Tuesday 18 March 2014

First Thing I Teach Any Dog





The first thing I teach any dog is a boundary, usually the front door. I teach them to not cross the threshold until they are told to. I teach this without a command to stop the dog, it is alright if they sit, stand, or lay down, as long as they do not cross the line. It can be any door or gate, in a back door, out the front door or gate, any boundary where you want the dog to not go. This is a handy thing, knowing the dog is not going to go until you say, but I always start with this because it uses their territorial instinct, which is strongly at all ages, to introduce them to my negative and positive in a way they understand immediately. Then, focusing twice as much on positive, incorporate the same consistent negative and positive into a working routine. The working routine is then practiced daily for no longer than five minutes at a time. 

This is a respect building time and should be practiced by everyone that the dog lives with. Some of the time the people should work one on one with the dog, other times working the dog together, so the dog learns that all the people in his pack are above him in the pecking order. The dog has to respect everyone in the house either alone or all together. The practice time will become fun and the dog should get very good at responding to the commands, but even when the dog knows everything you want you should keep practicing. Keep the respect high and let him earn your praise and approval, demanding more and more from his actions and performance. The better the dog works the better the respect and the more you demand the better the dog understands that it is his actions that please and/or displease you. You can then use that respect for behavioral modifications and/or teach the dog to do or not do just about anything. 

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