Oct02

“Sit”, One of the Many Tricks for Dogs

by Mary de Guzman on October 2nd, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Posted In: Tricks
tricks for dogs - sit

"Sit" is one of the most basic tricks for dogs.

“Sit” is one of the most basic tricks for dogs that may be taught. Usually, it is one of the first commands that a master teaches his pet, along with teaching him to answer to his name. When your pet knows the command “sit”, then other tricks can be taught more easily (e.g. down, roll over, etc).

What You Will Need:

A reward. This needs to be something your dog is interested in, like a treat or a toy.

Steps in Teaching “Sit”:

  1. Stand in front of your dog and hold the reward near his nose but out of his reach.
  2. Slowly move the reward over your pet’s head and towards his tail. While doing so, say “sit” clearly. Remember to keep the reward at the level of his nose (if it is held too high, your pet will most likely make a jump for it).
  3. If you move the reward correctly, your dog will be prompted to sit. When he does, praise your dog and give him the reward.

Note: Repeat this for about 3-5 times daily. Do NOT try to do it excessively and expect him to learn in only one session, as this will lead to bad results. When teaching tricks for dogs, you should know that consistency is needed, and a dog learns much better and faster when training sessions are done for a few minutes each day.

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Sep28

The Proper Way To Walking Your Dog

by Mary de Guzman on September 28th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Posted In: Tricks

Learning to walk your dog the correct way is fundamental. It allows your pet to achieve the right amount of exercise and enjoyment. Keeping him disciplined outdoors is one of the most significant and basic ways to keep your authority over him. While being able to walk your dog properly may not be one of the more impressive tricks for dogs, it is a basic stepping stone if you want to teach him many more things later on.

tricks for dogs - leash training

Walk your dog, do NOT allow your dog to walk YOU.

Walking Your Dog With a Leash

There are many types of leashes for different uses. If your dog is a puller, you should consider using a slip or a prong collar. Slip and prong collars are types of collars which constrict your pet when the leash is pulled, discouraging him from his bad habits. They are entirely safe and will not cause injury for your pet. However, prong collars have blunted open ends that should be faced towards your pet’s skin, as injury may occur if it is turned inside out. Prong collars are also sometimes incorrectly termed as ‘pinch collars‘.

What you need to remember is: walk your dog, do NOT allow your dog to walk YOU. This means that you are the leader, and you should not permit your dog to go ahead of you because you’re letting him think that he is the alpha. Experienced dog owners know that one of the most important things a dog should know is that you are the master, not him. Dogs who think they control you will have many behavioral issues.

Teaching your dog to walk on a leash should not pose too much of a problem. Just make it clear that it’s expected that he not be unruly. The way to achieve this is to be consistent. Once your pet becomes unruly and pulls you, stay still and reprimand him. Once your pet calms down, begin walking again. Doing this many times will get your message across: that being unruly will not get him anywhere. Teaching your dog not to be unruly is the first step to teaching him how to walk outside properly, but as mentioned, he should also not be walking ahead of you. To do this, use the same steps that you used to keep him from pulling — stay still if he walks ahead of you.

While teaching your dog to walk on a leash is not one of the tricks for dogs that you can use to boast to your friends, it is a basic step towards educating him further. It is also fundamental if you want to teach him to walk without a leash.

Walking Your Dog Without a Leash

A number of people enjoy walking their dog without the restraints of a leash. As a rule, it is a terrible idea to allow your pet to walk without a leash if you are in a crowded place or in a place with car traffic. Also, make sure your law allows you to do so. Be a responsible master and be aware of the possible things that may happen when your dog is off leash — do not risk his or other people’s safety! A disciplined dog can manage without a leash, and will follow his master without any problem. However, a dog which is not trained enough may be a threat.

DO NOT even think of going out with your dog unleashed if you aren’t sure whether he can manage it. Leash training is very important and is the first step to disciplining your pet when you bring him out. When your best friend is leashed, he cannot run away and cause problems.

tricks for dogs - come

Walking your dog without a leash is a very impressive feat.

Here are some steps that you may use to teach your dog to walk without a leash:

  1. Choose a location which is enclosed but gives your dog the freedom to stray away from you. The reason for this is that you want to “test” your pet whether he will respond to your commands or will choose the freedom to run away.
  2. When you take away the leash and he runs free, call him back and reward him when comes back to your side.
  3. Do this a couple of times in order to keep your dog close to you. Walk around and make sure he stays near you.
  4. Continue rewarding your dog every couple of minutes so that it is clear to him that staying near you is what you want.

