I’ve never partaken to formal dog training before in my life.
With Simba being the big gentle giant lion that he is, I wanted to train him properly. I sought out an expert kennel obedience class to help me with this. It was a six-week course, it was intense, with professional trainers, and HOMEWORK, handouts, nonetheless I learned a lot. I’ll share some week-by-week tidbits along the way!
Before enrolling in the Manner’s Obedience Dog Class…Simba learned and listened to a lot of my commands. Such as recall, he is great at coming to his name. Sit, stay, Simba…I taught him those ahem already!
One thing I needed to work on with Simba was the fact that he jumps up excitedly when he meets new people. I personally don’t like big dogs jumping up on myself, therefore I expect to train Simba not to do so as well. I learned that the reason dogs do this is because they want to get closer to human’s faces to say a proper hello to them. Cute…but not so cute when someone comes in the house, wearing nice white clothes, and your puppy excitedly jumps up to great…and yah it’s just not great puppy manners!
Happiness is a cuddly warm puppy.
Mallory Brooke
Week One Training Tidbits – PLAY
- It is best to keep training sessions short (15 minutes including playing). Work on two to three exercises in one lesson. Each exercise should only be trained for two to five minutes. *Five treats per exercise.
- Playing games are good exercise for dogs and owners. As soon as the dog learns the two of them can have fun together, he begins to focus his attention on the owner, rather than always looking to other dogs for enjoyment and amusement.
- These games: Increase the level of control owners have over their dogs, specifically proofing control at times when the dogs are excised and worked-up and; Motivate, build confidence, and make the dog less aggressive, specifically improving and maintaining his bite inhibition.
- How we play with our dogs can have a profound affect on our dog’s temperament, attitude toward our leadership, and their overall ability to successfully adapt to our environment. Play also benefits the reduction of stress and stress-related behaviours such as chewing, barking and unruliness. Play is a stress reliever for your dog.
- Play is: roughhousing, dancing, quick retrieve exchanges, tugging, long interactions with your dog.
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
Unknown
Greeting People
- The key in training dogs not to jump is to strongly reward/train an alternative behaviour that is mutually exclusive to jumping – sitting.
- When dog naturally tries to jump up, turn back and remain silent. After a short while, turn back to dog and when dog sits, treat. Every time he tries to jump up, turn back. It may take several repetitions, but be consistent, and repeat every time dog tries to jump up.
- For dogs that know the sit command, owners can use it when meeting people. When a person approaches, ask the dog to sit. If dog jumps up, ask person to back off and ignore dog. Repeat until dog holds the sit when person approaches. Treat and praise dog. NEVER treat unless the dog is sitting.
The best therapist has fur and four legs.
Mallory Brooke
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Outdoorsy, sarcastic, and fun, empowering mom, adventuring the forest!
