Your dog needs to be trained. He will be much happier and a good deal more at ease the better trained that he is. You will too like him more. Dogs are pack animals and they get enjoyment from following the leader of the pack. You just need to make sure that the leader or the “alpha dog” is you.
When dogs do not have any obedience training they are inclined to be much more edgy and rambunctious than normal. This is more often than not due to the fact that they really don't know what is expected of them and that makes them uncomfortable. Training your dog well will keep him safer and happier.
You can take advantage of a lot of ways to train your dog. There are numerous books and videos out there and you can also find some good online courses. Nearly every city also has proficient dog trainers and dog obedience courses that you can go to also.
Even if your dog is grown-up you should begin schooling him right away when he arrives at your house. If you have heard that “you can't teach an old dog, new tricks” you should know that it is a untruth. A dog of any age will react to a good leader and positive reinforcement. There are no excuses for not training your pet.
The greatest success in dog training frequently happens when you make teaching a fun part of playtime. You are teaching fundamental training but both you and the dog are having fun and enjoying the time and not stressing about the instruction. All dogs have their own personality and they could learn some things immediately and other things may take more time. Just enjoy the progression.
It is imperative to use positive reinforcement with either praise or treats to recognize when your dog does something right. You need to do it immediately so that he will correlate the good feeling of the reinforcement to the accepted actions. The same thing goes for any kind of chastise. It must each time be done straight away.
A dog cannot rationalize and he can only associate positive or negative reinforcement with what is happening at the moment. If you admonish your dog now for something that he did an hour ago, it is totally a waste of time and it will only serve to scare him without reason because he won't understand your reasoning.
The very most essential thing that you need to be conscious of when you are training a dog is that you and all of the human being members of your family need to outrank him in the pack order. You must be the chief or the “alpha dog”. You can promptly settle this in his mind if you rub his belly as soon as he turns over. He will have to surrender to you and he will then regard you as the leader. All of your teaching will be easier if you are established in his mind as the leader.
