how to train your dog like a professional- part 1

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How To TrainYour Dog Like A

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Hw o T Yu Do

Lk A Pfs ar!DOG TRAINING FOR BEGINNERS

Chapter 1 Introducon

Chapter 2 Dog Learning and Communicaon

Chapter 3 Build a Relaonship with Your Dog

Chapter 4 Training Treats and Equipment

P 2:

Chapter 5 Basic Obedience Exercises

Chapter 6 Crate and Poy Training

Chapter 7 Trick Training

Chapter 8 Problems with Training and Behavior

Chapter 9 Playing with Your Dog

Chapter 10 Being a Canine Good Cizen

5

16

30

36

COENTS

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Chapter1Idu

A well mannered dog is a pleasure to own. You can take him

anywhere and know he will behave nicely. You can relax

when he is around other people and dogs, and he can go

on vacaon with you and not destroy the holiday home. He

will be more involved with your family, and you will develop

a closer bond with him.

You can have more fun and create beer memories

together!

Untrained dogs have very few freedoms. You will have to

lock him away when you have visitors to protect them from

his over-exuberant welcome. While you are eang, he is leoutside because he is a nuisance at the table. He may even

steal food. You cant take him to the o-leash park because

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when it is me to go, he wont come back when he is called.

Even going for a walk along the sidewalk is hard work, as he

drags you along behind him.

Your dog will live on average 12 years. Do you really want to

have to tolerate this bad behavior for that long?

If you simply invest a lile me in teaching him good

manners now, you will be able to enjoy a beer relaonship

with him for the remainder of his life.

L G Std

When you are geng ready to start a new project, you do

not just jump in feet rst with no preparaon or planning.

This is exactly what you would be doing if you decided to

start training your dog without the right knowledge and

equipment.

Your dog training program is that new project you need

to plan what you want to achieve and work out what you

need to do it. From there, you must work out how you are

going to complete the project successfully.

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You will make mistakes. That is inevitable. You will also

feel frustrated at mes, as your dog doesnt seem to be

progressing. This is normal, because all dogs learn at

dierent rates and respond beer to dierent training

methods.

Its important that you understand your dog and his natural

insncts. Also, learn about his breed and what he was bred

to do. Your Beagle has a well-developed nose. Dont be

surprised if you are in the middle of a training session and

he is distracted by an unusual scent. If you take these breed

characteriscs into account, youll be less frustrated by the

behavior.

Pr vew

Some of the helpful things youll learn from this guide

include:

What equipment you need to start training yourdog

How to interpret your dogs body language andposture

How dogs think and learn8

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How to recognize your dogs personalityHow to understand dogs pack behavior.Simple and eecve ways to teach your dog to sit,

drop, stay and come.

How to tell if your dog is stressedFun ways you can play with your dogHow to improve your relaonship with your dogHow to teach your dog not to biteThe advantages of crate training your dog

There are two parts to dog training:

1. Firstly, you need to teach your dog to do somethingthat you want him to do. Lets use the sit behavior

as an example. You need him to sit when you tell

him to, so you have to train him to sit on command.

2. Secondly, you need to teach him to stop doing abehavior you dont like. For example, if your dog

likes to run away and play, you need to train him to

come back to you when you call him.

The best way to train your dog is to use posive reinforcement

to reward him for doing what you want. This makes it more

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likely hell do it again. However, there may be mes where

you need to stop him doing something. This doesnt mean

you must punish him. Oen a squirt with a spray of water is

all it takes to stop him in his tracks.

The whole point of training your dog is to have him obey

you when tell him what to do. This guide will help you

achieve that.

wk

Your dog may already have had several months or years of

doing what he wants, and he may be very good at it. Also,

he may have trained you to let him.

Yes, your dog is very capable of training you.

What do you do when he bumps your elbow for a cuddle

while you are typing? Do you pat him? He has trained you

to give him aecon when he nudges you.

Thats not a problem, it is just one way in which he can

communicate with you, but there may be mes when you

just shouldnt do as he asks you.

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If your dog is on the couch and you try to move him to make

space for you, does he growl? Do you back o? In this case,

he has taught you that he is in charge, and he wont do as

you want.

