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Posts Tagged ‘rules’

postheadericon If you want to know how to train your alano espanol puppy, this article can help you get in the right mindset

If you want to know how to train your alano espanol puppy, this article can help you get in the right mindset. This breed can be very dominant and serious but also very controllable and often acts submissive towards its master.

Before you can even begin to train your dog you need to first gain their respect and their trust. It is especially true when training a dog. Since dogs are known pack animals they have an instinct to follow one strong leader. You must put yourself in the position of “pack leader” in order to successful train your dog.

If your alano espanol does not have respect or a trust of you there is no way possible that you will be able to train it. Trust and respect are earned by dogs just as it is earned with people. Once the dog learns to trust its owner the training sessions will work much quicker.

One mistake that happens with many new dog owners is they are trying to give love and affection and wanting the dog to feel respect and trust. Show the love but you also must show you are in charge and confident in that. If your dog steps out of line and does something wrong, such as chewing furniture or shoes don’t let even little things go unpunished. Once a dog feels like they have the lead role in the family they will take over and do as they please, listening and obeying no one. Setting the rules of the house and being firm in these rules and firm in your telling the dog no.

You may believe that dogs don’t know how to listen but this is far from the truth. Dogs are smart and they like to have boundaries and rules as it is a natural instinct. As a part of the pack a dog will look to the leader and follow their actions or commands. So, even though it may seem cruel it really isn’t because a dog actually functions better when able to follow a leader otherwise they simply get confused or try and rule your roost. Use a firm hand but also give lots of love. Praise the dog when he does good things and you will have a best friend for life.

Good luck training your new alano espanol puppy!

postheadericon Using reward-based training, the whole family can be involved as the methods are fun and easy

Using reward-based training, the whole family can be involved as the methods are fun and easy. Follow these simple principles of reward-based training. These are the golden rules for teaching your dog.

Start now The best age to start training is now. However young your puppy is, however old your dog is, it is never too early or too late.

Learn from your dog Training should be a two-way communication. You must be willing to learn from your dog. The more you learn about him, the easier training will become.

Have short sessions Do not expect your dog to concentrate for long. Like us, the more difficult something is, the shorter the time he can concentrate. At first, aim for sessions of between half a minute and two minutes. As you and your dog begin to understand each other better, the time can be extended so long as you are both enjoying it. Lots of short sessions throughout each day will help your dog learn much more quickly than one long session where you both become tired, confused and bored.

Have fun Dogs are like us in that they learn best when something is enjoyable. Make sessions fun and rewarding, and you and your dog will want to learn together. If you start, then realise that you or your dog is simply not in ‘the mood’, expect less and end the session early.

A stressed dog will not learn If your dog is feeling anxious, he will not be able to learn. especially if you are expecting too much of him. If he is in an environment that worries him, such as close to a bouncy dog, heavy traffic or too many people, he may find it difficult to cope with.

Begin and end on a good note As your training sessions become a little longer, always start with something familiar to your dog, to help him settle. Similarly, do something easy or enjoyable before finishing a session.

All the family should be involved In the days of old, only one person was advised to train a dog to avoid confusion. However, we need a pet dog to respond to all members of the family. Therefore, everyone should be involved to whatever extent is appropriate, under close supervision when necessary. If someone in the family is not involved with training the dog, do not be surprised if the dog does not respond to them.

Be consistent Dogs cannot learn what we want if we do not teach them. If we vary the words we use, and different people have different expectations, our dog will simply become confused and disinclined to play this training game with us. He will begin to make his own decisions or try to guess what we want. We owe it to him to make it as easy as possible for him to understand.

