Dog Obedience Training Blog
Category : Manners
Valor Dog of the Year
courtesy of www.ohmidog.com
Seems like there’s an award for just about everything these days. Even our dogs can get in on the action. The award for Valor Dog of the Year has been announced.
Dogs recognized for their acts of valor
ohmidog.com, published 3/16/10
The Humane Society of the United States has announced the Valor Dog of the Year” – Kenai, a Bernese mountain dog mix from Erie, Colo.,who awakened her owner to alert him to a carbon monoxide leak in the vacation home where he, six other adults, two children, and three dogs were sleeping.
The awards celebrate the human-animal bond by honoring dogs who have exhibited an extraordinary sense of courage or resolve by heroically helping a person in need.
Misconceptions about Shelter Dogs
Image courtesy of: Cecelia / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
While many people want to purchase a new puppy from a good breeder, there is an alternative for those who don’t want to fork out the big bucks just to get a great pet. Consider a shelter dog. Many of these dogs are just waiting for someone like you to come along and rescue them, and they are more than ready, willing, and eager to provide you all the love and companionship you could possibly want!
Common Misconceptions about Shelter Dogs
by RenewTrients March 15, 2010 10:25 am
Bringing home a shelter dog can be very rewarding. Not only can they be as loving, loyal and amusing as dogs raised by breeders, you’ll also feel a good about the fact that you’re saving a wonderful animal from an uncertain fate inside the shelter. While there are those people who will love their pets no matter where they come from, there are also those who would think twice about getting a shelter dog. Most of the time, they are apprehensive about bringing home a rescued dog because of established misconceptions. Here are some of them:
Shelter dogs were abandoned because they are bad pets. Absolutely not true! A shelter dog might have been taken to the facility because of a number of possible reasons including death of the original owner or maybe because the owner was neglectful or abusive so the authorities took the pet away from his custody.
Shelter dogs have behavioral problems. Instead of making generalizations, you can try to see the dogs for yourself and ask the shelter staff about their history and disposition. Most shelter dogs are only too happy to be adopted by a new owner that they end up rewarding them with love and loyalty and often make full emotional recovery.
Dogs in shelters are old and sickly. While it is possible that some shelter dogs have medical conditions, most are, young, vibrant and healthy. And so what if some of the dogs are old? Many shelter dogs that become very good companion animals are senior dogs. They usually make great pets for people who are old or less active themselves.
I can’t get purebred dogs in shelters. As a matter of fact, you can get dogs belonging to even the rarest of breeds in animal shelters. But mixed breeds make great pets too, especially because they often experience less medical problems than purebred dogs.
Is Your Dog Right for You?
courtesy of www.dogstardaily.com
If you are thinking about getting a dog, or perhaps adding another one to your household, you might want to read this article to see if you have done your homework on figuring out just what type of dog is really right for you and the best methods for training your dogs to fit in with your lifestyle.
An Un-Tapped Resource
by Marie Finnegan, January 17, 2010
Dog Star Daily
As dog trainers we regularly see people who have chosen to add a dog to their home that isn’t always the best match for them. Our job is to teach them how to live together in spite of the challenges a mismatch may bring with it. Most of the time we can help, but sometimes sadly the dog ends up in rescue instead, despite our best efforts.
What I don’t understand is why more people don’t ask trainers their opinion in finding the right dog for them. We see and work with more breeds and shelter dogs regularly than they will ever meet in a lifetime. Some of us even live with multiple breeds in our own homes. Not to mention the fact that dog trainers know about dog behavior and breed traits because it is our job to know this information.
Lessons We Can Learn From Our Dogs
Dogs are so forgiving, so eager to please. They can be trained to behave with manners that would make anyone proud. What if we were more like them? Here’s an article from CBS’s Bob Schieffer, with a whimsical look at how much better off we might be if we took a few lessons from our dogs.