This is a reasonably common scenario, and if your dog is

growling at you, you need professional help. However, it is

a good example of how your dog can get you to do what he

wants.

in Md

Most dog trainers describe three general methods of

training dogs.

The compulsion method: Your dog is corrected or

punished for doing the wrong thing. One example

is electric training collars that are used to train dogs

remotely.

If a dog is corrected for doing something wrong, and

doesnt get any informaon on what you do want

him to do, he will become stressed. Depending on

his temperament, he may just give up trying. This

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isnt a good opon for an inexperienced dog trainer

because they can do more harm than good.

The posive method: If your dog is rewarded

for doing a parcular behavior, it increases the

likelihood of him doing it again. This is the theory

behind posive dog training methods. Rewards

can include food, aecon and toys. The important

thing is that you choose a reward that is extremely

valuable to yourdog. This method works well, and

if you get it wrong, the worst you do is give your

dog a free reward.

The mixed method: This method is part compulsion,

part posive. A good example is when you teach

your dog to heel using a check chain. When he is

out of posion he receives a check on the neck,

and then he is praised when he is back by your side.

Many people use this method with good results,

but again, its best used by experienced trainers.

If you are going to correct or punish your dog, the

ming is crical. Otherwise it wont have any eect

except to hurt your dog.

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None of these methods are a quick-x way of training your

dog. It will take me and eort on your part to teach him

good behavior.

Ru f Do in

Building Trust

Imagine your dog running down the sidewalk chasing a cat.

Hes having a great me, but you are terried he will get

hurt. When he eventually gets home, you are so relieved

but angry, and you yell at him for taking o like that. Thats

an understandable reacon, right?

Now look at it from your dogs perspecve. He had a great

me trying to catch up with the speeding cat. When it

disappeared out of sight, he decided to come home for

dinner. When he arrived, his beloved owner yelled at him,

which scared him and made him cower.

One of the most dicult parts of dog training is seeing

everything from your dogs point of view, especially when

you are cross or frustrated.

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You were trying to teach your dog not to run away, but

instead you showed him that coming home to you is scary.

If you call him to you and then yell at him or, even worse, hit

him, he loses trust in you and it damages your relaonship

with him. Although it is dicult, dont ever get angry at

your dog for coming to you.

Consistency

Consistency is imperave when you are training your

dog. He can learn what you do and dont want him to do.

However, its confusing when hes allowed to do something

somemes, and not at other mes.

For example, you allow him to jump up for a cuddle when

youre wearing your old clothes but become angry when

he does the same when youre dressed for work. He wont

understand the dierent situaons, and the confusion will

be stressful for him.

If you constantly enjoy a tussle and tumble with Baxter,

hell be baed when youre angry when he wrestles with

your toddler. Aer all, thats the way he was taught to play

with you.

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If you are teaching your dog not to do something, one way

of doing it is to teach him he can only do it on command.

Lets take the jumping up as an example. Teach your dog

that he is not allowed to jump up at all, unless you tell him

to jump. Hes quite capable of learning that. Then you can

have him jump up for a cuddle on weekends, and keep his

muddy paws o your expensive work clothes.

Persistence

Can you sck with something even though its challenging?

Dogs are intelligent and learn quickly but there will be mes

where he takes a lile longer to master a skill. Be paent,

try not to get frustrated, and keep praccing. Dogs learn

best with repeon, and it will take me.

Use a Do Command

Instead of just saying no to your dog, give him a command

that he does understand, and he can do. Instead of telling

him no when he jumps up on you, ask him to sit and

praise him for doing it.

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This means you actually have to think about what you are

teaching your dog. Its not easy when your rst insnct is to

yell no, but if you can do this, he will learn quicker and be

happier while you train him.

Whenever possible, use this method to stop your dog doing

the wrong thing. This gives you the opportunity to reward

him instead of punishing or reprimanding him.

If you want to learn how to train any dog on-screen, from

video lessons, I suggest you click hereto get professional

video dog training lessons.

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Chapter2D Ln nCmui

Yu Do uh Pcses

There are mes that it seems that your dog can actually

read your mind. For example, he goes to the door within

moments of you even thinking about taking him for a walk.

