

Step 1 – Show your dog that you have been alerted.

Step 2 – Tell your dog to be quiet.

Step 3 – Show him a food treat, but don’t let him have it yet. This should be enough of a distraction to stop the barking.

Step 4 – Now praise and reward him for being quiet.

Step 5 – Once he has been quiet for a few seconds, give him the food treat.

This really does work, so give it a try!

But what if it doesn’t work for you? Usually, with patience and persistence your dog will learn to associate the command “be quiet” with not barking, and receiving a food treat. Eventually, the command “be quiet” will be enough.

But if you don’t experience instant results with this, that’s fine. If your dog has had an excessive barking problem for awhile, then it will take time to break the habit. If you’re still stuck, perhaps you should consult a professional dog trainer who can work out what’s going wrong.

To summarize, this article has shown you an easy step by step process you can use to prevent a dog from barking. We talked about why your do barks, the step by step process, and what to do if it doesn’t work. Now that you have finished reading this article, you should be ready to apply the steps and fix this problem for good!