A dog can be a wonderful companion with enormous affection for you
and your family. His keen senses and alertness can provide you with
much-needed protection, but it is important to remember that you
must be prepared to care for your pet for the next twelve or more
years. Like a child, it will depend on you, not only for its health
and well-being, but also for dedicated training in order to become
a friendly, well-mannered dog that is a pleasure for you and
others. It must also be remembered that we do not live in a dog's
world but that our dogs are the ones who must learn to live in a
human world. It is therefore our responsibility to adequately
prepare them for the unfamiliar environment in which we place them.
Society does not punish a child for pulling a dog's tail but will
punish the dog for biting that child. Before a handler can train
his dog, he must understand what is involved in the training
process. He needs to understand what is required from him and the
dog in each part of each of the different obedience exercises. He
must be able to teach his dog what it is expected to know, help it
as much as possible, and make it as easy as possible for the dog.
He needs to know about positive reinforcement in order to get the
targeted behavior to recur and to reward good behavior. Above all,
he needs to know when and how much to praise and what to do when
the dog is not performing a task it was taught. All this he cannot
learn during the relatively short time he spends each week with the
instructor at the club. Six days a week he is alone at home with
his dog and needs to continue to build on the training he received
at the club. He needs to remember the sequence of training steps
and how to break them up into the small component parts to be
mastered by the dog. And when he becomes confused, he needs help or
notes to refer to This is what I had in mind when I decided to
write these notes on basic dog obedience training. There are many
basic training methods from clicker training to the more
traditional methods that can be used to train a dog for obedience
work. The perfect training method does not exist; otherwise, we
would all have had copies made and used on our dogs. No, we are all
learning and improving. I have adopted an eclectic approach to dog
training-that is, I have, over many years, studied different
training methods and selected from them what will work for most
dogs. At times, however, I may use a combination of these methods,
or I may shift from one method to another, depending on the
training need or exercise. What is very important to me is that the
reader must not only know about the best methods of teaching dogs
today but must understand why a dog behaves the way it does. Above
all, it must be remembered that dog training must be fun for both
dog and trainer. Most dog owners do not ask much of their dogs:
they ask only that the dogs obey some basic commands and that they
are well behaved at home and in public. That is why all dogs
should, at least, do the Canine Good Citizen test. I hope my notes
will add to your knowledge of basic dog obedience training and that
your trained dog will bring much joy to you and your family. Jan
Meyer BA (SA), MEd DCRT (US), HP (MT)
General
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