In fact, he cant read your mind, but he is very good at

idenfying paerns of behavior.

If you walk towards the box where you keep his leashevery me you go for a walk, hell learn to recognize what

you are doing, and get excited at the thought of an oung

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with you. Again, dogs learn best by repeon and posive

reinforcement.

Similarly, if you consistently pop your dog in his crate when

you give him his dinner, he is likely to start to go in there of

his own accord when he sees you pick up his food bowl.

He has watched your behavior for long enough and because

of that, he can ancipate what you are going to do next.

This means that you too can learn to idenfy what your

dog is likely to do next by watching him closely. If you own

a male dog, he probably enjoys peeing on things to mark

them as his.

Watch him and youll noce he will sni the item, and sidle

up to it, then swing his bu towards it and start to li his

leg. If he is going to pee on something you really dont want

soiled, you can interrupt this behavior paern with a clap

or a whistle, and direct him to where you do want him to

pee.

Dogs live in the moment. Theres no point in punishing him

aer he has done the wrong thing. He is unlikely to associate

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the punishment with the deed, and instead will become

afraid of you. If you catch your dog doing something wrong,

you can correct him right at that momentwith a no,or an

ah ah.

There is a word: anthropomorphism. This means aribung

human characteriscs and the ability to reason to an animal.

Dogs dont reason like we do, and they dont feel guilt. That

may be hard to believe when you come home and nd your

shoes chewed, and your dog slinks away nervously. Hes

not feeling guilty, hes reacng to your angry posture and

facial expression.

If you dont believe this, throw a towel on the oor then

call your dog into the room. Point to it and say to him in

an angry tone of voice, Naughty dog!!. Hell look nervous

and yes, guilty, even though he has no idea what youre

talking about.

Reasoning

Reasoning is dened by the Webster diconary as

comprehending, inferring, or thinking especially in orderly

ratonal ways. When you read that, you can see that dogs

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are indeed capable of reasoning.

Wild canids have to hunt prey to survive. They have to decide

which individual in a herd is small enough for them to take

down. They then need to work out how fast it is going, and

whether or not they are able to catch it. Our domesc dogs

are not too dierent from their wild ancestors. However,

the ability to reason can vary between breeds, because of

breeders selecon for characteriscs including personality

and temperament.

Dogs cannot reason in the same sense that we can. However,

they do have their ways of problem solving. You can see

this in acon when they are trying to get into the cupboard

where the dog treats are stashed!

There are many dog games that require your dog to use

reasoning to get a treat, and its fun to watch them work

things out.

Hw Do L

Dogs do something for one reason and one reason only

theres something in it for them. Whether its to gain a

reward or to avoid a punishment or correcon, their primary

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movaon is self-interest. This means that its not fair to

expect your dog to do something just because he loves you.

Aer all, do you go to work every day just because you love

your boss? No, you do it for the paycheck.

You can take advantage of this when you are training your

dog.

If a parcular behavior results in something nice, hes very

likely to repeat that behavior. If he gets a piece of diced

barbecue chicken when he sits, you can bet hell be very

keen to sit again.

Food is rewarding to most dogs, and it is eecve even

in very young puppies. Diced chicken, slices of hot dog

or pieces of dried liver are favorites of most dogs, and

are small enough to allow you to train for 15-20 minutes

without your dog geng full or losing interest.

If your dog isnt thrilled by these treats, he is certainly in the

minority, but you can sll reward him. What does he like

to do most? Instead of a treat, you can throw his favorite

ball each me he does what you ask him to. Many agility

trainers reward their dog with a vigorous game of tug with

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a rope toy. You should be able to nd something that will

have your dog dancing with excitement, and thatshould be

his reward.

Repetton

Repeon is crical to your dogs learning. It is how he

associates the reward with the behavior that triggered

the reward. Ideally, spend ten minutes a day teaching a

behavior, then repeat the next day.

Ten minutes a day is much more eecve than a longer

session once a week because your dogs aenon may

wander towards the end, and your training is less eecve.

Always end your training session on a posive note. Finish

before your dog has lost interest, and make sure his last

aempt at a behavior is successful, and he earns a reward.

Resist the temptaon to try for just one more, because it

doesnt always work.

