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January 23rd, 2010 by Hannah Clapham

Crate training a puppy is going to be a very good way to raise a pooch from puppy-hood to old friend. Many people get worried that it might be cruel, but when used for the right reasons, nothing could possibly be further from the truth. Using crate training to educate your puppy can be an effective as well as humane way to establish your puppy a place in your home and offer your pet a powerful feeling of security.

Crate training is a popular home teaching technique which provides your dog with his own special den and establishes acceptable behaviours for life in your house. However crate training your puppy is not only helpful for house training, there are other benefits too. Listed here are five essential steps to follow when crate training.

1. Don’t send your puppy to their crate for punishment. Don’t show any anger in your voice. If your puppy misbehaves, just lead him into the cage using encouraging words. Consider it as a happy place for your pet to go for a break when necessary. Try to sit down with the puppy a while and also pet him to reassure them that you aren’t angry.

Secondly, make your pet’s crate comfortable and secure. Offer blankets, chew toys, along with a cushion in order to rest on. However, don’t place food or drink inside the cage with him. Make it an area to rest.

3. Do not keep your dog inside the cage for long periods of time. For example, don’t leave your pet inside the crate all day when you are at work. Dogs are pack animals. They are social and they want to be with other animals – which usually includes us. To your dog, the family unit that lives in his home are other members of his pack. Sure, humans do not quite smell like other dogs, but that’s not the point. You will be hard pressed to find a dog that does not consider itself as one of us.’

4. When crate training a puppy, always be consistent. In the event that your dog is jumping on folks and you are using a cage in order to redirect him away from this habit, make sure to crate him each and every time an incident happens. Remember to keep it a pleasurable experience for your pup simply by allowing your friends to drop by the crate and say hi to your dog and pet him.

Finally, crate training your puppy is also highly successful by using a ’scheduled crate time.’ Just like a young child, even a puppy has to rest. These amazing creatures can be very light sleepers, constantly on guard for our protection. Giving them a little ‘nap time’ will make them far better behaved as well as calmer too.

We all like to see a well trained dog and crate training is definitely an excellent tool to use. Used correctly it is going to make your dog accept you as his boss or ‘leader of the pack’ and that is an important first step in any puppy training.

Having a crate to teach your pup provides it his own tiny ‘kingdom’ and you can also have some fun kitting it out. When done the right way, with lots of love, crate training your new puppy will provide both of you with an amazing friendship free of a lot of the ‘drama’ associated with dog ownership.

Hannah Clapham is an author and unashamed dog lover. Her latest site explains the benefits of using a Citronella Anti Bark Collar, to find out more, visit her site at http://www.citronellaantibarkcollar.net

January 21st, 2010 by John Milton

Any dog owner should know the importance of sleep to a dog’s mood, energy, and health over the long run. Just think about your own experiences. A good night’s rest will let you meet the day’s challenges with candor and coolness, and a bad night’s rest will make you irritable at the most mundane tasks throughout the day. The same goes for your dog. Giving them fantastic sleep will make all the difference between man’s best friend and your very own Cujo. If you want to give your dog the best night of rest that he’s ever had, then you need to buy him a heated dog bed.

Healing Power of Heating

A heated dog bed is a wise choice for helping to soothe your dog’s sore muscles after a long and tiring day of exercise. Dog trainers especially will find them to be invaluable tools for increasing the effectiveness of their pets. Allowing your dog to rest right after training on a heated dog bed (they even come in mobile versions that fit nicely into vehicles for the ride home) gives your dog a source of instant gratification, thus increasing its confidence. Confidence is integral to any competitive sport, and it often means the difference between feeling defeat far in advance and giving all of you’ve got till the very end, even when it’s readily apparent that you can’t possibly win.

For extra comfort, try out a heated orthopedic dog bed. By using materials like memory foam (yes, the same stuff used in our pillows), you can help to profile uniform support for your dog’s body. With no pressure points at night, your dog will receive the best sleep of its life. Heating and orthopedics together can also do wonders for dogs with arthritis, helping to ease their joints and make them more energetic for daily activities. That has the indirect benefit of then helping them exercise more and improving their health that way as well. The health benefits of heated dog beds shouldn’t be underestimated, and you ought to seriously consider them for your own dog.

Most pet owners would be quick, and rightly so, to point out the necessities of proper nutrition and exercise. However, they might not be so quick to rank a good night’s sleep up there with those other health concerns, but they would be mistaken not to do so. A heated dog bed can do just as much for a dog’s spirits as getting properly fed or walked, and may actually be even more important for their mood. Not all dogs require heated dog beds necessarily, but you may still want to consider other specialized beds like orthopedic models instead.

John Milton is an expert on dog training and his site is built for providing information about puppy training.

December 25th, 2009 by Susan Latrooben

Opening the door to your home for your brand new puppy is a sensation that just can’t be explained. Watching their curiosity as they examine and investigate their new surroundings is precious. Despite the fact that this is a very thrilling occasion, some foundations should begin without delay. Puppy obedience training is the first step in an ongoing process that starts right when you bring your puppy home.

You can do this in a number of ways. When your puppy acts in a desired manner you want to make sure to use positive reinforcement. When the behavior is undesirable, make use of suitable corrective methods. You need to make sure you don’t ignore any kind of behavior, whether desirable or undesirable. Make use of repetition to establish proper learning. Consistency is essential both with the commands you use and making sure we practice puppy obedience training daily.

When your puppy behaves well mannered or acts in a desired way we will let them know with treats or positive verbal praise. Don’t forget that repetition will be the key to learning. While dogs are exceptionally intelligent the process of learning something new takes a little practice for anyone.