Teach – do not expect him to know Dogs do not understand English, therefore they cannot know what we mean unless we have taught them. If you feel that you have taught something and your dog is still not responding as he should, instead of blaming him for being naughty, ask yourself how you can teach him more effectively He obviously has not learned what you wanted, so start again to help him.

postheadericon One of my cats, cooga, is a burmese

One of my cats, Cooga, is a Burmese. He is genetically designed to enjoy human company and cuddles. He is an attractive cat and his humans can hardly walk past him without touching him. He usually allows us to cuddle him like a doll…he will relax into our arms and enjoy the attention and warmth, rubbing his head against our faces. Cooga is likely to be cuddly all his life. He is bred that way and we are lucky to have him.

My other cat, Coco, is sweet, but not so cuddly. She enjoys a pat while standing on her own four feet, but detests being held. When we first brought her home from the shelter, she was far more skittish, but now she readily climbs onto our laps while we watch TV.

Can any cat become cuddly? Not all cats have the same interest in human company and affection. Some cats are of such a nervous disposition that they find cuddles too overwhelming.

If it is important to you to have a cuddly cat, it helps to choose carefully, and to know what to look for. Most kittens seem happy to be cuddled, but naturally cuddly kittens seek it out. They will quickly relax into your hands, eager to curl up in your lap, and enjoy face-to-face contact. Kittens that stop playing to show interest in you or who worm their way into your hands, show that they like a lot of contact.

Cuddly adult cats are even easier to spot. Unlike kittens, they might not show immediate trust, but if you look at adult cats in a shelter, the people working there will know the cuddly ones and will be delighted to help one of their favorites find a home, where they can get all the cuddling they need.

Once you have a cuddly cat, you can train it to retain these happy characteristics. With kittens, it is a matter of helping them stay that way, while with adults it’s more a case of letting them relax into it.

Regardless of the cat’s age, the following principles will help you to keep your cat cuddly, or to encourage a reluctant cuddler to enjoy it more:

* Wait for the cat to make the first moves. Let them get used to their new situation, and keep your hand around for them to rub their face on. Then you can move your hand down to their chest or stroke their ears. Full contact hugs are for relationships of great trust. Be patient.

* Know when to swoop in, and when not to. Resist the urge to interrupt your cat’s play or mealtimes. Make your move when the cat is already relaxed and open to your overtures, or comes near you. It’s coercive to demand that a cat stops everything for a cuddle. It is essential to good cuddling to be sensitive to, and respectful of, their moods. You will build trust this way.

* If the cat wants to get down, let it go. If you insist, you are not getting a cuddle, you are making a prisoner out of your cat.

* Cuddling should be fun for both of you, and stay that way. Never turn a cuddle into something else, like a good opportunity for eye medicine or a flea treatment. They will mind, and you will sabotage their trust in cuddling you.

* Keep the moment soft and sweet. Squealing into your cat’s ear about how cute they are, or conversely not saying anything, will send the wrong reinforcement. A soft voice will strengthen your cuddling bond.

* You can begin or end a cuddling session with treats. Mealtimes lead to a full tummy, when cuddling might be uncomfortable, but telling your cat how much you love them with a tasty treat is just another form of closeness.

By using these techniques, you can establish whether your cat can be cuddly, if it is not already. It can take time for trust to build and for a cat to appreciate the pleasures of close contact with you. These are especially good rules to teach children who want to get close to a cat.

This world could do with more respectful cuddling!

postheadericon You have company over for dinner

You have company over for dinner. The table is beautiful and the food smells and looks delicious. Unfortunately, your dog thinks so too and is sitting up and begging for morsels off everyone’s plate and, if not rewarded, attempting to take the food on his own or pawing at your guests. This can ruin the dinner party and is not particularly good for your dog either. How could this have been avoided?

Know that his is not the dogs fault and it started a very long time ago. Some horribly misguided individual who was trying to be a good pet owner did this while the pup was still very young and trained the dog for this very behavior. Want to know who taught your dog this trick? It was YOU.

No doubt you weren’t consciously training your pet for this unwanted behavior and you did it with the best of intentions but the behavior is here now and must be dealt with. Your dog learned this trick from all those times when little scraps of food were tossed down to a cute little puppy who staring up at you with those sad brown eyes. All of this could have been prevented by a simple act of will power then but now you have a problem to deal with.