Punishment

Punishment shouldnt be a part of dog training. Aer all,

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you are trying to encourage him to learn, and this shouldnt

be frightening or stressful for him. Punishment teaches

your dog that there really isnt anything posive for him in

a training session, and hes not as likely to try for you.

Fear will get in the way of his learning and he may even shut

down and withdraw from you. In extreme cases, he may

feel the need to defend himself, and become aggressive.

Most importantly, the last thing you want is your relaonship

with your dog based on fear. You dont want your four

legged best friend to be afraid of you. Dont take the chance

of damaging your relaonship with your dog by punishing

him when he doesnt get things right straight away. Aer

all, there are two partners to this training game, and it may

just be your fault if youre not teaching him well enough.

How Dogs Communicate

It has been said that dogs can learn to understand several

hundred words, which makes it easier for us to tell him

what we need from him. Thats no help when it comes to

him trying to communicate with us.

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Your dog will have learned how to use and interpret body

language when he was just a puppy. He would have been

able to idenfy what his mom and lier mates were trying

to tell him, and he too could speak to them with his eyes,

ears and tail, as well as his stance.

This is why a dog that is removed from his lier mates too

early can have diculty relang to other dogs. He just

hasnt learned the language, and cant understand what

other dogs are trying to communicate to him.

He may interpret a friendly approach from another dog as a

threat, and react defensively. He also doesnt know how to

interact with other dogs, and can get into trouble because

he has no social manners at the dog park.

Its important that pups stay with their mom and lier mates

unl they are 8 weeks old, to give them the best chance of

learning how to communicate.

Lets have a closer look at how dogs communicate, with

both you and each other.

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Bdy Luag

The Mouth

Its easy to tell when your dog is relaxed. His mouth will be

open and his tongue will loll. His lips will be drawn back and

hell look like he is smiling.

An alert dog will have tense lips, with the corners held

forward. He will oen have his mouth closed. Hes watching

whats going on around him. Although this isnt necessarily

an indicaon that hell bite, its worth keeping an eye on

him. Hes aroused, and its important that you be aware

of how you approach him. No sudden moves, and dont

startle him with a touch.

Its easy to understand what a dog means when his teeth

are bared and his lips curl back. Hes feeling aggressive, and

if you push the point, you could be hurt.

Your dog can also tell you when hes feeling nervous or

stressed. Youll noce him licking his lips, and yawning.Yes, yawning doesnt always mean hes red, he may be

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anxious. Its important that you can recognize that so you

can do something to relieve his anxiety.

The Eyes

It is said that the eyes are the window to the soul, and this

is certainly the case with your dog.

A condent dog will look you right in the eyes, but wont

press the point. A dominant dog wont look away, and will

try to stare you down. If you connue to stare at him, hell

perceive that as a challenge. He may react to that challenge

and become aggressive, so be careful. Dont ever eyeball a

very dominant dog, as you could end up geng bien.

Subordinate dogs, or those that arent feeling very

condent, will usually glance away when you look at them.

The Ears

Your dogs ears are also useful for giving you an idea of how

he is feeling. Depending on breed, ears can be oppy or

erect but this is not important. Watch the base of his ears,

and look at where he is holding them on his head.

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An alert dog will hold the base of his ears forward, to show

he is interested in whats happening. They may even move

from front to back, or from side to side as he listens to

whats going on around him.

Ears held at, and towards the back of his head usually mean

that your dog is feeling nervous or anxious. It can also be an

indicator that he is submissive. However, it can also mean

that your dog is feeling threatened and defensive, and may

in fact bite. Be careful.

Body Posture

The way your dog holds his body gives you a lot of

informaon, if you know what to look for.

Its easy to tell if your dog is submissive hell shrink down

and cower, making his body as small as possible. If hes

extremely submissive, he will lie on his back and expose

his throat to a more dominant animal. He may also urinate.

You may have seen your dog react to you in that way when

you were angry.

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A condent dog is exactly the opposite. He will stand tall

with straight legs. If hes feeling aggressive, he will oen

lean forward, and hold his body sy. The hair on his back

also may stand erect.

The Tail

Were all familiar with the wagging tail of a happy dog.

