Article by Allaric Saltzman

Many of us would love to have dogs as pets. Selecting a dog is a tedious and time consuming affair and at times the whole family is involved. After all it would be a part of the family and the time spent in identifying the right dog would be justified. But than is that enough? Not at all since the dog will need some training to gel with the family. The family would want the dog to be obedient and respond to the whims and fancies of the family. This is where the role of a dog collar comes in to play. A dog collar as the name suggests is a collar worn round the dogs neck and could be remotely controlled. Signals would be sent to him and depending on the training imparted to him, he would respond. Fundamentally dog training is all about communication. A dog trainer would simply want the dog to respond to his signals so that his behavior is just right.

It is a fact that dogs are an intelligent breed of animal and can be easily trained. Regardless of the purpose of training, it is widely accepted that a dog collar can give us a better behavior. There are times when a dog would act stubborn and will just not listen to your commands and we all know how frustrating it can be. We all know how embarrassing it is when your dog would just bark at your visitors who happen to be your near and dear ones. There are various types of dog collars that are available in the market and one can make a choice depending on the type of dog he possesses. But than having many choices makes it difficult to select the right collar for your dog. It’s therefore paramount that you opt for the right collar for your dog. For example if the dog is used for hunting expeditions he would need to be trained for a tracking collar device controlled by a remote. Likewise a domesticated dog would need an anti-bark dog device by which his masters could control him. Most of them are effective and serve the purpose. Some vendors would give you the option to return the collar within 30 days and the money would be refunded if at all the collar would not serve the purpose.

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Article by Katie Walker

Leash training your dog is vital and the earlier you do it the better for you and your pet. Why? Because you will need to take your dog out for walks (remember good exercise is necessary for your dog’s health and happiness).

With proper leash training your pet will know that you are the one that is always in control and not the other way round and will ensure that you will be able to handle/control your dog in most situations.

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Article by Melanie McClure

Musical Canine Freestyle, is a fun way to train a dog. I started training dogs when I got my first two Australian shepherds. I enjoyed teaching them basic obedience, but then I wanted to know what more could I teach my smart dogs. Starting them with basic obedience was easy and fun and I wanted something more advanced I could teach them at such a young age. I also needed something I could teach on our own home. I thought about agility training, but my dogs needed to be past the age of one to really get into that and it needs a special field with special equipment.

Then, I finally discovered musical freestyle. It is a combination of the best of obedience, agility and trick training and adds in some musical creativity and dance! My dogs loved it from the start. Musical canine freestyle is a dog sport in which you do heelwork to music and add in all sorts of creative and basic tricks like sit, lay, spin, jumps, leg weaves, and circle around, etc. In canine freestyle you get to have a variety of creative heelwork positions. There are more options than just left heel! There is the right heel position, front, middle, and follow from behind. Then your dog can be a number of postions himself such as standing perpendicular to you as you move, or standing with his back to you or you back to back with him. You can also incorporate a variety of movement directions such as moving forward and backwards, together or apart and moving sideways left and right mirrored or parallel. The variety and creativity is endless. But don’t be overwhelmed, beginners get to start easy and work their way up. In most competitive organizations, there are very loose requirements allowing for the handler and dog to show off their talents and skills while avoiding things you are not good at. It is up to you to create the choreography of the routine and it has very few restrictions. You get to chose what moves work well for you and your dog and select music that suits your dogs’ movement so it looks like he is dancing to the music.

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Article by Kay Ringelstetter

When you take your dog for a walk it should be a pleasurable experience and the best way to to make sure this happens is to familiarize your puppy with the leash and yourself with your dog poop bag holder as early as possible. You will not need to retrain your dog and yourself later, if you learn these skills right from the start. It is definitely worth your time and bit of energy to develop these skills now.

Always remember that you are the leader and it is up to you to lead your dog. Good communication is the key. Be consistent and make sure all of your family is consistent. It is a learning curve for everyone. Everyone needs to follow the same techniques or it will lead to total confusion for your puppy. Total training time may take up to two weeks and maybe longer. All dogs are different. Adapting to your particular pet and your patience are important.

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Question by theresa V: Clicker Training: How do I clicker train my BIG DOG to not jump on people to greet them?
He is an 8 month old German Shepherd & Rottweiler mix. He is a very smart dog with an AMAZING temperament and responds almost instantly to clicker training… The biggest problem Im having is the way he greets people… He jumps on everyone to greet them! Its a bad habit I’ve been having a hard time breaking…

Anyone have a positive way to incorporate the clicker training for this jumping habit?

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Article by Kate Truman

Leash training a labrador retriever can be a very wearisome and difficult task. However, it is really advisable that you make leash training a crucial part of your labrador retriever training courses. Failure to properly leash train your hyperactive and playful labrador pet might result to numerous troubles and mishaps. A number of behavioral problems might try to come about. The good thing is that labrador retrievers are responsive to training. On top of that, there is an array of effective labrador retriever training tools and information to choose from. And many dog training pointers and tricks are waiting to be utilized.

Be sure that you apply the appropriate kinds of equipment and tactics. Be advised of the hottest labrador retriever training methods and remedies, particularly those meant to make leash training a fun and successful endeavor. Don’t just be satisfied with general options; instead, know what’s best for your own dog. See to it that what you are doing are best suited to your own labrador pet. It is a must that you be familiar with your own dog. You should be able to determine his distinct needs as well as those factors that could lend you a hand when training your dog. Try to decipher his body language so you will fully understand his behavior and responses.

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Article by Jake Tylor:

* “Heel” to walk on a loose leash

* Respond to “No!”

* “Sit”

* “Stay”

* “Down”

* Respond to “Release”

One reason for doing obedience training is to establish a foundation from which you and your dog can learn to effectively relate to one another. The first thing obedience training does is to create a common language for you and your dog. This, in turn, lets your dog know the proper response (behavior) that you expect in place of socially maladaptive behavior.

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