Remember that even though your pet follows your command in the enclosed area, this does NOT mean that you can trust him to be that way when out in a street. He can be distracted by many things when outside (cars, other people, etc). Another way to train your dog to walk without a leash is to do it while he is still a puppy. A puppy is much easier to catch if he goes astray, and is not as much a threat to others as older and larger dogs. Get your puppy used to following you around, and it will become a natural habit to him as he grows older.

Walking your dog without a leash is a very impressive feat. It shows that your dog is very disciplined and well-behaved. It is one of the more advanced tricks for dogs, and should not be taken lightly.

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Sep25

How Early Can You Teach Tricks for Dogs?

by Mary de Guzman on September 25th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
Posted In: Tricks, Puppies, Tips
tricks for dogs - puppy

Early experiences can determine a dog's behavior later on in life.

An obedient and disciplined dog will not only be a joy to be with, but will also delightful to teach tricks for dogs. Training a dog to be obedient starts in the whelping box. When looking to purchase a dog, you need to depend on the right breeder to provide the basics of obedience.

Studies have shown that up to three weeks, or 21 days of age, puppies cannot absorb a lot of information. The only thing they are aware of is their mother, sleep and food. However, after three weeks, puppies begin to leave their comfort zone in order to explore and discover new things. At this point, they are sensitive to stimuli. What they experience will more likely have a huge effect on their personality. As early as this age, extravagant tricks for dogs most probably cannot be taught yet. However, crate training and minor obedience training can be done. Your puppy’s mother is probably willing to let you hold her litter (if she doesn’t like you doing so and gives you a warning growl, then don’t insist on doing so).

At four weeks, it is a good idea for your puppy to be socialized, in order to teach him how to behave with other dogs or people. You can also start teaching your puppy simple tricks for dogs, like responding to his name, sit, stay, etc. However, while you can start teaching him, it is difficult for most puppies who are for weeks old to learn these at once. Usually, it will take a dog who is between three or four months to master tricks for dogs. If you start as early as possible though, then there is a better chance that they will master basic tricks for dogs early on.

Most puppies are very sensitive to stimuli and have and an extremely short attention span, and for this reason, keep your training sessions short. Ten to fifteen minutes is a good time span. Though starting as early as you can is the best way to ensure positive results, do not force a puppy to learn if he is not ready. Also, remember that not all dogs are the same. Other puppies will learn quicker than others, and will also be more eager to learn.

Once these more simple tricks for dogs are mastered, then you can move on to the more complicated ones. However, remember that you shouldn’t try to cramp so much knowledge in such a young dog. As said, most puppies will need a few months to master the most basic commands (and there are a lot of them).

Puppies can be taught as early as four weeks.

Some Tricks for Dogs You Can Teach at an Early Age

Sit

This is one of the most basics tricks for dogs that you can teach. Take a toy or a treat that your puppy is eager to get. Place it right above his head, luring him to a sitting position. When he does so, praise him and give him the treat. If your puppy backs away and lunges at the treat instead, gently pull away and give him a stern “no”.

Down

This trick can be taught once your puppy knows “sit”. Get your puppy in a sitting position, and gently place your hand (with the treat) on the ground directly under his snout. This will lure your dog to a down position. If your dog doesn’t know how to sit and you try to teach him this while he is standing up, he will simply bend his head to take the treat.

Roll Over

Get your puppy in a lying down position. Once your dog is in the lying down position, use the treat to encourage your dog to roll to the side. Hold the treat near your dog’s nose and move it in the direction you want your dog to roll. What should happen is that your puppy follows his nose and rolls towards the treat.

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Sep21

Tricks for Dogs – Why Teach Them?

by Mary de Guzman on September 21st, 2011 at 4:30 am
Posted In: Tricks

By Laura M Carter

Tricks for dogs are just one way in which you can enrich your dog’s life.

tricks for dogs

All dogs love to learn

All dogs love to learn and like us need mental stimulation. Tricks can be taught for fun, such as teaching a dog to roll over, or can be useful like teaching your dog to shut the door.

Any dog can learn tricks. Different breeds of dog will be more willing to do some tasks than others. Before starting to teach your dog tricks it is worth finding out what your dog was bred to do. Dogs like Labradors were bred to retrieve prey, so are going to enjoy and be willing to do tricks which involve picking things up in their mouth. Hounds, like the Beagle were bred to use their noses so are going to enjoy tricks which involve sniffing things out.

All tricks should be taught using positive reinforcement. This involves rewarding any behaviour you want to see repeated. A reward can be anything the dog wants and so keeps the dogs attention, such as food treats, toys or attention from you. If the dog is not interested in the reward on offer he wont be prepared to put the effort in to work for it.

