Dog Training and Behavior

Taking the art of dog training into your own hands can be a fairly daunting prospect if you are a new dog owner and have never owned a dog before. Many first time dog owners don’t really understand true dog behavior and what motivates their dog for best dog training methods. They treat their dogs as if they are people.  Dogs, however, become very confused when their owners treat them like human children because the bottom line is that all dogs are pack animals such as what you would see in a wolf pack.   In reality, it is when dogs are anthropomorphized and their humans put human traits on them that “bad” behavior can develop. Pack animals such as wolves have a definite social structure and hierarchy with both dominant and subordinate individuals from alphas down to omegas and everything in between.  Feral dogs have been known to pack together and take on the same behavior as a wolf pack.

dog training and Alpha Role

Most companion dogs respond best to dog training when their owners can assume the alpha role.  Dogs prefer to be told what and how to do things rather than try and figure things out for themselves. Most understand that they have a subordinate “place” in the household or “pack” and it makes them feel much more secure and confident.  When dogs owners do not understand that they need to take the alpha role in dog training then the dog feels he has to take matters into his own hands and become the alpha individual.  This is when abhorrent or unwanted behavior develops especially from dogs who do not want that alpha role.  Dogs might become aggressive, nervous, pee in the house, chew on themselves out of nervous habit, chew on household items and other “bad” behavior.  Dogs that already have dominant behavior tend to want to run the household when their owner don’t understand how to handle that behavior and take that role themselves. These dogs then end up on a chain in the yard or worse end up in the local shelter if they get too aggressive or too big and out of control for people to handle them.

dog training and Early Socialization

A new dog owner should start the dog training from the time the puppy or older dog comes home. Puppies need early socialization and dog training. They need to learn to become good canine citizens. They should experience everything and everyplace they possibly can especially where there are lots of people, commotion, and noises. The local pet store is a good place to go or a park with lots of kids running and playing. Early obedience dog training can begin at 8 weeks. With treats and lavish attention when they do the right thing, they can learn such things as sit, down, stay, and come rather quickly just by placing the treat in such a way that maneuvers them into the wanted position. Patience and consistency in dog training are the most crucial elements. Older dogs can learn even faster because they usually have more of an attention span and focus.  Just fifteen minutes a day of dog training is usually all that is needed or 2-3 sessions of 5-10 minutes of dog training works well also.