Basic
training
Most
dogs live with people who want them to behave in ways that make them pleasant to
be around, keep them safe, and provides for the safety of other humans and pets. Dogs do not figure
out basic obedience on their own. The fundamental rule that must be remembered
is that one should never apply human standards of society onto the dog with the
assumption that the dog will understand.
The
hardest part of training is communicating with the dog in a humane way that the
dog understands. The underlying principle of all communication is simple: reward
desired behavior while ignoring or correcting undesired
behavior.
Basic pet obedience training usually consists of seven
behaviors:
- Sit
- Down
- Stay
- Recall ("come", "here"
or "in")
- Close (or loose-leash
walking)
- Heel
- Up (standing up without
jumping)
Corrections are a form of punishment.[1] Corrections can be physical (i.e. leash
correction) or mental (i.e. withdrawing a reward). The dog's personality, the
behavior, and the importance of the correct behavior should all be taken into
account in using corrections with your dog. In a nutshell, negative corrections
should only be used to eliminate a behavior and positive rewards to repeat a
behavior.
[edit]Basic training classes
Professional dog trainers train the dog's owner to train his or
her dog. To be most effective, the owner must use and reinforce the techniques
taught to the dog. Owners and dogs who attend class together have an opportunity
to learn more about each other and how to work together under a trainer's
guidance. Training is most effective if all those who handle the dog take part
in the training to ensure consistent commands, methods, and enforcement. Classes
also help socialize a dog to other people and dogs. Training classes are offered
by many kennels, pet stores, and independent trainers.
Group classes may not be available until the puppy has completed
all of its vaccinations (around 3 – 4 months of age). Some trainers offer puppy
socialization classes in which puppies can enroll immediately after being placed
in their permanent homes as long as disease risk is minimal and puppies have
received initial vaccinations. In most cases, basic training classes accept only
puppies who are at least 3 to 6 months old. It's recommended to start training
as soon as the puppy comes into your home. Puppies may also be trained
individually by the trainer visiting the dog's home beginning as early as 8
weeks.
A
puppy requires discipline, consistency, and the patience of its owner. The puppy
training phase is integral in raising a healthy and happy dog and keeping a safe
and fun home environment.
Dogs
are expressive and may communicate needs by biting, whining, and getting
fidgety. Changing one's own conduct may be effective in changing a puppy's
behavior.
House training is an important issue for puppies. Various methods
of house training will work although the key is to be consistent. With regularly
enforced rules, litter box, crate, or paper training can be
successful.
[edit]Advanced training classes
This
type of training is more complex and usually suitable for dogs who have
completed level one (basic training) or an equivalent level of adult dog
training classes.
[edit]Individual training
This
training is ideal for dogs that have an urgent or unique training problem or are
not suitable for group training. Dogs not suitable for group training are those
who are reactive or aggressive to other dogs or people or may have a fear of
certain situations. This type of training would normally be undertaken where the
problem normally occurs rather than a classroom situation.
There is also puppy training which is mostly just socialization
and introducing puppies to meet and greet with other puppies and play with
them.
[edit]Communication
Fundamentally, dog training is about communication. From the
human perspective, the handler is communicating to the dog what behaviors are
correct, desired, or preferred in different circumstances and what behaviors are
undesirable.
A
handler must understand communication from the dog. The dog can signal that he
is unsure, confused, nervous, happy, excited, and so on. The emotional state of
the dog is an important consideration in directing the training, as a dog that
is stressed or distracted will not learn efficiently.
According to Learning Theory there are four important messages that
the handler can send the dog:
- Reward or
release marker
- Correct behavior. You have earned a reward.
- Keep going
signal (KGS)
- Correct behavior. Continue and you will earn a
reward.
- No reward
marker (NRM)
- Incorrect behavior. Try something else.
- Punishment
marker
- Incorrect behavior. You have earned
punishment.
Using consistent signals or words for these messages enables the
dog to understand them more quickly.
It
is important to note that the dog's reward is not the same as the reward marker.
The reward marker is a signal that tells the dog that he has earned the reward.
Rewards can be praise, treats, play, or anything that the dog finds rewarding.
Failure to reward after the reward marker diminishes the value of the reward
marker and makes training more difficult.
The
meanings of the four signals are taught to the dog through repetition, so that
he may form an association by classical conditioning so that the dog associates
the punishment marker with the punishment itself. These messages may be
communicated verbally or with nonverbal signals. Mechanical clickers are frequently used as a reward marker,
as are the words "yes!" or "good!". The word "no!" is a common punishment
marker. "Whoops!" is a common NRM. A KGS is commonly a repeated syllable (such
as "g-g-g-g-g" or a drawn out word such as "gooooood".)
Hand
signals and body language also play an important part in learning for dogs. Some
sources contend that the most effective marker is the human voice.[2]
Dogs
do not generalize commands easily. A command which may work indoors might be
confusing out-of-doors or in a different situation. The command will need to be
re-taught in each new situation. This is sometimes called
"cross-contextualization," meaning the dog has to apply what's been learned to
many different contexts.
[edit]Understanding
Training a dog takes time and patience. Canines seem to
understand what the trainer wants fairly quickly. This corresponds to Animal
Cognition- the mental capacity of
non-human animals. The dog takes in odors, sights, and sounds to remember
something it has been taught.