You should never punish your dog when teaching your dog tricks. This will prevent him from trying. Your dog doesn’t speak English so it may take a while for him to work out what you are trying to get him to do. It is much better to praise and encourage him when he gets it right, or at least nearly right.

Tricks for dogs are one way to help prevent unwanted behaviours. If your dog is always stealing items, why not teach him to bring things to you or place them in a basket. This would give you something to praise your dog for, and prevent the stress of you trying to get items off him. Same thing would apply if your dog always goes frantic at the door when visitors arrive. Try teaching him to lie in his bed when the door bell goes and stay there until your guests are in the house. Both of these are great party tricks, but also very useful.

You can teach your dog to do anything it is physically capable of doing, on command by using positive reinforcement. This involves rewarding any behaviour you want to see the dog repeat. If your dog looked up at the ceiling and you rewarded him the minute he did it, he may then do it again in order to get another reward. Timings are critical as the dog would need to know the exact being rewarded for (looking up).

After many repetitions your dog would be regularly looking up at the ceiling to gain the reward. All you would then need to do is to add in a command, such as “ceiling”, just before he looked up and only reward him when he looked up after you had given him the command. Your dog would then pick up the sequence that when he heard the command “ceiling”, if he then looked up he would get his reward.

Tricks for dogs have endless possibilities and are great fun for both the owner and the dog. Go and teach your dog something new today!

Laura Carter is a Puppy School Tutor and runs training classes for both adult dogs and puppies. Tricks for dogs are something she is very passionate about because of the enrichment it can bring to a dogs life. She teaches Clever Dog classes where dogs are taught to be really useful round the house.

http://www.tricksfordogs.org

http://www.puppyschoolbattle.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Laura_M_Carter
http://EzineArticles.com/?Tricks-for-Dogs—Why-Teach-Them?&id=6305003

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Sep18

When to Use Retractable Leashes

by Mary de Guzman on September 18th, 2011 at 8:52 am
Posted In: Uncategorized

We know that teaching a dog how to walk on a leash is essential, and we also know that there are many types of leashes. One of the many types of leashes is a retractable leash, which will be talked about in detail in this post.

Author: sandi kaneko

The retractable leash is an incredible invention. What started as a simple convenience for dog owners has now become a highly desired, highly effective dog leash for any size or any breed. However, like most things that are different from the norm, such as a simple dog leash, there is controversy surrounding the risk and purpose of retractable leashes. This article is an overview of when to use a leash that retracts for your dog and how to choose the right product.

tricks for dogs - retractable leash

A retractable leash is one of the many types of leashes.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when it comes to using a retractable leash for dogs. The first is to realize that the retractable dog leash were not created for leash training. Retractable dog leashes allow the dog to roam while still giving the dog owner complete control. When a puppy is learning how to walk on a leash it is best to use a training leash or short leash so they will stay close to their owner. Retractable leashes are perfect for adult dogs that are more mature and already understand the concept of how to properly walk on a leash. That being said, it is still possible to use retractable leashes for training by following some simple training tips, such as retracting the leash or stepping on the leash to grab the dogs attention and draw them closer. It takes dedication but it can be done.

Another thing to keep in mind for using and purchasing leashes that retract is quality. Using a cheaper version of retractable dog leashes is risky because the mechanism might be faulty, causing injury. That is not something you want to mess with. It is best to purchase a quality name brand leash that will last a long time and will put your mind at ease. Quality really is the key to using a retractable leash. Lastly, it’s best to understand the risks that come with any leash, no matter the type, style or size. Many people complain about injury due to their retractable leash wrapping around legs, hands and fingers. When used properly these types of injuries can be avoided. Like many things including leashes, paying careful attention to usage is highly important.

Well trained dogs will love the freedom of retractable leashes, and at the same time dog owners will love the complete control over their dogs. Bonus! Leashes can be customized to fit any design style.

Look for companies that specialize in designer pet accessories.

Who is 26 Bars & a Band? We are a young company whose focus is on Innovation, Design, and Customer Service. As a married couple we combine our differences (“numbers guy” meets “design girl”) and have created a unique brand. Of course we have similarities too and one of the biggest things in common with each employee at the company is we all have the joy of animals in our lives. In fact, all 4 of the owner’s pets are rescue animals. Sold in over 35 countries, the Avant Garde retractable leash is the best selling product for the company. There are also matching harnesses available for this collection.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/when-to-use-retractable-leashes-4716465.html

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