An obedient dog is a good dog, but they do not get this way naturally. In order to get a well-trained dog, one must begin the dog’s training and conditioning while the dog is still very young. For the most part, people attempt dog training on their own, however there are a few who may turn to an obedience school for very thorough dog training.
Positive reinforcement is the most widely recognized technique used in training a dog. This is normally achieved by a reward system. The reward can come in the form of verbal praising of the dog’s actions or, an even more effective manifestation, in the way of a treat. The dog treat as a reward virtually guarantees cooperation from your pet.
On the other side of the coin, many pet owners use negative reinforcement to combat bad behavior. This can be as simple as the classic “bad dog” or a tap on their behind to let them know that they were bad. Many advanced forms of negative reinforcement use some sort of electric collar.
There are shock collars available that are widely used in dog training to curb a particular type of bad behavior such as excessive barking. These are commonly known as “bark collars” and will send a mild electric shock into the dog’s neck each time he barks. By wearing a collar for an extended period of time, the dog learns to curb her incessant barking.
An invisible fence uses the same basic collar along with a wire buried around the perimeter of the yard or section of property that achieves the same basic effect as a bark collar. Each time the dog attempts to cross over the barrier, he receives a shock, letting him know he has wandered too far. After repeated attempts, the dog learns what her boundaries are.
House training a dog is a very important part of dog training. The best way to house train a dog is with a mix of positive reinforcement and mild negative reinforcement. Give the dog a treat when it goes outside, and discipline it when it goes to the bathroom inside. Dogs can often recognize tone, so use this to your advantage. One quick note: try and avoid using their name (as in just shouting their name when they do something bad) as they cannot distinguish this and may think that you are just calling them to go out.
Training a dog is not often a very easy task, but it can be very rewarding. Dog training takes a lot of patience and love and laziness will often yield poor results. A disciplined dog will be a joy to have around the home, but only if the master has the discipline to train them properly.
We built www.dogcollarandmore.com for all dog owners like our selves. We continue to update the site as a complete resource for you. One area of concern with owning a dog is dog training. You can look up all the answers for your dog related questions along with a lot of training techniques written by experts on our site.