4The Love of Fido - DIY Positive Reinforcement Dog Training
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Keeping Your Dog Out Of The Garbage…

IF YOU'RE A NEW PET PARENT STANDING THERE WONDERING WHICH WAY TO GO=> <=

Or If you’re anything like me and you want to have a happy dog, that in turn will make you happy, you need look no further, here you’ll find info and great resources for new and experienced dog owners… For the Love of Fido – Paving the Road to Dog Training Success one Treat at a Time…

Dog Obedience Training - Dog Training
Puppy Training - How to train a dog - How to potty train a puppy

Although you CAN teach an old dog new tricks, waiting until later may be more difficult for you and your dog to get things together. Puppy training is important to incorporate proper training and teaching for your dog since the beginning…

Dogs can act out in a variety of ways, including damaging things, jumping on people, being aggressive toward others and barking just for the sake of it…

The basic need of the average dog owner (you) is to:

Know how to potty train your puppy

Train your dog to come when called

Train your dog to cease tugging at the end of the leash when out for a walk

Train your dog to stop unnecessary barking

Train your dog to refrain from jumping up on people

Train your dog to sit down and stay when told

Here are some topics that you will read about in this brief guide:

• Keeping Your Dog Out of the Garbage

• How to Potty Train Your Puppy – Inappropriate Urination/Elimination

• How to Stop Jumping on People

• How to Stop Pulling and Tugging on a Leash

• How to Stop Not Coming When Called

How to Potty Train Your Puppy 

Obviously, dogs aren’t born knowing where they should and shouldn’t relieve themselves. House training success is fastest achieve when you get really good at controlling your dog’s ‘environment’ and supervising them really well. Instinctively dogs don’t like to do their business where they live in sleep but it can take a while for them to generalize an entire house as their primary residence. Our overall goal is to teach our dogs that our house is their house. You do this by slowly giving your dog access to the rest of the house under heavy supervision, over time, along with taking them outside very often.

You first want your dog to understand that a determined area is their living space before expecting them to generalize the whole living room, the kitchen, bedroom and so on until they’ve learned that the whole house is their house. The best way to potty train a puppy is by actually attaching a leash or training line to you, this way your dog can’t wander off into another room and you’re in a better position to kind of take clues from your dog that they might want to go outside…

Get your puppy to the toilet area :

Immediately on waking in the morning or after a nap

Whenever you catch them circling, sniffing the floor

If you find your puppy in the middle of wetting the carpet, calmly say, “No”, pick him up, and immediately take him outside. Use the command: “Go potty”. You must do this every time so that he can make the connection between eliminating and the outdoors. Training, consistency and avoidance are the keys to correcting problem behavior. Don’t forget to scrub any soiled spots immediately with a cleanser especially made for this purpose so that any lingering odor will not attract the dog back to the spot.

How to Potty Train Your Puppy Using Potty Pads
PAPER TRAINING

There are many of us who have no convenient yard because we live in a city apartment. A combination of crate training and paper training is a good start to establishing  house-training expectations. The dog must have a definite spot assigned for his eliminations. Spread an area with newspapers or potty pads. The puppy will gradually show a preference for one spot in the designated area so concentrate the papers there. Now follow the same routine as suggested for outdoor potty training. The spread newspapers/pads take the place of the yard. They should, of course, be removed and destroyed as soon as they are used.

When the puppy awakens, and immediately after each feeding, after playing or chewing, after eating or drinking,when exited or acting restless, take him to the designated area and keep him there until he has eliminated; when he has, praise/reward him highly.

Don’t waste time! The more times your dog goes to the bathroom inside your home the harder it will be to break him of this habit. Take action now and permanently stop your dog from using the bathroom inside before it’s too late!

Inappropriate Urination/Elimination

Inappropriate urination for a dog owner can be very embarrassing.  Not only that, combined with defecation, it can wreak havoc for him. If your dog has an accident in the house, control yourself and the way you react during these often trying times. For the most part, your puppy’s mistakes are nothing more than poor timing on your part. You must catch your dog in the act to correct him. You must not correct him for something that has happened 10 minutes or more ago.

There are two types of inappropriate urination, excitement and submissive.  This guide is going to describe both types, excitement and submissive. Before you can make changes, you have to get to the root of the problem. There could be different reasons why some dogs cannot control their bladders.  Once you find out the root, then you can move on from there.

