How To Train Your Dog And Influence Behavior - Get Your Dog To Do What You Want, When You Want

When she walked into my office I tried to keep the surprised look off my face. Her eyes were black and blue and her nose was swollen beyond belief. As she sat down she started to cry and had a difficult time talking. I got her a glass of water and let her know to take her time. Once she gained control, she informed me that her dog was responsible for her broken nose and black eyes.

She went on to tell me that her dog had injured her arm and wrist and her leg. She said that she loved her dog. She also added that her dog was a large black lab and in no way aggressive. Her dog had injured her by jumping, pulling, and in general not listening to her commands. She said that the latest incident had happened a few days before. She told me that she was getting ready to walk her dog. She had put her dog on leash and was about to go out the door. Just as she was about to exit the house through the front door, her dog saw a cat across the street and took off at full speed.

She hung on to the leash and tripped trying to go out the door. She went face first into the door and broke her nose. At this point she teared up again and said that she loved her dog but didn't know if she could keep him. She had no control. I told her not to worry, and that we would get her dog under control.

I taught her my system for dealing with behavior problems, what I call my M.U.T.T. Method. The M stands for Manage, U for Underlying, T for Training, and the last T is for Time.

M=Management - A big part of dog ownership is effectively managing your dog's behavior. Crates, kennels, baby gates, and leashes are some tools to help you manage your dog's behavior. In this case, we put a gentle leader head collar on her dog to help manage her dog's pulling problem.

A gentle leader works by controlling the dog's head. In principle, it works a lot like a horse bridle. It makes it much more difficult for the dog to pull, and it gives you much better control over the dog on leash.

U=Underlying - Whenever you are dealing with a behavior problem you have to understand that there is an underlying problem. For instance, if a dog is digging there could be many different underlying reasons for the digging. It could be that the dog is bored, frustrated, hot, or it could be breed specific. Terriers love to dig.

In this situation, we figured that one of the big underlying reasons was lack of exercise. Her dog was loaded with energy. We came up with a plan to have her son bring the dog to the park three times a week on a long leash. He would spend about 45 minutes throwing a ball for her dog. In addition to the ball playing, she brought her dog to a dog daycare three times a week. By giving her dog some intensive, aerobic exercise her dog started to calm down.

T=Train - We put her dog on a training program that consisted of the basics (sit, down, stay, walk, and come). She or her son had to spend at least ten minutes each day doing a training session. We focused on teaching her dog to greet politely at the door and stop pulling. By using the gentle leader she was able to walk her dog past very distracting situations. She even expressed her amazement when she crossed other dogs and animals during their walks and was able to control him.

In addition to the obedience training she also learned how to teach her dog that she was the leader. She had her dog work for attention, food, and playing. By establishing some leadership she gained much better control.

T=Time - Any behavior program is going to require time. By following the steps that we outlined she started to see changes within a short period of time. By following the program for 21 days, those changes would become stronger and stronger.

Any time you're faced with a behavior problem, remember the acronym M.U.T.T. and apply each step. You'll be happy with the results.

About the Author: Eric Letendre started his dog training business in August of 1995. He has worked as an animal control officer, training director, and provided K-9 security consulting for such institutions as World Wide Plaza in Manhattan, and Hartford Hospital. He has also helped numerous animal shelters and has published two books. To learn more about his newest book, “The Amazing Dog Training Man,” you can visit his website http://www.AmazingDogTrainingMan.com.

Train Your Dog to Stop Barking

Here are several tips to train your dog to stop barking:

1. Make sure your dog has the basic things it needs while you are away from home, such as food, water and a comfortable place to relax. It needs to be a place where your dog can not see other people or other pets.

2. Be a good role model and do not repeatedly assure your dog he will be OK when you are about to leave the house. Do not repeatedly tell your dog you will be back soon. Doing this will making the barking problem worse. Do greet your dog excessively one you return hoe to reinforce the fact that staying home is a big deal.

3. Only praise your pet when he has responded properly to a command. Stop praising and petting your pet for doing nothing. Teach your pet to sit. First for short periods of time and then for longer periods and reinforce your pets to stop jumping on your guest. Guests typically do not like this. Praise and pet your dog as you teach him to sit for long periods of time.

4. Invest in some good chew toys. Use the chew toys to let your dog get distracted. Leave the room and close the door. When you return to the room continue to do what you were doing prior to leaving the room, but do not acknowledge your dog when you return. Ignore him and do not look at him. Do this several times and soon he will get use to your leaving and returning.

5. Do not say goodbye to your dog when you are leaving the house. Do not look at your dog before you leave. Feed your dog and provide him with a chew toy before leaving. Sit down at the table and relax, read the paper and then walk out the door without acknowledging your dog. When you return home, ignore your dog first off, change your clothes or do something else, whatever you choose. After your dog settles down acknowledge him, by telling him to sit, praise him by patting him on the head and tell him good dog. This will teach him to get use to your coming and going. Treat this as no big deal.

6. Give your dog something to do while you are gone. Something that will occupy his time and keep his busy for a while. Choose chew toys that are hollow so you can insert a treat inside of the chew toy that will keep him busy trying to get to the treat. Also, you can find adjustable balls and put dry food into the ball, so when the ball rolls around the food will fall out.

7. Give your dog something to do while you are gone. Something that will occupy his time and keep his busy for a while. Choose chew toys that are hollow so you can insert a treat inside of the chew toy that will keep him busy trying to get to the treat. Also, you can find adjustable balls and put dry food into the ball, so when the ball rolls around the food will fall out.

8. Invest in a citronella no-bark collar if necessary. Dogs do not like citronella a small amount will spray each time the dog barks and ultimately he will discontinue this behavior due to the citronella.

Training your dog to stop barking doesn't have to cost you a fortune. It is a small investment to condition and change your dogs behavior. Try the tips listed above and you will see results in just a few days.

My name is Ann Johnson. I am 49 years of age. I am married with (3) adult children and (8) grandchildren. My hobbies are reading, traveling, bowling, shopping and spending time with the family. Family holiday gatherings are very important and I go out of my way to make sure that everyone has a great time. I work from home. Please visit my web site at [http://discountpricesavers.com]