However, the tail can tell us more about our dogs mood

and feelings.

A tail tucked ghtly between the hind legs is a sign of

submission and fear. Similarly, a tail held high is indicave

of a condent, asserve animal. Even if your dogs tail is

docked, you can sll get worthwhile informaon from the

way he holds the base of his tail. However, it may not be as

easy for other dogs to recognize his intent from a distance.

The Play Bow

Have you ever noced your dog lie down on his elbows

with his rump in the air and his tail wagging? He may also

have what looks like a smile on his face. This is known as

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the play bow and is your dogs way of inving you to start

a game with him.

Verbal Communicaon

Your dog can use sound to communicate with each other,

and with you. He has a range of noises that indicate many

dierent things.

If he is distressed or frightened, he may bark with a high

pitched tone, and bark over and over again. As he becomes

more upset, the sound will become higher and sharper.

Weve all been told to take care around a growling dog,

and there is good reason for this. It can indicate that he is

aggressive. However, it may be the only way your dog can

tell you that he really doesnt like whats being done to him.

Pay aenon to whats happening when your dog growls

and youll be able to tell if hes threatening, or just annoyed

and saying, Stop.

There is nothing more irritang than a whining dog. Your

dog will whine when he wants something, for example food

or aenon. He may whine to get outside to go to the toilet,

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which isnt a bad thing at all! If you give in to whining, your

dog wont stop, and he may even get worse!

Whimpering and yelping usually mean your dog is hurng.

That may be a physical pain, but it may also be emoonal

pain such as loneliness.

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Chapter3Bu Rip

W Yu DoProfessional dog trainers oen tell their clients, You get the

dog you deserve. This means that your dog is ulmately

a reecon of you, and the me and eort you put intoraising him.

If you want to be successful at training your dog, you need

to have a good relaonship with him. You need to be the

leader, and he needs to respect you in that posion. He

will know his place in his pack, and this will make him feel

secure.

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Its vital that your dog never learns to be afraid of you.

This will interfere with his training, and it will be dicult

to overcome. This is why so many training methods these

days are reward based instead of relying on punishment to

teach a dog to behave.

Here are some suggesons on how you can have the best

possible rapport with your dog.

1. Feed him. Remember that in the dog pack, thealpha dog is responsible for controlling access to

resources, including food. If you are the source of

your dogs daily dinner, hell look up to you and

respect you.

2.Train him. Use food rewards to teach him what you

want him to do, and how you want him to behave.

This too will cement your place as his pack leader. It

will also make him more pleasant to be around and

to take places. Youll spend more me together,

which will increase your connecon with him.

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3. Speak to him calmly. Imagine how your face lookswhen you are angry. Your knit your brows, curl yourlips and roar. This expression isnt all that dierent

to that of an aggressive dog, and your dog will

be scared. Apart from being afraid of you, he will

also feel insecure. Leaders arent supposed to lose

control, and if he cant rely on you to be in charge,

hell be nervous. This isnt good for any relaonship,

and it will damage your relaonship with your dog.

4.Groom him regularly. Although bath me may not

be popular, most dogs enjoy being brushed. If you

can learn how to massage him, hell love it even

more. There is a lot you can communicate through

touch.

5. Play games with him. Theres nothing your dog willenjoy more than a good game of ball or tug with

you. When you have fun together, it builds a strong

bond that will make training easier.

6. Never ever strike your dog with your hand, foot oranything else. That sort of treatment will terrify

him and hell be very reluctant to get close to you.

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He may shrink away when you approach him, and

roll submissively on his back. You can appreciate

how this would really damage your relaonship,

and make it much harder to train him.

Think for a moment about your best friend. How do you

treat them? You dont yell or scream at them, or hit them.

You enjoy sharing fun acvies with them, and oen go

out for coee together. You can use the same relaonship

building techniques with your dog.

A very important part of having a great relaonship with

your dog is being a rm but fair leader. This means you

need to understand about the structure of a dog pack, and

where you need to t in.

Uen Dg Pk Bu

Dogs are pack animals. Their social structure consists of

one pack leader, or alpha dog, and the remaining are below

him in status. Each member of the pack has his own place

in the hierarchy, just like steps on a stepladder.