So how can you stop your dog from begging?

Stop rewarding the behavior. This means not giving in and not paying attention to your dog when he begs. Make sure everyone in the household knows not to share their meals with the dog and follows this rule no matter what the circumstance. You may even have to confine your dog to its kennel or a separate room during meal or snack times if this is difficult. This is especially useful if you have people in the household who tend to feed the dog from the table despite the rules.

Don’t fool yourselves – you have created a monster and it will take several weeks of consistent work on your part to break your dog of this habit. Once you start, he will most likely begin to whine and howl loudly in complaint of the treatment. DO NOT GIVE IN. If you do, the battle is lost and will be that much harder next time. One weak moment of slipping the dog a treat just to be nice (and you are not really being nice at all) can ruin all the prior training so standing your ground and enforcing the rule of not giving meal time treats to the dog is a must.

One way to implement this change is to feed the dog at the same time the rest of the family, preferably in a separate room. This way the dog has its own meal and will not feel the need to beg food from others in the household. If this is not an option, give your pet something to distract it, perhaps a toy to play with to keep them occupied throughout mealtime.

Consistent and rigid training is the only effective way to correct it. Every member and guest of your household must enforce the rules or all your work will be of no avail. Guests can pose a problem, especially if they slip their dogs treats when they eat. Just explain the rules before you sit down to eat and, I hate to say it but… watch them. It is a habit for them and they may not even know they are doing it. In this circumstance, I like to keep my dogs away from the table just in case.

Once you stop your dog from begging, you will be blessed with a healthier pet, a happier household and pride in your well-mannered canine friend.

postheadericon If your kids are trying to find a good companion dog, you may be tempted to first look at some of the more popular breeds, pick out some puppies and then select the best character

If your kids are trying to find a good companion dog, you may be tempted to first look at some of the more popular breeds, pick out some puppies and then select the best character. And there are hundreds of breeds to choose from – just think of the American Bulldog and the Huntaway and the Cabe?udo Boiadeiro and the Rampur Greyhound. But, try looking for a dog that fits your personality. Find a dog that has the qualities that you want and can bond with you. The age of the dog is not a concern most of the time. Breeds may have a certain reputation, but there are exceptions to all the rules. These tips, though, can guarantee that you will find a good companion dog.

Search for a puppy or adult that has a personality that fits your own personality and your experience. If you have handled dogs before and have experience, then a more dominant, independent dog may work for you. However, if you are not very aggressive or are not aquainted with working with a dog, a more submissive animal may be a better companion for you. When you are looking at puppies, try to turn it over on its back. A dominant dog will resist you, trying to turn over right away. If it fights to turn over, try to calm it. If it settles down, it is more submissive. If it does not struggle at all, but just lies there trusting you completely, you have a very submissive dog.

A dog that is fairly quiet and easy to care for is better for you if you are more laid back and more sedative yourself. If you tend to be very active you may want a more active, hyper dog to be more your style. If you are gone much of the time and your dog would be kenneled during that time, you should look for a dog that is a little self reliant and is less likely to suffer from separation anxiety.

You also will want your new companion dog to be smart and eager to please. This will make it easy teach it what you want it to know and it will happily learn the skills and perform them. If you are taking your dog out in public, you don’t want a fear nipper or a dog that is threatening to children. Naturally, this comes from effectively socializing the dog on a regular basis, but the sharper dog will watch you to see who is maybe a threat and who is no possible threat.

Dogs can be superb companions having the right character for your needs. Also, while many people feel that only young dogs can be trained, this is false. Many older dogs are salvaged from shelters daily and they are trained quite easily. The key to training a dog is bonding with it. When you have bonded with your dog, it will be happy to do what you want. They will want to anticipate what you want and will even look for ways to communicate with you. If you are careful to observe your companion, you and your dog can come up with your own language and this can give you a companion dog (even the Bearded Collie or Mioritic that is a very special friend.