One of the many joys of owning a dog is having a tight bond with your dog.  Indeed, dogs could become so attach to their owners that they would develop dog separation anxiety whenever they are left behind.  This is especially true if the dog becomes too reliant or dependant on his owner.

What is Dog Separation Anxiety?

Dog separation anxiety is not a joke to many dog owners.  In fact, it could cause enormous problems for dog owners whose dogs are suffering from the affliction.  Sadly, if the condition remains untreated, it could become a reason why many dogs end up in shelters.

Treating this condition or affliction is not easy.  In fact, it can be time consuming and bothersome.  However, a patient dog owner who truly loves his dog would take the time and effort to help his dog get over this affliction.

Separation Anxiety - the Dog’s Point of View

It might be easier for you to understand this form of anxiety and what causes it if you would look at it at your dog’s point of view.  First and foremost, dogs suffering from this are essentially dogs that regard their owners as the one important thing in their life.  This reason alone is a great motivator for you to help your dog overcome the problem.  You should understand that if your dog has a choice, he would to be with you on a 24/7 basis. Impossible!  You might just think.  Indeed, but this is the reason why your dog gets anxious, depressed and apprehensive whenever you leave the house.

It might be also help if you know that your dog regards himself as a member of your pack.  In fact, he thinks of you and himself as one pack.  So, when you leave him behind, he gets confused and worried.  All he would want is to be reunited with you - his pack.

Knowing all this, how can you still possibly resort to punishment when you’re dealing with dog separation anxiety?  Punishment is not the answer to treating this affliction.

Recognizing the Symptoms of Dog Separation Anxiety

In order to help your dog, you should learn to recognize the symptoms of dog separation anxiety.  Does your dog get really worked up when he sees you preparing to leave?  For instance, he’d start behaving badly when he sees you picking up your car keys.

Does your dog engaged in bad behavior only when you’re not around?  Bad behavior ranges from urinating inside the house or displaying hostile and destructive behavior.  These behaviors are, in fact, fairly common to dogs suffering from separation anxiety.

Does your dog like to follow you everywhere?  Does he start to show inappropriate behavior when he can’t come near you?  Once you get home, does your dog give you abnormally exuberant greeting and takes time to calm down?

These are just some of the many symptoms of dog separation anxiety.  By knowing and recognizing them, you would know that your dog would need treatment for his problem.

Have a great dog training day,

Dr. Alfonso

Dog obedience training requires a lot of strategies that you could use in order to enforce good behavior and obedience in your dog. This dog training would also discourage negative behavior from your pet. However, in order to be effective at training your dog, you need to learn the basics. Crucial to effective training is communication. You need to learn how to communicate with your dog.

Communicating with Your Dog

There are several things that you have to learn or to consider in order to effectively communicate with your dog. First of all, you need to understand that your dog responds to your body language and tone of voice. Your German Shepard does not understand verbal instruction. This is why some dogs learn the meaning of the word "No!" They do understand the word but they respond to your facial expression and your hand gesture. For example, you find the bed sheets on the floor and your dog munching on your new shoes, you do not lecture your dog. This is not effective. A simple and forceful, "No!" would suffice as long as your dog has been trained to understand the word.
If you want to have an effective communication system with your dog, you need to constantly communicate with him. You need to be consistent in your methods. Adapt the same manner and tone of voice for your commands.

An effective tool to training your dog is your hand signals for dog obedience training. Oftentimes, you’d see dogs jump up, roll over or play dead at their trainer’s hand signal. Indeed, hand signals for dog obedience training are wonderful tools to get your dog’s attention.

How to Train Your Dog with Hand Signals

Dogs understand hand signals for dog obedience training. These signals are far easier to grasp than verbal commands. This is probably because dogs understand body language easily.
There are no official hand signals for dog obedience training. Dog trainers would usually adapt the commonly used signals, however, for basic commands like sit, down, stay, come and heel. For instance, if you would like to teach your dog how to sit by giving him a hand signal, you could just simply start with placing your arm at your side and then moving them toward chest with your palms facing upwards. This is a great hand signal if you are very close in proximity to your pet.
It is always advisable to mix verbal commands with hand signals for dog obedience training. Your pet would associate your hand signals to your commands and they would learn to respond to either of the commands when given.

If you want your dog to learn fast, make sure he’ll have fun following hand signals. Make sure that you lavish your pet with praise and treats every time he’d do something right. This will inspire your pet to do better. On the other hand, if your pet disobeys you, do not resort to physical punishment. Always resort to positive reinforcement rather than the opposite.

Have a great dog training day,

Dr. Alfonso

If your dog is well trained, he would be a delight and a pleasurable companion. He’d be trustworthy, reliable and dependable; and his behavior will not cause you any concern. However, if you have a spoiled, undisciplined, rowdy pet, he’d be a nuisance to you and oftentimes, a cause of embarrassment. Danger lurks if your pet is an undisciplined and untrained large and strong breed.