Excitement Urination

When dogs get excited, they tend to lose control of their bladder and urinate.  It can happen when they get excited about seeing you, other dogs…  Even though excitement urination is normal, it is embarrassing. Even more when you have someone with you.  For a lot of older dogs, it can really pose a big problem for them.

Excitement urination usually starts when the dog is still a puppy.  Since he is still small, he tends to not control his bladder properly.  In fact, he may not even realize what’s happening. The one thing that you don’t want to do is get angry with him. That just makes the situation worse for him and for you.  He will continue to urinate because now you have upset him and fear is another kind of excitement.

You can prevent him from getting excited about certain things. What you can do is implement prevention. Continually expose him to whatever it is that is making him excited and provoking urination. The more consistent you are, the less excited he will get, which in turn, will stop the exitement urination. As he gets older he will be able to properly control his bladder. Check out Submissive Urination Here.

Keeping Your Dog Out Of The Garbage

Dogs are attracted to garbage. They like how it smells and figure that they can find some leftovers that they would eat. You can break your dog from this habit. The best way to prevent it is to never allow him there in the first place.

Here are some other ways to correct this behavior:

• If you have trash to be thrown out, do it as soon as possible. Allowing it to lie around will only be a constant temptation… It will be hard for him to resist to get in the garbage.

• If you don’t have a garbage can that has a lid that only operates with your foot, you should get one.  Make sure that you garbage can stays closed.

• If you should catch him going through the garbage, tell him “NO. Bad boy”, and tell him to get out of the trash.

• Don’t be forceful when trying to get your dog to stop going through your trash.  Be patient with him. A gentle, but firm response will resonate with your dog instead of a forceful one.

• Impose discipline on your dog. “Immediately” take him to a room and let him have some time alone there. NEVER use the crate to discipline your dog. That’s the best way to induce separation anxiety in your dog! Remember, the crate is their den/bedroom, their ‘safe’, secure zone! The premise you have to keep in mind with all crates is: “All good things come from the crate”. So treats, toys, kongs and other food rewards go in the crate. That way your dog will voluntarily enter the crate because good things happen around and in the crate, always!

• Continue to repeat and reinforce your stand on your dog not going in the garbage.  Through your consistency and repetition your dog will eventually get the message.

Jumping On People

Dogs are very often physical and playful beings. They like to greet us at the face, that’s how dogs say hello and that’s how they shake hands. Dogs like to jump up on people. And we, as  dog owners sometimes encourage this kind of behavior. Your dog shows his happiness by jumping all over you when you come in the room. It seemed so cute when he was a puppy that you let it go or even encourage it by hugging and kissing him hello. However puppies grow up.  Even though it’s cute when they are still puppies, it can really pose a problem as they become full grown dogs.

The problem with this is as the dog gets older, they weigh more.  The more the dogs weigh, the more dangerous jumping on people can be. You should keep in mind that not everyone likes dogs and that your dog should not jump up on everyone that he encounters.  Since there are lots of people that don’t like dogs, they will not appreciate one jumping on them and possibly knocking them down.

If it’s a small child, it’s even worse.  The child could be seriously injured due to the weight of the dog.  The dog owner could be in serious trouble, regardless if it’s their child or not that got hurt.  Whether it’s an adult or a child, you could find yourself with a lawsuit if you have not trained your dog to stop doing that.

Once you allow them to jump on other people, it can be difficult as the dog gets older and then you try to curb it.  Their behavior pattern is already set and can be difficult to break. So, The best time to teach him not to jump on other people is when the dog is still young.

Hold a treat in your hand as you open the door, and immediately distract your pup from jumping with the treat. Then ask him to sit. As soon as he sits tell him “Good boy; Good sit”. Then give him the treat and move past him. Give him some minutes to adjust to your being home before you give him the snuggles, hugs, and pats he wants and deserves.

Now, when he tries to jump on someone and you don’t have a treat with you, put his feet back on the floor in a gentle and firm manner. You must be at eye level with him. The dog will take you seriously when they see that you are providing direct contact at his level.  Tell hm “Good boy” and encourage him as he continues to obey you.

Make sure that everyone knows the rules and does not encourage the dog to allow jumping on them.  It can be confusing if you have one family member correcting him and another allowing the dog to jump on them.

NOTE: Some of us like when our dogs jump on us from time to time. If you teach your dog to jump on command (“You can Jump”) you can have it both ways. Dogs are perfectly capable of knowing that it’s okay to jump only when you say it’s okay.

