Teaching basic obedience skills to a dog can be exciting as
well as challenging. Are you having problems on where to
begin? Well, start by doing your homework. A student can
only be as good as his trainer, right?


The first lesson in obedience training is to
get your dog to pay attention to the commands. You want to
start by calling his (or her) name and then using a keyword
like "watch" or "look" afterwards. This way, he will
associate the keywords to a command. Once you've got his
attention in this way, the lessons can begin.


Ok, next you want your dog to be able to pay attention to you
for a short period of time. Try keeping his attention by
doing some attention exercises. For example: hold a toy or
dog treat near your mouth and then give him the keyword
command. Each time he takes the time to focus on you, praise
him. The more you do this exercise, the more time he should be
able to pay attention to you. Try getting him to watch for at
least a minute. Let him know that he is doing a good job by
rewarding him. Dogs learn best this way. Once you get your dog
to a point where you can repeatedly get his attention for a
minute at a time, give yourself a pat on the back also.


Because dogs have such short attention spans, they get
distracted quite easily. Choose a place that is free from other
distractions such as other pets, children or loud noises.
Training sessions should only last approximately 30 minutes
tops. Usually, if you go over this time limit, the dog will get
restless and easily distracted.


If your dog isn't learning very quickly, you may become
frustrated. Don't take that frustration out on your animal.
Here are a few things to remember before starting your obedience
lessons:


1) Never cause pain to your dog (this will cause him to shy away
or become aggressive to you.)


2) If he begins to become distracted, change the tone of your
voice (this doesn't mean raising it) and he may respond again.


3) Consistency is very important and cannot be stressed enough
(animals are like children, if you are not consistent, they will
become confused as to what is expected).


Teaching your dog basic obedience commands will pay off with a
more obedient and pleasant dog to be around.


The first command to start off with would be to sit. You must
use the word sit while teaching him so that he can relate the
word with the action. Start by gently pushing his back-side down
and saying the word "sit." Eventually he will catch on to the
concept and you will be able to get him to sit without having to
touch him.


The second command is "down." Dogs can become pretty hyper when
they get excited. Jumping up on their owner's lap is usually how
they express their excitement. If you have a big dog or have
other people over, you might not want them pouncing about - it
can be more than embarrassing when your dog jumps all over your
visitors. When they jump up, tell them "down." Do not pet them
or act excited to see them while they are on you. Continue to
tell them "down," and even place their legs down if you have to.


Next is the command of "stay." This command is a good one to
know especially if you have a fairly hyper dog. You can teach
him 'stay', for example, by putting a treat or something
desirable on the ground. As he moves toward it, tell him "Stay."
Another good idea would be to put your hand up (a good visual
sign) while saying the word "stay." When he begins to become
obedient in this area, you can move further away from him.
This will cause him to become more daring and he will probably
take a step forward to see how much he can get away with. When
he does this, continue to put your hand out and tell him "stay."
He has to know that even though you are moving away, you can
still see what he's doing and expect him to continue to obey.


After you've mastered the stay command, you will move on to
the 'come' command. Once your dog has mastered the sit and
stay commands he will need a command to know when it's ok to
get up and approach you. They may be a bit confused at first,
but with a change in the tone of your voice, he will soon
understand. Put some excitement in your voice when saying the
word "come". He will pick up on this. You might also want to pat
your thigh when you say come.


'Stand' is the last command to achieve. This is where your dog
is allowed to get a little excited but not in a pouncing kind of
way. When teaching your dog to stand, pat your hands on your
chest and, once again, put a little excitement in your voice, so
that he knows he's allowed, under certain circumstances. He will
soon begin to know the difference.


Teaching your dog basic obedience, if possible, should be taught
as soon as you and your dog are ready. Remember, be consistent
with the commands and don't forget to have fun!


If you want more information on
Dog Training or Dog Care. then please visit
our website at www.dogtraininghut.com.