by MarcGoldberg

Remember that dog who just knew you didn’t want her piddling in the house? Some dogs just need a slight sense of disapproval from you, and they virtually housebreak themselves.

But you don’t have one of those dogs…or you wouldn’t be reading this!

So how do we house train the dog who just doesn’t seem to get it? Believe it or not, it’s simple.

I have two key words for you:

Confine and Observe.

While there is a great deal to know about food and water scheduling, timing can vary from dog to dog. So we’ll just concentrate here on the main concept which is to confine your dog to an appropriately sized crate when you cannot observe her.

A properly sized crate is large enough for your dog to stand up and turn around, but hardly bigger than that. If you have a puppy in a large crate, she’ll think she’s got a bedroom with a bathroom built in. She’ll wee in one corner and sleep in the other.

The correctly sized crate consists of bedroom only with no “bathroom.” So if your crate is too large, go to the pet store and purchase a crate divider so you can temporarily reduce the accessible area.

Fido should be in her crate unless you can observe her 100%. This means that when the dog is loose, she has your undivided attention. Consider attaching a 6 foot light cord to the collar so you can more easily locate the dog, and prevent her from leaving the room without you. Simply step on the cord to stop her.

At the first sign your dog needs to go, whisk her outside. Those signs include circling, sniffing, anxiousness, whining among other symptoms.

When you’re not observing your dog with full attention, you confine her to the crate. That being said, you do need to ensure your dog has liberty periodically so she’s not all day in the crate. By being diligent now, you’ll be able to give Fido years of liberty with no worries. So it’s well worth the investment in time at this stage.

Be sure you spend time playing with your dog, and also let her wander outside the crate. Avoid tossing her in the crate as punishment. Alleviate your guilt feelings by placing bones smeared with peanut butter in with her.

This method makes it impossible for your dog to have an accident. You’re either right there to take her out, or she’s in the crate where she won’t want to go. When you’ve had a month with no accidents, you can begin to let the dog earn a little more liberty, five or ten minutes at a time.

That means she can be out of your sight for a few moments at a time. But only a few. You want to build slowly on a record of success until your dog literally forgets that the house ever contained a bathroom.

For each week with no accident, you can give Fido a few more moments of liberty at a time. However, if there is an accident, go back a step, and reduce that liberty. One accident in the house erases progress made for the several previous days.

Confine and Observe your way to house breaking success. In the course of just two or three months, you’ll have a dog you can trust in the home. It’s going to be worth the effort!

About the Author

Marc Goldberg is an IACP Certified Dog Trainer specializing in the rehabilitation of difficult dogs and improving relationships. He is Vice President of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP) and Editor of SafeHands Journal. The author also educates professional dog trainers in his techniques. Visit him on the web at http://www.chicagodogtrainer.com or http://www.dogtraininginchicago.com.

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by MarcGoldberg

Hey even I’m willing to learn new things if there’s a broiled lobster in it for me.

When I’m hungry that is.

If I’m not hungry, or if I’m so distracted that a lobster won’t tempt me, then I’ll blow you off to continue doing what I want, not what you want.

That’s pretty much how your dog sees the issue when you train with food. If he’s hungry at the moment, and if there’s nothing more compelling going on, food can be a great way to reinforce behaviors you teach your dog. On the other hand, if Fido isn’t food motivated, or if he’s got something “better” to do, he won’t be interested.

Nonetheless, training with food has its benefits when used as a motivator and a reward. For those dogs who just aren’t normally interested in treats, you can substitute play with a toy if that motivates them.

The first thing you have to know about using food in training is how NOT to use it. The primary rule is not to use it to stop an unwanted behavior. Instead, use it to create a new behavior you want to teach.

With those rules in mind, you won’t teach your dog to stop growling at other dogs by using food. But you may be able to teach him to sit more quickly if there’s something tasty in it for him.

Before I tell how you to deliver food treats when training, let me tell you WHY you should not use food to try and stop an unwanted behavior. The answer is because you can accidentally reinforce the very behavior you’re trying to stop.

For example, let’s say Fido growls at other dogs on his walks. If you tell him to stop growling, and distract him with a treat, what has he really learned?

Here’s what YOU’RE thinking…he stopped growling so I rewarded him for that with a cookie. He won’t growl again.

Here’s what FIDO is thinking…this is cool, I growl, then mom pops me a cookie. Let’s see if this works…let’s growl more!

Think of food as a directional reward. How, when and where you deliver it all determine whether the treat teaches your dog what you intended, or something else altogether. For example, you tell Fido to sit, and you hold a treat six inches over his head, while pushing down on his butt.

Sound about right? Wrong! By holding that treat six inches over his head, you’re really teaching Fido to sit then immediately break that position in favor of jumping up to get the cookie.

Instead, start Fido standing on a closely held leash. Show him you have a cookie, by holding it at nose level—only an inch from his sniffer– while he’s standing up. Direct his attention, and nose, slightly higher by raising the cookie only enough so that he must tend toward a sit to view it. While he’s focusing upward only a couple of inches over his nose, use your other hand to push his butt down, while your cookie hand keeps the treat only a couple of inches from his nose as it moves.

As soon as he is sitting, deliver the treat to him just slightly above nose level, and slightly toward his rear. This means that to collect the treat, Fido must actually lean back into the sit more to reach it.