Pulling And Tugging On A Leash

Another behavioral problem that dogs have starting from their puppy days is pulling and tugging on a leash.  This is another one that can be started and encouraged by dog owners when they play tug of war with their dog. We know that dogs love to play tug of war; it’s a healthy display of their predatory nature. Some handlers get some energy out of the dog by playing tug of war with them before leash walking training but, it can also make the dog feel like he can continue to do the pulling and tugging bit. This can start a bad habit that can be difficult to break.

What you need to do is:

1. Get them tired first (do it indoors in an environment that they are familiar with, like your house, so there are no distractions. An ideal place would be a yard that is fenced in.  Allow the dog to work off the energy that has built up inside of them.

2. Once they get rid of some of their energy, wait until your dog calms down so he can focus, listen and learn. This way the dog will be able to concentrate on what you are trying to do with him. You want the dog to understand the behavior that you are trying to teach him

Fact: Dogs walk faster than we do. If you are walking the dog, get a toy for him so that you can make him stay at your side. Do not use a training collar if you are having problems training them not to pull and tug. Training collars such as shock collars (that emit a mild to moderate electrical charge to the dog’s neck) and choke chains (a chain formed into a loop by passing one end through a ring on the other, placed around a dog’s neck to exert control by causing pressure on the windpipe when the dog pulls) are just plain cruel. Not only do they inflict pain and cause a great amount of stress for a dog, but they also don’t work on a large percentage of dogs because training a dog with the use of pain is not only flat out cruel, it’s just not effective in the long run.

If you have a body harness, it can be used when you are training your dog not to pull and tug.  It can also be used when you have to retrain your dog to stop pulling and tugging. Work with the dog so that they can accept and use the harness the same way it would use a collar on their neck. As you are walking with your dog, the leash should remain loose. If they pull ahead of you, change directions so that they will end up behind you. This should be done before it gets to the end of the leash. Do not allow the puppy or dog to pull you.

As you are correcting him, do not yank or pull on his neck.  Just make a gentle movement and he will respond.  Using too much force can cause the dog to become agitated…

When he pulls, stop. Stand completely still until the leash relaxes, stop moving forward when he pulls and apply gentle leash pressure but do not force him towards you. Praise him and release the pressure once he begins to come towards you. Reward him with treats when he walks by your side. Only when the leash is nicely relaxed, proceed on your walk. Repeat this as necessary. If you find this technique too slow you can try the reverse direction method. If he does not respond to the treat and is completely uninterested in you try this Dog Leash Training exercise again later at a time when he is a bit more hungry.

Not Coming When Called (Recall)

In formal obedience training this exercise is known as the Recall, and this hand signal is generally used: Let the right hand hang loosely, palm out at your side. Bring it up in a wide sweeping gesture diagonally across your body to end palm-up at your left shoulder.

You must train your dog to respond to the command: “Come here”. Dog owners must realize how important it is for their dog to come to them when called. If the dog is outdoors and does not come when called, when they fail to heed the owner’s call, it can spell trouble.  He can run into traffic and get hit by a car.

When you use the “come here” command, use it in a way that will be beneficial for the dog. Make sure that your dog does not connect the “come here” command with a bad experience. That is essential. Do not use the “come here” command to reprehend your dog. Your object is to teach him that whenever you call his name it means good things will happen and he will want to come as quickly as possible.

Fasten a collar with a 20-foot dog training line attached to it around the puppy’s neck. A length of light clothesline can be substituted if a long training line is not available. Shorten the line by coiling it in your hand. Walk away from the puppy and call his name. Speak the command in a calm, decisive tone. Say: “Fido come” If he doesn’t come to you,repeat the command and lightly but persistently reel him in on the training line as you coil up the slack and pull the puppy to your feet.

Each time you command the dog to come, and he responds to the “come here” command, give him some kind of reward. Tell him “Good boy”, scratch behind his ears, or pat him on the head. You can also give him a treat if you have treats handy.

Now go the full length of the leash away and repeat. Do this eight or ten times. Repeat the lesson three times a day if possible. After two or three days of this, the puppy will more than likely come the instant you call.

Your dog will always be in the learning stage. It’s important that each process of teaching and training is something that is positive. That way he won’t hesitate to do whatever it is you want him to do…

Click here to subscribe to a FREE course on potty training a dog

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 For the Love of Fido – Paving the Road to DOG TRAINING Success

one Treat at a TimeDog Training – Puppy Training – How to train a dog – how to potty train a puppy

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