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The pack leader controls how and when the other dogs

have access to all the good things in life.

They are the one who can:

1. Have his meal rst, before any of the other packmembers.

2. Choose where he wants to sit or lie down3. Walk in front of the other pack members4. Partner with the most desirable member of the

opposite gender

In your home, this translates to you being in charge of food,

playme and where your dog sleeps. You dont need to be

harsh or strict with your dog, you just need to be the boss.

If you have more than one dog, youll probably be able

to recognize which dog is the pack leader amongst them.

However, you need to make sure that ulmately you are

the alpha dog in the pack, and even the most dominant

amongst the dogs has to respect that. Dogs are actually

happier when they have a rm and fair pack leader they

can look up to for guidance.

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Becoming Pack Leader

You need to constantly reinforce your posion as alpha dog

so your dog doesnt get any ideas about becoming the boss.

Here is what you can do to keep your alpha posion:

1.Train your dog to sit or drop on command, and

pracce it regularly. Being lower in stature than

another is a submissive posion, and with you

standing above him, it reinforces your posion at

the top of the hierarchy.

2. Ask your dog to sit and wait when you put hisdinner bowl down, and dont let him eat unl you

give him the command to do so. The pack leader

controls access to food, and by doing this you are

reminding your dog that you are in charge of what

he gets to eat.

3. If your dog is lying in your way, for example in thehallway or on the couch, dont maneuver around

him. He needs to move to make way for you. Theres

no need to be rough, but just ask him to get up and

get out of your way.

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Chapter4in qup

Its safe to say that you do need some equipment to train

your dog, but the good thing is that you may already have

enough to start with. As me goes on, you can spend a few

dollars on gear that will make life easier for you, but for

now, start with what you have.

The basics you will need to start training are:

1. A collar2. A leash3. Somewhere to keep your treats handy.

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Lets look at dog training equipment in more detail.

Cl

There are a variety of styles of collars available for dog

training. There are pros and cons to all.

Cck C

Also known as choke chains, these are used to correct

your dog when he does the wrong thing, parcularly when

learning to walk nicely beside you. A quick jerk on the chain

gets his aenon prey quickly!

Many people use these and do have success. If your dog

gets a correcon when he is wandering too far away, hell

soon learn to avoid the correcon by staying close to you.

While this does work, it can take a while for your dog to gure

it out. There is also potenal for causing him injury with

these collars. You will get quicker results for rewarding your

dog when he is walking near you, because youre teaching

him what you do want him to do, rather than correcng

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him when he gets it wrong. Reward based training is also

much more pleasant for your four legged friend.

P ol

These collars are also made of chain, but also have a ring of

prongs that point inwards. When you jerk on the leash, theprongs pinch the skin on your dogs neck. People who use

prong collars believe that they are less painful than a check

chain and it takes less physical eort on your part to correct

your dog. However, they have the same disadvantages

as the check chain: they dont give your dog any direct

indicaon of what you want him to do, and they may cause

injury. These collars are illegal in many parts of the world.

Re in Cl

Also known as an electronic training collar, these collars

give your dog a short, sharp electric shock when he needs

correcon. They have the advantage of being able to correct

your dog from a distance, so you dont need to be right

beside him, or have him on a leash.

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These too have the potenal to cause harm, as dogs can

receive burns to the skin if the collar is used incorrectly.

They too dont give your dog any indicaon as to what you

do want.

Fxd Cl

These are your standard so collars, with either a clip or a

buckle fastening. They dont ghten on your dogs neck so

they give no correcon. They can sll be pulled or jerked

though. These are all you need if you are using a posive

reward based training method with your dog.

To nd the right size for your dog, measure the circumference

of your dogs neck directly behind his ears with a tape

measure. When it is worn, you should be able to t two

ngers between the collar and your dogs neck.

There is one type of xed collar that does ghten a lile,

and its called a marngale. Its a gentle alternave to a

chain collar if youd prefer to have the opon to correct

your dog while you train him.

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Les

You have a number of opons when it comes to choosing a

leash for your dog. Dierent materials and dierent lengths

all serve dierent purposes.

