My Dumb Dog

May 11, 2009

How Can I Train My New Puppy To Stop Biting?

Filed under: Training — admin @ 6:59 pm

It is important to start training your puppy well before he reaches the age of 4 months. If your dog has a nipping and biting habit it should be resolved with the help of proper training techniques and certain commands well before he reaches this age. But if your training fails to yield the desired results or if you have adopted a puppy that is almost 4 months old or older, then you can use the tips mentioned here to help you to train him and get him to stop biting and nipping at your hand. You may need to purchase some dog supplies for your new puppy, such as dog feeders or cheap dog crate that will aid in training.

The first thing that you need to do if your dog has a nipping and biting problem is stop all play which includes even traces of hostility. The usual games to avoid would be tug of war and wrestling. Most pet owners enjoy indulging in these games with their puppies but if your pet has the tendency to nip and bite your hand you will only encourage him by playing games that include rough housing. He will feel that his behavior is acceptable.

Generally most young puppies that are teething will tend to nibble at your hand which is acceptable given their young age. But once your dog grows up you don’t want to make any exceptions and you shouldn’t tolerate any nips or bites at all. Even if you feel that your dog didn’t mean to hurt you or is just play biting, you should immediately pull your hand away and give him a firm command to stop.

If your dog still continues with his nipping habit you may want to use measures that may shock him out of his habit. No I certainly am not recommending the use of torture devices such as shock collars but a squirt gun or bottle should work wonders. The moment your dog nibbles on your hand just squirt some water on his head or body this will shock him enough to make him stop. Eventually he will learn that every time he bites, you will use the squirt gun so he stops doing it.

Finally never take a biting or nipping incident lightly and laugh it off. These incidents merit firm disciplinary commands. Regardless of your dog’s age if you feel him bite or nip you immediately take a firm stance and in a loud voice say “no biting”. There are only two things that you need to remember here, the first is once you command your dog to stop don’t stare into his eyes for two long because he will think that you are challenging him. Also make sure that you don’t yell too loudly because you may scare your pup and fear is never a good training technique

March 26, 2009

Dog Training Tips

Filed under: Training — admin @ 11:44 am

Let’s face it, dogs are in no way stupid, if they were then no one would want them as pets. Sometimes though, dog owners do not give their pet enough credit because just as we can teach them to learn voiced commands, they can also learn body language. When you use body language along with spoken commands, training a dog is made much simpler.

One example is that of an overly excited dog who often jumps on any visitor that enters your home. All puppies go through this phase and while most do get rig of it, some others will continue these actions well into adulthood. Every time that a guest makes their way into your home, the puppy will become easily excited regardless of whether they are there to play with the puppy or not. You may also want to pick up some pet carriers or dog strollers to help control your dog.

The puppy wants to know what the guest has to offer them, they want to know if the guest has any treats or even if the person wants to play with them and the easiest way for them to determine this is to simply jump all over anyone who enters the house.

As a result, you start giving the dog a series of commands, even ones that you have never taught the puppy. Every time as your tone becomes firmer and firmer and harsher, so too does the dog become ever more excited. This becomes a vicious and chaotic circle that never ceases until either you throw the dog outside, or the guest leaves.

When you grab the dog and raise your voice, the dog takes this as playing and the more that you do it, the more that he or she becomes excited. Their are many different dog supplies that you can pick up to help train your dog as well.

In order to better communicate with your dogs, here are some simple tips.

Instead of joining in on the game and making the puppy more excited, you need to take a moment and look at how you approach the situation. How you approach the dog is body language and the dog interpret’s it much differently than you or I would.

1) When your puppy is doing something that you are not liking, refrain yourself from chasing the puppy around the house and yelling at him or her. While you may interpret this as anger, the dog will see it as you wanting to play right along with them and join in on the game.

2) It is important to remember that you always need to show dominance over the dog, instead of yelling, stand upright and puff out your chest in order to give yourself a larger silhouette and in a very firm voice, reprimand the puppy. The goal is to intimidate, but not to scare the puppy.

3) Remember that while the dog is excited, virtually anything you do can be interpreted as play. Never move quickly and using a smooth toned voice, talk to the dog. The ultimate goal is to show the puppy the behavior you would like him or her to have and make it a game for them; see who can stay the most relaxed.

January 7, 2009

Sure Fire Tips For Training Your Puppy

Filed under: Training — admin @ 1:06 pm

Just like the human child, a puppy in it’s early years of life it learns by its senses! Their brains are just like a computer, constantly processing downloaded information and making use of it.