Bob Schieffer Says Humans Would Be Better Off If We Let Dogs Be Our Teachers Read the rest of this entry »
Is Your Puppy Like a Child?
Are puppies like children? I believe we can all agree that children must be taught, at a very early age, how to behave, what foods are healthy for them, things they should not touch, etc. And, the same is true for our puppies. They need to be properly trained so they know what is, or is not, acceptable behavior.
This article addresses some of the similarities, but also the differences.
Dogs are like little children
by Roberta Baxter, Eugene Dogs Examiner, December 19
When we leave the home, unless we have a video camera, a pet owner does not know everything that goes on while they are away. Even if the camera is set and ready to record, don’t bank on it telling you everything. The mind and brain of a dog can be sneaky. Do you wonder if they know what is right and wrong? Just remember the canine is a dog and is not human. Pet owners sometimes think of their dogs as children, but they are dogs, folks.
Holiday Entertaining and Your Dog
Many of us will be entertaining during the holidays with family and friends. And, let’s face it, not everyone loves our dogs like we do, and the fact is, many dogs are not as well-trained as we’d like them to be when it comes to interacting with company. Here’s an article with some great tips on how to make entertaining a more pleasant experience for both you and your dog.
The Life of the Party: Holiday Entertaining Success for Dog Owners
by Casey Lomonaco KPA CTP
Is Your Dog as Smart as a 2-Year Old?
Canine researcher Stanley Coren says dogs are as smart as 2-year-old kids and can comprehend more than 150 words. Brit / Flickr
Most dog owners think their canines are pretty smart, don’t they? After all, they each have their own unique personalities, and through proper dog training, they can all learn, right? That being true, here’s an interesting article about recent research to determine the top 7 smartest breeds.
Read on to find out if your pet ranks in the Top 7.
What Pillow?
Courtesy of faildogs.com
Have you ever come home only to find something like this? I have! So cute, but so wrong! Makes you want to turn and just walk back out the door…
What is Clicker Training?
Clicker training is based on the behavioral psychology concept of operant conditioning. Without getting too technical, because this is not Psych 101, operant conditioning states that when you use consequences you can modify behavior and training.
However clicker training doesn’t use punishment as consequences like older more traditional forms of dog training, but rather uses rewards to modify behavior and training. There are of course, many benefits to using clicker training and positive reinforcement.
A Clicker is a Conditioned Reinforcer
A clicker, a small handheld device which makes a clicking noise when pressed, is a conditioned reinforcer. Meaning that the specific sound a clicker makes marks a desired behavior. You can pick them up at most pet stores for just a couple bucks.
For example, you ask your dog to sit and he sits, you click and that signal marks the behavior. Your reward so that he begins to make associations. Your dog begins to relate the treat to the click and the click to performing the behavior you request.
Why Clicker Training is Important
Why this is so important to learning. While sit isn’t such a difficult behavior for dogs to learn many behaviors are. Many behaviors take several steps to perform correctly and therefore it’s very important your dog knows when he’s performed all or part of the behavior correctly. Now you might be asking, “Why can’t I just say ‘good dog?’”
Our voices change inflection, we use different words, and we’re unable to speak as accurately as a simple click. That being said, you will absolutely need to practice clicking to achieve the accuracy necessary for it to be useful.
You certainly don’t want to click a split second later when your dog has decided to stand up again after the sit command because now you’ve just marked the standing up behavior – not what you were intending on teaching!
Tomorrow I’ll post the benefits of Clicker Training. You can also read some more on Clicker Training For Dogs here.
Training Dogs To Actually Obey You
This week I had an interesting interview with Chris from TheBalancedDog.com where we talked about a topic that I see a HUGE need for… teaching dog’s House manners!
And when I say house manners, I’m not talking about House Training, I’m talking about MANNERS, like greeting people nicely at the door, not digging, not jumping up… those kind of manners.
You can listen to this interview here:
Enjoy!
Chet