Canvas and nylon leashes are available in pet stores and

through websites or catalogs. They come in an wide range

of colors, so youre sure to nd one to match your dogs

collar.

Leather leashes are also popular, but they cost a bit more

than a canvas or nylon leash. This means theyre not a good

opon if your dog likes to chew their leash.

Chain leashes are uncomfortable to hold. Imagine how

your hands would feel if youre holding a chain leash and

your dog runs o. Ouch! Theyre not recommended at all

for training dogs.

The most common leash length for basic obedience training

is 4 foot long. This length keeps your dog nearby, and isnttoo awkward or unwieldy to move from hand to hand.

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When you graduate to more distant work such as the sit-

stay and drop-stay, a longer leash is useful. Try a 6 foot

leash when your dog is learning these exercises.

Retractable leashes are not at all suitable for dog training,

as the handle is too cumbersome to work with.

St

If youre going to reward your dog with treats as you train

him, youll need to keep them nearby.

The least expensive way of doing this is storing your treats

in a small plasc takeaway container, and keeping it nearby

as you train.

This works ne if you are at home, but its not convenient

if you want to connue your training as you walk along the

sidewalk, or if you go to a dog club.

Pet stores and online retailers sell dedicated treat bags,

which clip onto your belt. These are another opon to

consider if youre looking to purchase something to keep

your rewards in.

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Whatever you choose to use, make sure it is easy to clean

so you dont have traces of spoiled food le behind aer a

training session.

H Cl

Head collars such as Gentle Leaders and Hals are a good

alternave to a training collar, especially if your dog is big

and boisterous.

These collars allow you to gently maneuver your dogs head

so he goes in the direcon you want him to. Its the same as

youd do if you were leading a horse on a head halter.

They are gentle on your dog, but it will take a lile while for

your dog to get used to wearing one. They sll have some

potenal for injury if your jerk on your dogs head while he

is wearing one.

Hses

Harnesses are handy for walking your dog, especially if he

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has a sore neck, or for keeping him safe in the car. Because

your dog can pull with his shoulders while wearing a harness,

he may pull even harder. Theyre not recommended for dog

training because they dont allow you to direct your dogs

head, and keep his aenon on you.

Training Toys

If your dog doesnt like treats, or is on a diet, you may want

to play with him. Tug toys are parcularly good as a training

reward. Many people believe playing tug o with a dog

encourages aggression and dominance in dogs. This isnt

the case if it is done properly. There is more informaon on

how to play with your dog later in this program.

in ?

Treats are basically a form of currency for your dog. Just as

you go to work and are paid for it, you can pay your dog

for doing the right thing with a tasty reward.

Weve already discussed how your dog is more likely to

repeat a behavior if he is rewarded for it, and a delicious

piece of diced chicken or sliced hot dog is the perfect salary

for him.

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Co Dg

Its very important that you choose the right treat for your

dog, otherwise it wont work. A treat has to be special, so

dont even think about using your dogs regular kibble. He

wont be interested in that at all.

Every dog has a dierent favorite food, so experiment with

your training partner and see what he likes best. Try some

diced cooked chicken, sliced hot dog, dried liver and even

some small cubes of cheese to see what he prefers.

You may nd he likes all of them; thats great, it means you

can add variety to your training.

Keep your treats small, so your dog can gobble them quickly.

This allows you to repeat the behavior several mes during

a training session, to reinforce it beer.

He wont spend several minutes chewing and swallowing

before you can try again.

Keep in mind that your dog will be geng a lot of treats

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in the early stages of his training, so if possible, use treats

with nutrional value.

Hw o U e

There are two ways you can use treats.

1. To reward a behavior that you like. Under thesecircumstances, your dog shouldnt see the treat,

otherwise its a lure. Give him a command, and

when he obeys, then he gets the tasty snack.

Make sure you reward him at the exact me he

is doing what you ask; that way he will recognize

what the reward is for, and is more likely to do it

again.

If you are teaching him to drop, and youre slow

to get his treat to him, you may nd he thinks hes

geng the treat for geng up!

2. As menoned, the treat can be used to lure yourdog to do a parcular behavior. When he has got it

right, he then gets to eat the snack.

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how to train your dog like a professional- part 1

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