Just because puppies are small, does not mean they have undeveloped intelligence! Actually puppies are very smart and it’s in these critical months that is the best time for training and if you take advantage of this time, your training will go much smoother and easier!

Blowout sales on a huge selection of dog clothes and dog sweater.

In a study done, young puppies that were anywhere from 2-3 weeks of age were given EEG’s and that test showed that puppies more than had the ability to learn because of their rapid brain activity. EEG measurements of young puppies show that they have a marked increase in the height, or amplitude, of brain waves when they are awake. And from this point on, puppies acquire new skills at a rapid pace.

It wasn’t too long ago that most dog owners and dog trainers did not consider puppies to be trainable until they were well past five or six months old. However, that theory has been totally disproved.

Puppies who are kept in crates or isolated areas, limited to no mental stimuli, and receive no training or positive approaches to discipline do not have increase mental ability, can be either timid or aggressive, are not socialized, and can be troublesome pets that most often end up in shelters on the streets.

Studies have shown that a puppy’s early experiences can mold and shape the brain’s physiology. Puppies that are raised with lots of toys to play with and problems to solve, along with positive behavior training, ended up having a higher learning ability and amazingly enough, grew slightly more developed brains than similar puppies that were raised in limited learning environments.

Since you are a dog owner you are probably wanting some dog bed.

Think about this information. Evidence clearly shows that the puppy which learns various training protocols at an early age, such as climbing stairs, meeting different people, etc. will be better developed both mentally and physically then the puppy who is confined to a crate or room all day long and only interacts with its family members, without being stimulated mentally.

What Does This Mean?

The good news is that this does not mean that your puppy should have total freedom and domination over the house to do what he or she wants. However, it does mean that your new dog should spend as much time as possible around you and other people as you go about your day.

Do not make the mistake of giving the pup too much freedom. This will encourage problems with behavior and when this behavior becomes a habit, it is increasingly harder to break these characteristics as your dog gets older. You have to let your puppy know that you are in charge and while he has free reign to express himself, a clear understanding of who is the boss (pack leader) must be constituted.

November 16, 2008

Training Your Chihuahua Puppy: Top Pet Guidance

Filed under: Training — admin @ 8:35 pm

Chihuahuas may be a tiny breed of dog, but they can be quite territorial and protective as well. Some people think there are few things cuter than a Chihuahua pup, but before you bring that adorable baby home from the breeder, you would be well advised to learn more about the best methods for training your Chihuahua puppy.

Like any puppy, a Chihuahua has to have a clear understanding of what is expected of him from day one. Many Chihuahua owners make the mistake of going easy on training their Chihuahua puppy, because of his tiny size. However, an untrained Chihuahua can create big problems for the owner if he is allowed full run of the house for too long. Like any breed of dog, Chihuahuas are pack animals that have to understand their status in the pecking order. If you do not establish authority by properly training your Chihuahua puppy right away, it is very likely that he will attempt to take charge of you.

House Training your Chihuahua Puppy
One of the first steps in training your Chihuahua puppy will be toilet training. Chihuahuas will react well to either the crate method of housebreaking or the paper technique. The key to effectivelytoilet training your Chihuahua puppy is in the patience and consistency that you bring to the process. The more frequently that you can show your puppy the proper place to go to the bathroom, and the more praise that you can give him when he gets it right, the more quickly the puppy will catch on to what is expected of him. When your puppy has run of the house, keep a close eye on him to make sure that he doesn’t go to the bathroom in the house. The first time that your puppy has an accident indoors, clean up the mess promptly and get rid of the smell as much as possible. Otherwise, the pet will return to this spot the next time he feels the need to eliminate.
Check out these articles for more tips on house breaking your puppy.
how to crate train a puppy
how to housebreak puppy
Puppy litter training a great house training method

Socializing your Chihuahua Puppy
Chihuahua puppies are clan animals, and that means they tend to get along better with their own kind than they do with other animals. They can also be skittish around strangers and children. Therfore, it is important to include socialization when training your Chihuahua puppy. This means that you have to teach your dog how to behave around other animals and people, as well as educate children in the house how to act around your pet. This may include approaching the dog slowly and letting him sniff before attempting to touch him. The more you expose your puppy to other people and pets, the easier it will be to socialize your dog properly.

A Chihuahua puppy can be a cute and enjoyable addition to your family. With proper training of your Chihuahua puppy, he will be a much more welcome addition as well.

