Training Tips for your Pooch

Training Tips for your Pooch

Training Tips for your Pooch – With many different breeds, shapes and sizes of dog, we thought we’d share a few top tips for looking after your pooch.

Chewing

Does your dog chew your shoes or TV remote? A lot of dogs chew things out of boredom, a need for attention or possibly even fear. Either way, you need to get them to stop. Firstly you should buy them toys that are very distinguishable from everything else so they can tell the items apart. Keep all of the items you don’t want him to bite out of reach until he learns what he can and can’t chew. You should make sure they get a lot of exercises, if they are bored they will find a way to amuse themselves. By giving them plenty of exercises you will tire them out and hopefully keep them gnawing on your new shoes.

Crate Training

If your dog likes to wreck havoc when your not around, the chances are you’ve thought about buying a crate. The number 1 rule of crate training is to not use the crate as a punishment. If you do, the dog will grow to dislike it and will make your job a lot harder. The first step of crate training is introducing them to the crate. Feed them their regular meals by the crate to associate them together, eventually feeding them inside the crate. Spend time with your dog around the crate, leaving them in it for 5/10 minutes whilst you leave the room. Gradually increasing the time periods they spend inside the crate. Once your dog can spend 30 minutes or more in the crate without being stressed, leave them in the crate when you leave the house, gradually increasing to overnight.

You should understand that crate training takes weeks and is a very gradual process. You shouldn’t try to rush anything as you may cause your dog to become confused.

Digging

Dogs love to dig, sometimes because of their breed, generally out of boredom or hunting. To prevent your dog from digging you should give them other options instead. Buy them some toys to distract them. Spend time with your dog teaching it tricks/training them. Do not punish them because they won’t associate the digging with the punishment. Taking your dog on regular walks is also a very good, effective way of spending time with your dog and tiring them out. If the dog digs when you are there, it may be looking for attention.

Aggression 

There are a number of reasons your dog may be baring his teeth and growling at you. The cause is an important thing to understand when trying to fix the problem. There are a number of reasons a dog may be aggressive. It could be out of fear or even territorial aggression. You must check with you vet that the aggression isn’t due to any medical reason. You can never be too careful with an aggressive dog, you should seek professional help if your dog is getting out of hand. Make sure everybody and any other animals are kept safe and out of the way if the dog shows threatening behaviour. If the dog is possessive and protective over its toys, remove them and you are removing a problem.

Summary

These are just a few training tips that we can offer to try and help you train your dog. All dogs are unique and respond differently to one another, what works for one dog might not work for the next. Keep this in mind when trying to train your pet. Remember, most dogs just want attention and affection, keep your dog busy and interact with them to build a healthy relationship with your pet.

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