Living the Home Life

Intro To Dog Training

{ 07:03, 2008-Feb-16 } { Posted in Dog Training } { 1 comments } { Link }

One thing you may not know about me is that I've been a 4-H dog obedience instructor for almost twelve years. Laying in bed, I started thinking about what talents I have that I can pass along and share with everyone, and decided I'd write a series of dog training articles, consisting of basic dog training theory and and training for basic obedience.

There's one thing I want to state right off the bat: There are as many dog training theories as there are dog trainers.
I'm not going to pretend that my way is the only way, or even the only right way.. The other thing I want to say is that what I'm going to share comes from dog training classes I took in college and eleven years of working with people who range in age from six to senior citizen, and dogs that range from the backyard mutt that's been chained up out on the farm most of it's life, to purebred puppies. I've worked with dogs that competed in formal obedience and dogs that were just members of the family. Every dog and handler combination is different, and each needs to be looked at as a unique team.

When I'm teaching an obedience class, I start out with a middle of the road approach. When you talk about dog training, you need to think in a spectrum. At one end is pure motivation. Everything is based on reward. You never force the dog to do anything it doesn't want to do, you never correct it for not obeying. You always stay positive. On the other end of the spectrum, you have pure compulsion. Everything is taught with collar corrections, with no food or toys to reward. You basically just have a leash and your voice.

motivation_______________________________me____________________________compulsion

I have found that, working with the average pet owner, a combination approach works best. You start off teaching with lots of treats, and as the dog proves that it knows the command, you can correct it if it doesn't obey. I think it's basically the same as parenthood. You train slowly, step by step, with lots of encouragement and praise, and as the child (or dog) becomes proficient, you require more exactness and perfection.

Stay tuned for further installations in my dog training series.
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{ 10:56, 2008-Feb-16 } { Posted by borderling }
I, too have been involved in dog training for 4-H for about 15 years. Just as a "helper' not an instructor. I, also love to spin and have a couple of angora goats with hopes of adding gotsland sheep. If you don't mind, I'm going to put you on my friends list so that I can keep up with your blog more easily.
Lord bless,
Rhonda

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