Mission accomplished! Food hasn’t been just randomly delivered to your dog, leaving him wondering why he got it. Instead, the food has clearly communicated how he can get this treat even faster next time, by sitting when you ask.

Anyone getting hungry?

About the Author

Marc Goldberg is an IACP Certified Dog Trainer specializing in the rehabilitation of difficult dogs and improving relationships. He is Vice President of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP) and Editor of SafeHands Journal. The author also educates professional dog trainers in his techniques. Visit him on the web at http://www.chicagodogtrainer.com or http://www.dogtraininginchicago.com.

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by Gerry Ronson

Your dog’s health is going to be dependent on you; not only what you feed your dog, but also on your dog care. There are many things that are considered part of your dog’s care, but the main item you should concentrate on is the grooming. There are many reasons for grooming your dog. First you want to remove the dirt, dead hair, and prevent matting of their fur. Second you want to bond with your dog. Every dog needs some type of grooming care. It will depend a little on the dog as to how much grooming they are going to need. For example the Akita has natural oils in their coat that protect them, giving them baths can hurt the coat and weaken their immunity; therefore it is important to only bathe them when they really need it. Other dogs need to be bathed at least once a month. The following are going to be a few tips for dog grooming and care.

You should start grooming your dog as a puppy. If you have bought an older dog you may have a little trouble if they have not been groomed a lot in the past. However with a little help they will become accustom to the procedures.

You will need to have tools in order to groom your dog properly. Most stores will carry kits for dog grooming. Here are a few things you need to make sure are in the kit: combs for the correct type of hair, brushes with slanted metal pins, shedding blades, nail trimmers, tooth brush, and of course some type of shampoo.

The shampoo should be for dogs specifically. You want to make sure the proper nutrients are in the shampoo, such as natural oils that will help the hair remain soft. You may wish to ask a veterinarian or a person who grooms dogs at your local pet store for tips on the proper kit to purchase.

Once you have the proper tools, you can then start the brushing process. You will need to make sure all of the matted hair and tangles are removed from the dog’s coat before getting them wet. This means you may have to work a little hard to brush at the matted areas with a mat comb. Use a sawing motion to get through their coat.

As we mentioned above some dogs cannot tolerate frequent baths due to drying out the natural oils in the hair and skin, which leads to dry skin that they will scratch constantly. So you will want a gentle shampoo and a moderately warm bath. Soak the dog to the skin making sure all areas are wet. Lather the dog with shampoo, making sure to work the shampoo into the fur as you would your hair. You want to be thorough so make sure to get the tail, head, and under areas. It is best if you have some sort of showerhead with a hose or if you are outside to use a spray nozzle. The spray action will help you get the soap out of their hair. Just rinsing with a washcloth or buckets of water is not going to be effective. You do want to keep the soap out of their ears and eyes, but you can wash around the eyes with a cloth and use a sponge to help clean out the ears.

Grooming your dogs is extremely important and while we have only discussed the brushing, tools, and bathing aspects of grooming you should be aware that there are more things to consider after the bath and for daily care.

Gerry Ronson - Dog Toys, Dog Beds and Unique Dog Toys.

Article Source: Health article directory|information on breast cancer,diabetes,heart health

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by Mike Laxman

Whether you just got a new puppy, or you adopted an older dog, no doubt you want to train your dog to be well behaved. This can vary from house training your dog, to training your dog how to sit and stay. No matter what kind of training you are trying to do with your dog, there are some tips that can be very helpful to you. The following are five effective dog training tips that can help you train your dog in half the time.

Dog Training Tip #1 - Use Positive Reinforcement - Unfortunately there are many people who try training their dog by using negative techniques, and this is not an effective way to train your dog. Instead of yelling at your dog or giving him negative attention, it is important that you positively reinforce his good behavior when you are training him. Use praise, petting, and even treats whenever he performs well. You want the training to be fun for you and your dog, so make sure you use positive reinforcement for the best results.

Dog Training Tip #2 - Use Short Training Sessions - Just like children, dogs can be overwhelmed by a great deal of new information at one time. If you try to teach them too much in one setting, more than likely they will forget a good deal of it by the next day. It is best if you only have training sessions that last about 15-20 minutes with your dog. Every time you have a training session with your dog, try to focus on only one new command and reviewing previous commands that have been learned. This will help your dog better retain the information and training.

Dog Training Tip #3 - Use a Pleasant and Firm Voice - When you are training your dog the voice that you use is very important. You should be sure that you use a voice that is pleasant; however, you also want your voice to be firm and commanding as well. Make sure that your voice reflects that you are in control, but be sure that you do not sound mean.

Dog Training Tip #4 - Have Patience with Your Dog - If you are going to train your dog, you are going to need to make sure that you have plenty of patience. No doubt it will not be easy, but you need to make sure that you show your dog patience and not frustration. If you do not think that you have the patience to train your dog, then you may want to send him to obedience school or have someone else do it for you.

Dog Training Tip #5 - Avoid Any Distractions While Training - Another important tip to remember when trying to train your dog is to avoid any distractions while you are training your dog. If you happen to own any other pets, make sure that they are not around when you are trying to train your dog. You want the area to be free of distractions so your dog is focused on you and what you are trying to teach him.

About the Author

Find out about the Innotek dog collar, how they work and the different types at Innotek dog training collars

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