November 13, 2008

Find Out How to Handle of Puppy Care and Pitbull Dogs

Filed under: Training — admin @ 12:28 am

How To Feed Your Puppy

A puppy always tells his dog owner whether he is getting too much or too little food in several ways. Crying is one of the most often recognized, but least likely to be always accurate. Although hungry puppies do cry, so do cold puppies, hot puppies, puppies that were disturbed from a nap, lost puppies, sad puppies, etc.

Crying is simply nature’s way of giving a puppy a means of telling everybody that he is unhappy. Anything that makes a puppy unhappy will probably also make him cry, even having his tummy too full. Therefore, to say that a puppy is crying because he is hungry requires a judgment on the owner’s part. And since we do not think like a puppy, we have to use the reactions of the puppy’s system to determine whether or not he is getting enough to eat.

Every time you feed a puppy, two things should happen. First, he should have a bowel movement and second, he should urinate. Sometimes a puppy may need a little encouragement by rubbing his anal area, but he should always perform both acts if everything is going right. The makeup and amount of his feces and urine are important clues that tell you how well you are doing when it comes to properly feeding your pet. For one thing, the puppy’s stool should be formed as it is expelled, but its consistency should be soft and pasty. The color will depend to some extent on what you are feeding him. But in every case, it should not vary from a pale tan to a mahogany brown. The inside of the stool may be yellow-brown in many cases. Stools that are green, bluish-white or clear signal trouble.

Even tan or brownish stools that are watery, lumpy, hard or curdled may indicate something is not right.

Begin the following feeding with a formula that has been diluted one-half with boiled water. Continue to feed the same quantity as you did the undiluted food. If this fails to produce an improvement in the stool, reduce the quantity you are feeding by 25 % at each stool.

The quantity should be about the same each time the puppy urinates. It might be pale yellow to almost clear, but should never be deep yellow or orange. Also, it should always be like water and never like syrup and should smell like urine. Urine that is scanty, dark in color, or syrupy, indicates that the pup is not getting enough water. More water should be supplied, either added to the formula or fed separately. If the urine seems excessive in amount, unduly clear, or thin, the water concentration of the formula should be re-checked to make sure that he is not getting too much water. If urine production stops altogether for longer than four feedings, take the puppy to a vet as soon as poss puppy care.

Read more about pitbull dogs and how to house train dog.

October 5, 2008

Starting Rottweiler Training With A Puppy

Filed under: Training — admin @ 8:51 pm

One of the best breeds of dog in the world is the Rottweiler. They are courageous, compassionate, loving, and make great watchdogs. If you get a Rottweiler as a puppy you will even be able to train them to be safe around your children, so they can also make a great family pet.

On top of all this the Rottweiler is a beautiful dog, incredibly aesthetically appealing with their luxurious and shiny black coat with distinctive tan and mahogany markings. The ideal Rottweiler would be a medium large, robust and powerful dog. He would be one that has a compact and substantial build that denotes great strength, endurance and agility. Rottweiler training will be necessary however if you want to have an obedient dog that is going to be more of a friend to you and your family and less of a hassle. There are a few different issues that should be included in proper Rottweiler training.
Using multiple commands is one of the best and most important things you can do when it comes to Rottweiler training. You need to remember that pack leader dogs use body language to get their orders out, and so you want to do the same if you want to get through to your dog. For instance, if your dog is jumping up on a guest or being loud and will not stop barking, rather than just yelling the same thing over and over, you want to command him to sit as well as physically stop him from jumping by holding his collar.

This way you are not only verbally ordering him but physically as well, and your dog will understand this better. You should also not use verbal praise all of the time and rather a simple pat or touch on the head will be better to show them that you are happy or that they have been good.
In the matter of Rottweiler obedience training, consistency is more important than anything. Remember that training your dog is the basic and fundamental step to communicating with them and teaching them proper obedience and manners. Especially if you like to have guests over to your home you are going to want to make sure that your dog is going to be well behaved, as in not jumping up or barking constantly.

It is highly important that every dog be given at least some basic obedience and behavior training, as it will only help their general wellbeing. With proper training your dog will be more understanding and fun to be around, as you will not have to be scolding them every other second. Just make sure that you keep the tricks you learned while training them up and do not go back to old habits, because this will throw your dog off and they may go back to their old habits as well.

If you love your dog then Rottweiler training will be something you implement immediately and without question, because it is so important. dog training books are always useful, and there are even books specifically written for the Rottweiler breed that you can use.

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