Dog Obedience Training For Your Pet Dog

One of life’s genuine joys is the companionship of a dog. However, if your dog exhibits major behavior problems, that joy may be compromised. Destroying household items, piddling on the carpet, excessive barking, aggression, and other unacceptable behaviors can usually be eliminated through effective obedience training.

As pack animals, dogs are most content when they know their place in the social hierarchy of the pack, be it as a leader or as a subordinate.

If the dog’s perception is that you are not a strong leader, he will most likely assume the role of “alpha” dog. Bad behavior will worsen since, as the pack leader, he will believe that he can do as he pleases without regard to your wishes.

Unless you impress upon your dog that you are the “alpha dog”, your efforts to teach appropriate behavior will most likely fail. However, effective obedience training will teach your pooch that YOU are the leader of the pack and that he is expected to comply with your wishes.

When you begin obedience training try to make the activity fun for your dog. Be sure to reward your dog when follows your commands. Rewards can take the form of yummy treats, petting, giving him a favorite toy to play with or vigorous praise.

Never punish your dog while teaching obedience as it will make him associate training with negative feelings. When you need to correct your dog’s behavior make it a penalty rather than punishment. A penalty can be anything from a quick tug on his leash, a “time out” by simply stopping an enjoyable activity, or simply ignoring him.

Remember that rewards are usually much more effective than penalties. Try to discover what your dog really enjoys and use it as positive reinforcement when training. The old belief that you can use either a carrot or a stick to train an animal should be entirely forgotten. Instead, try of use a variety of “carrots” to convince your dog that obedience is a good thing, and just throw away the stick.

You may find it helpful to study the tactics used by professional dog trainers if you are not sure about which techniques are best. There are several very high quality guide books and training courses available online that you may want to consider using in your quest for an obedient best friend.