Train Your Dog to be a Good Pet Outside and Inside Your Home
Edited by Clifford, Eng, Ephraim, Laurel Waddell and 3 others
Most dogs are loyal, obedient, trustworthy, and good with children, born protectors and wonderful companions. They have the potential to be great pets, but few are born that way. Almost all of them require some training to bring out the best in them.
A good dog should be:
- Be house trained
- Come when called
- Have no bad habits
- Stay when told
- Do no pull when taken on a leash
Depending on the dog and what you expert from him, he may need training in just a few or on all of the qualities that make a good dog. In general, training your pet dog should start from the time you acquire them. Whether it is a puppy, an adolescent or an adult dog, you should start training them after a few days you have them at home. There is no truth to the saying that an old dog cannot learn new tricks, it may just take them longer to learn any tricks. For a puppy, the ideal time to begin training is at 7 weeks of age. This is the time they are most receptive and learn easily any new learning that you present them. If you plan to keep your dog in the backyard and never let him inside the house, there is no need to house train your dog. But if your dog is going to be a house dog, you need to house train him. As with any training, the best time to start is as soon as you get your dog. Puppies have to eliminate two or three times more frequently than adult dogs in a 24-hour period. A puppy's ability to control elimination increases with age. Having a dog that is well mannered is fun to have, but this needs a lot of time and patience on your part as the owner. There are several basic commands that you should teach your dog if you want him to be an excellent, well behave dog inside and outside of your home.
The Sit Command
- 1Begin by showing your dog a small, bite-sized treat, holding it just a little in front of his eyes and slightly over his head.
- 2Looking up at the treat will ease your dog into a sitting position.Say "Sit" as you bring your hand above his eyes.
- 3Tell him without petting him.When he does, give him the treat and tell him what a good dog he is.
- 4If you pet as you praise him, he will probably get up when you really want him to sit.
- 5If after several attempts dog does not respond, physically show him what you want him to do by placing him into a sitting position saying, "Sit" as you do so.
- 6Verbally praise him when you successfully place him in the sitting position.
- 7Practice your dog sitting for five times every day for five consecutive days.
- 8If he does sit, then praise him verbally and give him a treat as a reward.When your dog understands what "Sit" means, You could put your hand through his collar palm facing up and tell him to "Sit".
The Stay Command
An easy way to teach your dog to understand the, "Stay" command is to make him sit and stay for his meals.
- 1As your dog starts for it, pick up the bowl before he gets even a mouthful.As you are getting ready to feed him, bowl in hand, say, "Sit," followed by "Stay," and lower the bowl to the ground.
- 2Put him back where he was supposed to sit and stay.
- 3Repeat until you can put the bowl down and count to five before saying "OK." Then let him eat.
- 4After several days of following this routine, your dog will sit on his own when he sees you approaching with his dish and wait until you say "OK."
Go Lie Down command
- 1Put two fingers of your left hand, palm facing you, through the collar at the side of his neck. Have a treat in your right hand.First, sit your dog at your left side.
Walking Your Dog
- 1Before you can start teaching your dog to walk with you, you need to get him accustomed to wearing a collar and walking on a leash.
- 2First use a treat to make him follow you and then gently guide him with the leash, telling him what a good dog he is.
- 3If you are teaching outside your house, use the treat to coax him away from the house and the leash to guide him back toward the house.
- 4Go to an area without too many distractions and where you can walk in a straight line for about fifty feet or a circle about thirty feet in diameter.
- 5Say "Let's go" and start walking.
- 6When your dog gets ahead of you and begins to pull on the leash, stop.
- 7When he stops pulling and looks back at you to see what the holdup is, say "Good dog," and if he actually comes to you to check in with you, give him a treat, and then continue walking.
- 8Practice the "stop and go" procedure several times.
Coming When Called
- 1Start right away. While going through this stage, keep the pup on leash so that he does not learn to ignore you when you call.The ideal time to teach him to come when called dog is after you got him from the pet store.
- 2Resist the urge to give the come command a million times. The more often you say "Come," the quicker he learns to ignore you when he is off leash.Learn to anticipate when your dog is likely not to come.
- 3First without any distraction and later on if you are more confident that your dog has totally understood the command you could practice even outside provided that you have him first on a leash.Practice these routine several times every day.
Most dogs respond well to basic training, and many objectionable behaviors can be resolved by establishing a line of communication with your dog, which is the main purpose of training him. Another option, which is also expensive, is to send your dog to a boarding facility that specializes in training. Three weeks is the customary minimum. The training tends to focus on general obedience. However, it is most rewarding if we are the one who will train our pet. The pride of having a well behave pet and the closeness between the owner and the pet is irreplaceable.
If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.