Some feel that hitting your puppy or putting their face in the accident is effective but it is not positive puppy obedience training. Your dog will just learn to be frightened of you. This is not the way to start a wonderful companionship. Do you believe she will come when you call, if she thinks she is going to get a whack?

Chewing is a part of your puppy developing into a dog. If he is chewing on something he shouldn’t then use a strong “No” or “Bad”. Consistency is important so choose your word and stick to it. If you find him chewing a lot on something he shouldn’t then make sure he has something that is okay and praise him when he chews on that toy instead.

Biting is something all puppy’s do and their sharp teeth hurt. It’s not that they are trying to be hurtful, they are babies and teething is natural. You do need to set limits, you should not permit your puppy to gnaw hands or feet. Patience will be essential here. If she bites you make sure that she knows she hurt you by yelping. Use a firm voice and instantly stop playing. She will learn that biting ends playtime.

Remember to set a schedule to get both of you on the same page. Get your puppy used to waking up and going outside to use the bathroom at the same time each morning. You should feed your puppy at the same time each day as well. How much food you feed your puppy and how often you should leave food out with be different for every breed. Don’t forget to schedule in some play time. Consistency will help with training.

Having a puppy is certainly not all fun and no work. But with some patience, consistency and repetition your puppy can be trained and respectful in no time at all. Puppy obedience training will help your pup grow into a well mannered dog and give you plenty of joy and friendship for many years to come!

The Only Way To Positive Puppy Obedience Training

August 6th, 2009 by Ray Baker

If you own a dog and you love him very much, you may want to take some time to strengthen the relationship between you two. Playing is a great way of doing this. Especially playing fetch.

Some dogs know instinctively how to play fetch. Other dogs need to be taught. Luckily, dog training for playing fetch is a fairly simple process. You need to stick to a few simple guidelines for a couple of weeks. The three simple guidelines are listed below.

1. To start with, your dog needs to show interest in the ball. If he has no interest in the ball, the game of fetch will go absolutely nowhere unless you teach him this first. You can do this by waving the ball around in front of your dog’s face. Eventually, your dog will sniff the ball. Once he does this, praise him a little and repeat this a few more times. This way, your dog will learn to show interest in the ball.

2. Once your dog has learned to pay attention to the ball, he must learn to pick it up in his mouth. It’s possible that he will do this all by himself. In this case, you simple need to praise him and feed him a dog treat. If he doesn’t pick up the ball on his own initiative, you can make the ball more enticing by smearing some peanut butter on it. Keep this up long enough and your dog will eventually learn to pick up the ball.

3. Now that your dog has learned to chase and pick up the ball, he needs to bring it back and then let it go. Throw the ball away until your dog follows it and then picks it up. Now you can lure him back to you by waving a dog treat around. Once he comes back to you, he will likely drop the ball so he can have his treat.

After about a week of repeating these simple steps, you can try a few fetches out in the field. Take your dog into the yard or any other area with enough open space, and throw the ball a short distance away. If your dog has understood his fetch training, he will eventually chase the ball, pick it up and take it back to you. Every time he gets it right, praise him and give him a dog treat. Then, throw the ball a little further.

If you stick to these simple training steps, your doggy should learn to play fetch in a matter of days or weeks. In time, your doggy will likely gain a better understanding of what playing fetch is all about. The game then becomes its own reward and you won’t have to stock up on dog treats anymore.

Dog owners all over the world know how fantastic it is to have a dog around the house. Dogs are very loyal creatures that are good company. If you love your dog, chances are you are always looking for ways to get closer to him. A good way of doing this is to play fetch with him. So follow these guidelines and teach your dog how to play with you!

July 7th, 2009 by Mike Jones

Dogs like to be trained. The better trained a dog is the happier and more content they are. As an owner, you will also like owning him more. Dogs obtain satisfaction from following the leader of the pack because they are natural pack animals. You must just make sure that the “alpha dog” or the head of the pack is you.

When dogs do not have any obedience training they are apt to be a great deal more jumpy and rambunctious than normal. This is generally due to the fact that they really don’t know what is expected of them and that makes them uneasy. Training your dog well will keep him safer and happier.

You can take advantage of countless ways to train your dog. There are loads of books and videos out there and you can also find some good online courses. Nearly every city also has specialized dog trainers and dog obedience programs that you can attend also.

Every dog needs to start their training as soon as they arrive home. Even old dogs can learn and every dog will respond to constructive reinforcement and every dog will also want to satisfy the new leader or “alpha dog”.

The most accomplishment in dog training generally happens when you make guidance a pleasurable part of playtime. You are training vital training but both you and the dog are having fun and enjoying the time and not stressing about the training. All dogs have their own character and they may perhaps learn some things quickly and other things may take more time. Just take pleasure in the process.

Using encouraging reinforcement of either praise or treats is important to your triumphant training. You need to acknowledge when your dog does something right. The timing of encouraging reinforcement is also essential for the reason that a dog cannot rationalize and he can only correlate things with what is happening at that very moment. Reprimands must also be completed at once after the bad behavior.

Dogs cannot reason like a human being can so if you scold your dog for something that he did hours ago, he will not recognize why he is in trouble. Your warning will be completely useless and it will just scare him and impair your training efforts.

The very most critical thing that you need to be alert of when you are training a dog is that you and all of the human members of your family need to outrank him in the pack order. You must be the boss or the “alpha dog”. You can quickly bolster this in his mind if you rub his belly as soon as he turns over. He will have to acquiesce to you and he will then regard you as the leader. All of your education will be easier if you are established in his mind as the leader.