Posted by Ian Brown on June 30, 2009
by Ian Brown
The fastest, easiest, most effective approach is to recreate the undesired situation in a controlled setting, and correctly use sound distractions with praise to erase the misbehavior. Dogs can learn or unlearn almost anything in four properly conducted repetitions.
Taken to it’s extreme, these four repetitions should be performed in four different places, or with different people, dogs, or whatever the “props” involved may be. Understanding how dogs think, learn, and process information is a stretch of the imagination for most of us. It is obvious that they know more about psychology than we do.
They think, have a sense of humor, communicate, tease, lie, steal, etc. just like any one else. But, they don’t think human. Dogs are limited to thinking like dogs. It’s your responsibility to think things out from their perspective and try to use good judgement.
By being consistent with your dog, and using reflex conditioning, it is possible to change any of his behaviour patterns. If you are not consistent your dog will get confused.
Using a set of cans, or any other source of sound, so long as it is brief, and so long as it can be presented from different directions on each consecutive instance, are all that you need to do to break any behavior. Simply create the sound, and follow through with praise! It’s that simple. Any behavior can be stopped or broken, simply by creating a sound, and praising immediately. The secret is, to allow the undesired behavior to begin again, and simply present the sound from another direction, and follow through with praise. Of course you have to understand how your dog thinks and learns in order to successfully achieve this.
Every time we create a sound this way, we praise him until he stops the behavior. You have to be ready to start the sound again when the behavior starts. You have to get past the point where you say to yourself “why should i praise him ?” but it works. As we said before you have to stop thinking like a human.
Of course, you may continue correcting your dog forever, as most trainers do. We do not understand why a trained dog needs correction. Seems that if he were trained, that would be the end of it. That would imply that if a trained dog makes a mistake, that this mistake is probably not an accident, but rather, a challenge to your authority.
You will soon come to enjoy this process because it really works well and you can take satisfaction from knowing how to change behavior. Do bear in mind that this is changing existing behavior, not teaching new behavior.
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Posted by Miyagii Moto on June 22, 2009
by Miyagii Moto
Ever since the beginning of time, dogs have been the most preferred choice as pets by most households. Many have proven that they are proficient, steadfast, smart and trainable in diverse farm duties and simple household tasks. They can be charming and submissive to their owners but vicious to total strangers. These qualities make them an ideal escort for those who are single in life as well as to couples who are just planning to start their own brood. Babies to older adults will not have a hard time adjusting to their presence.
It has been said that a dog’s behavior only reflect his breeding and training. Obviously, there is nothing that you can do anymore to change his breeding. However, there is still a lot you can do with his training. You can still teach new tricks. Now, if you are thinking of getting another puppy as a pet, here are some of the best-kept secrets of puppy training that you should bear in mind.
The first thing that you should bear in mind when training a puppy is to start low and go slow. This means that you must first establish a good rapport with your pet. Do not instantaneously start the complicated tricks that will make him want to run away with his tail between his hind legs. Create a favorable mood that will make him relax and be conducive to training. Upon reaching that ideal state, then you can already commence your training schedule. This might seem cruel but you have no alternative if you want to enforce obedience in his existence.
There are a lot of ways to do this but the most common includes putting a leash around his neck, placing him inside a kennel or positioning him in a crate. It is expected that your dog would howl in protest. At times, it may be too annoying that you would want to stuff his mouth with a ball of socks. However, remember that all this seemingly vicious acts will gain benefits. Try to be immune to this kind of suffering. Remember, you only want what’s best for your dog. The end justifies the means, as they often say.
Second, teach him a simple trick followed by a treat. The treat could come in the form of a small chewable bone or a piece meat. Just like the classic conditioning method by renowned psychologist Ivan Pavlov, they will learn to associate the new trick with food. This will stroke their interest and whet their appetite for more food.
Third, you can go the opposite way of the second step and let your dog learn through the negative conditioning process. Instead of giving a nice reward, teach him the power of the words no, stop and don’t in a strong and authoritative tone. They will distinguish that it is something significant in relation to your voice.
Fourth, you have to follow through. Be consistent when giving commands and orders as well as their corresponding rewards or punishments. Do not flip flop when it comes to this. Your dog will get confuse if you did something once then change the rules the second time. He must realize that everything is well-established when it comes to your instructions.
Lastly, give plenty of alternatives. If there are chores that your dog can’t easily do as told, like not peeing on the plant, then provide another option like giving him a pee box. This will shift his attention and result to a more favorable attitude. Don’t be such a strict disciplinarian all the time that you will take the fun out of this training exercise. Have fun with your pet dog.
About the Author:
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