Train Yourself, Train Your Dog

For many of you who have tried to train your dog with mixed results, you might be wondering if you have a "faulty dog." For many people, though there might not be such as thing as a "faulty dog," they do feel as if somehow their dog is special in some way because the dog doesn't seem to be responding to commands and training like other dogs have. But what's interesting about this scenario is that the problem might not be your dog: it might be you.

Many people have not learned the fundamentals of dog training and obedience that would help them to expand on these principles and teach a dog tricks. Instead, simply desiring to teach a dog a trick, many people ignore the fundamentals of dog training and forget that there are supposed to be clearly-defined roles. Many times, it's not the dog's problem; it might be that you haven't been clear and consistent in your training.

The concept of training yourself along with your dog means that you're going to have to exert some energy in order to have a better relationship with your dog, as well. It's a two-way street. Not only is the dog going to have to behave better, but you're going to have to take a more dominant role in shaping that behavior.

That means a few things.

First, many people are simply too easy on their dogs.

It's an interesting concept, but in the politically-correct world we live in, it's too easy to associated boundary-setting with abuse. There's a strong difference, and when it comes to your dog, you might have to be more dominant and commanding with it than you originally thought. Why is this? Because the dog has been bred over thousands of years to be a worthwhile but subservient companion to human beings. It knows that its role is to be this companion, and the problems begin on your end, when you aren't assertive enough.

Being assertive means setting boundaries, but not lashing out at the dog.

For example, how would you treat a newborn child crawling on the wrong floor if the child didn't know any better? Chances are, you wouldn't get angry: instead, you'd simply lift the child back to the right place to be. This is something you can do with dogs, too. And it's something you'll have to work on by yourself: knowing where the boundaries are, and being able to remain cool and relaxed even when the dog pushes your buttons.

Training dogs isn't the only answer: you'll also have to train yourself to have the skills and assertiveness required to raise a healthy dog.

Photo Credits: shekay

This post involves:

chanc, companion, Dog Training, dogs, dominant role, human beings, newborn child, obedience, relationship, setting boundaries

... and focuses on:

Dog Training

Posted by Dog Training Pet on January 30, 2010 in Dog Training.