Puppy / Dog Behavior And Obedience Training

Obedience Training Your Puppy / dog

When building a close relationship with your puppy / dog obedience training is a cornerstone. It lays out a foundation which you can use to solve most behavioral problems your puppy / dog will encounter. Obedience training your puppy / dog opens a line of communication and mutual understanding that is necessary when dealing with puppy / dog behavioral problems.

Your puppy / dog is an animal and without socializing it with proper obedience training it will behave with all the natural instincts of a wild animal. The puppy / dog will destroy your possessions, try to dominate you and your family and be a pack leader, they will act aggressively towards people visiting your house which he regards as his territory, he will fight other dogs or maybe bite members of your family. Obedience training your puppy / dog will not it self cure behavioral problems, but you have a tool to redirect inappropriate behavior into desired behavior.

How obedience training your puppy / dog can help solve behavioral problems

When obedience training your puppy / dog you are the same time establishing a social hierarchy. When you gives your puppy / dog positive reinforcement when following your obedience commands, he will try to get that positive reaction again. Step by step the puppy / dog plays himself into a subordinate role, accepting you as the pack leader. When your puppy / dog obeys obedience commands like 'sit', 'stay', 'off' he shows compliance and respect for you. And the puppy / dog loves to perform these obedience commands and get the positive reactions from you. When your puppy / dog is reacting positively on the obedience training he is also accepting that you are in charge. This gives you a perfect foundation for solving future behavioral problems.

When to start obedience training your puppy / dog

Some people argue, that you should not train your dog before it is 8-10 months old. This is true if the training involves physical exercises like dog agility jumps, in which case the bone structure of your puppy has not developed. But the right time to start regular puppy / dog obedience training is ... now! The same thing can be said about obedience training older dogs. It is never to late to start, so get started now.

How to get started with obedience training your puppy / dog

First of all it is always good to seek advice by professional dog trainers, but never let the dog trainer substitute you. You can enroll in an obedience training class to get started, but the best obedience training happens in your home, naturally integrated in your daily activities. The puppy / dog is learning best in home environment. When the puppy / dog has learned his first obedience commands, then take him out and learn him also to follow the obedience commands in environments with different kinds of distractions.

Learning your puppy / dog the first obedience commands

The well-known dog trainer Dove Cresswell shows you in these short, straight to the point lessons how to learn your puppy / dog obedience commands.

Free Lessons - obedience commands

She also gives you important tips on how to motivate your dog and keeping a good progress without loosing his - or yours - enthusiasm.

Rewarding your puppy / dog when obedience training

The importance of positive reinforcement by rewarding your puppy / dog when obedience training cannot be emphasized to much. The more often your dog is getting positive attention for doing his best to perform your obedience commands, the happier he will be and the faster he will learn. We are to often taking good behavior as granted and are falling into the trap focusing on correcting bad behavior. Negative corrections are doing no good, lots of positive attention for every good behavior are building a mental strong, happy and self-confident dog. The effect of your puppy / dog obedience training will be many times bigger with positive reinforcement and chances of changing any kind of bad behavior will improve, when you build your relationship with your puppy / dog mainly on rewarding good behavior, instead of punishing the unwanted behavior.