For
example, when the trainer says “sit,” there should be a set tone and a hand
motion. After the dog has experienced seeing and hearing this routinely, along
with obtaining the muscle memory, the action of “sitting” becomes an image set
in their minds. The next time the trainer says “sit” with the same tone and
motion, the dog receives an image showing it the action and is, therefore, able
to sit.
Clarity while demanding what a canine does is also of great
importance. The dog associates the words the handler says with not only the
tone, but also with the sound of the letters in each word. “Sit” ends with a
strong “T,” while “Stay” ends with a drawn out vowel sound. The canine does not
understand the difference between consonants and vowels, but the sound
associated with the words, along with the handler’s tone, allows the dog to
associate an auditory element to each command. In return, the canine is able
to recall the commands due to the words’ unique
connection to the dog's mental and auditory senses.
[edit]Reward and
punishment
Most
training revolves around establishing consequences for the dog’s behavior. Operant conditioning defines these
following four types of consequences.
- Positive
reinforcement adds something to
the situation to increase the chance of the behavior being exhibited
again.
- Negative
reinforcement removes something
from the situation to increase the chance of the behavior being exhibited
again.
- Positive punishment adds something to the situation to
decrease the chance of the behavior being exhibited again.
- Negative punishment removes something from the situation
to decrease the chance of the behavior being exhibited
again.
Most
trainers claim that they use "positive training methods. " Generally, this means
using reward-based training to increase good behavior rather than physical
punishment to decrease bad behavior.
Dogs
should not be punished by being placed within a cage, crate, or carrier,
especially one similar to where they eat or sleep. While this may confine the
dog from further disruptive behavior, and also may seem similar to "sending a
child to their room" as a form of punishment, the dog's mind will unfortunately
begin to associate the cage with punishment, and will experience anxiety if put
into the container, as a result of the negative feelings associated with it.
Punishment involving confinement is an unusual and confusing type of situation
for a dog, and should not be used.[3]
[edit]Rewards
Positive reinforcers can be anything that the dog finds rewarding
- special food treats, the chance to play with a tug toy, social interaction
with other dogs, or the owner's attention. The more rewarding a dog finds a
particular reinforcer, the more work he will be prepared to do in order to
obtain the reinforcer. Just being happy about a dog's accomplishment is a reward
to them.
Some
dog trainers for example suggest using treats that are particularly favoured by
your pooch. Your dog or puppy may particularly enjoy liver treats or cheese.[4] However, always make sure that the
treat that you use as a positive reinforcer is healthy and will not damage your
dog or puppy's overall health.[5]
Some
trainers go through a process of teaching a puppy to strongly desire a
particular toy, in order to make the toy a more powerful positive reinforcer for
good behaviour. This process is called "building prey drive", and is commonly
used in the training of Narcotics Detection and Police Service dogs. The goal is
to produce a dog who will work independently for long periods of time, in the
hopes of earning access to its special toy reward.
Corrections are only effective when paired with teaching the dog
desired behaviors, but tend to be ineffective without teaching the dog the
proper ways to avoid the correction and achieve reward. Corrections should only
be administered as appropriate for the dog's personality, age, experience and
physical and emotional condition. Some dogs may show signs of fear or anxiety
with harsh verbal corrections. Other dogs may ignore a verbal reprimand. Some
dogs develop an aversion or fear of water, when water is sprayed at them as an
aversive.
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Top
tips for your dogs:
•
Dogs turn in circles before lying down because in the
wild this instinctive action turns long grass into a bed. To keep your pooch at
home comfortable, make sure they have a specified place to sleep and keep it in
the same spot. This will help them feel secure
• A small breed dog’s stomach is the size of a
walnut!
• An adult dog has 42 teeth that require specific care. It’s also
important to try to brush their teeth regularly with specialised products and
have annual dental check-ups
• The dog’s average life expectancy is 8 to 15 years. Make sure you visit
a vet for regular check-ups even when they’re healthy as this will help maintain
your pet’s health and well being and keep them with you
longer
• At birth puppies are deaf, blind, and toothless and have almost no
sense of smell. To ensure your puppy develops into a strong adult dog, ensure
you feed them with a puppy specific food.
• Dogs have twice as many muscles for moving their ears as people. Dogs
use these ear muscles to display over 100 different facial expressions! These
extraordinary ears also help dogs to hear sounds at four times the distance that
humans can
• The average dog's mouth exerts 150 to 200 pounds of pressure per square
inch. Some dogs can apply up to 450 pounds. To avoid your dog exercising their
jaws on your belongings, give some generous thought to how you can keep them
entertained. Try rolling treat balls, sand pits with buried treasures and water
troughs to play in and make sure they receive adequate exercise by walking them
often. This will help ease any destructive behaviour that can arise from
boredom
• Some dogs grow 30 metres of fur per day – that’s the equivalent of six
family sized cars! This includes adding up all the new strands covering the
entire animal end-to-end.
• To a young dog, exercise and play are the day's most important events.
As a dog gets older, he lives for dinnertime. As your dog matures it’s important
to keep their nutrition tailored to their age
• The best dog to reportedly attract a date is the Golden Retriever, the
worst is the Pit Bull. When choosing your new pooch, ensure you research the
breed and match it appropriately with your lifestyle
From
Eukanuba
Extraordinary Dogs