Dogs are Different
If you are a dog owner, you’d agree that your dog needs training especially if he is a rambunctious pet. Many pet owners shirk giving their pet basic dog obedience training because they think that the dog training process is long and tiresome.

Obviously, if you would like a perfectly behaved dog, it couldn’t happen overnight. You would have to devote time and effort in training your dog. You need not have to spend long hours just to give your pet basic dog obedience training. As long as you know what to do, you’d be able to train your puppy in no time at all.

Knowing Your Options
If you are interested in training your dog yourself, you should look into joining dog training clubs in your area. You will be able to learn from a competent dog trainer. You will then learn the tricks of the trade which you could apply if you get another dog.

If you don’t have the time to drive to a dog obedience club, you could look into hiring a professional dog trainer. Just make sure that you would not spend a considerable sum of money just for the basic dog obedience course. To ensure this, you should consider this as your last option. Perhaps, you could first look online and look for materials that would help you understand the basic dog obedience training tricks.

Giving Your Dog the Basic Training
At the onset of the basic dog obedience training, you should understand and accept the fact that training your dog is crucial to having a well-behaved dog that respects you and follows your command. It is important, therefore, that through the whole process you would be firm and calm. You should also be confident in your command and manner in order to avoid confusion in your pet’s mind.

While going through the basic puppy obedience training, you should carefully guide your dog that he would not have any confusion as to what is required of him. Make sure that he would know that what you are giving is a command and not a request. It is also important that you recognize his obedience with lavish praises. Recognize his disobedience with reprimand. This is the fundamental rule of basic dog obedience training.

Reprimanding your dog is not easy. Make sure that your dog knows why he is being reprimanded. It is also important that you know how to reprimand your dog. Dogs have different temperaments. You should also take into consideration the sex of your dog because bitches react differently from male dogs. So, assess your dog’s level of sensitivity before you adapt a method of reprimand. And whatever you do, do not physically punish your dog.

If there is one person who would benefit most from your pet’s basic dog obedience training, that would be you. You can rest assure your shoes and couch would be safe from your dog’s bad manners.

Have a great dog training day,

Dr. Alfonso

House training is one of the most important aspects of dog training, and whether your house training older dogs or a new puppy, it is important to remember several key things. First is that ownership of the house, who the breadwinner or the father is, etc, mean nothing to the new dog. Everything is new and unfamiliar with him so try to be patient and understanding.

Next, as a result of the unfamiliarity, the dog will be anxious or stressed and may result in diarrhea attacks. Bear in mind that since this is a new house for him, so your dog will not know where to go potty or even where the door that leads outside is, and he may relieve himself in an inappropriate area. Do not punish him for this as it could traumatize your dog. Just bring him outside first and get him acquainted with where he should eliminate, and reward him every time.

House training older dogs can be tricky since they probably have been house trained by their previous masters, or not at all. Either way, the dog has probably already picked up several habits and actions that you need to painstakingly train away.

Remember that chasing is a means of play for dogs, and if he picks up things that he shouldn’t, such as socks or clothing, do not chase him as this could give him the impression that it’s part of playtime, and may result in accidentally teaching him to do something that he’s not supposed to do.

Feed and give him water regularly. Consistency and regularity are your two most useful tools in basic dog training. As an added bonus, knowing when you gave him water will also allow you to gauge when he is about to relieve himself (usually about an hour after drinking), and start training him on relieving outside Pick him up as soon as you see signs that he may relieve himself, and place him on a newspaper. Do this regularly and he may come to associate the newspaper as the place where he should relieve himself. Over time, your dog will look for the newspaper every time he needs to go potty, and you can follow up by leaving the door open and placing the newspaper outside. For more absorbent materials, you could try to use commercial dog house breaking pads such as the ones made by Poochpad.

This is common knowledge, but still needs to be mentioned. Even if you don’t want to groom or dress your dog, proper hygiene should still be observed. Regular baths, no matter how much they seem to hate it at first, should be observed. Dogs are very prone to bacteria and germs and can expose themselves as well as you and your family to potentially harmful elements.

Last but not the least, it will help a lot if you treat the dog as part of your family. This will keep you attuned to his specific needs and wants instead of neglecting them out of indifference to a different species’ different body makeup.

Have a great “dog training” day,

Dr. Alfonso

There are dogs that are hard to train. They are stubborn and would not respond to basic commands. If your dog is being particularly difficult, you might want to get a dog training collar. While the idea of having a collar to get your dog to follow your command, you should put in mind that a dog training collar is merely a tool to help you with training your dog. It is not the all and end all answer to dog training. When it is used effectively and properly, it can deliver very positive results.

What is a Dog Collar?
A dog collar is a rounded piece of material that is put around the dog’s neck. It is basically used to control a dog or identify him. Oftentimes, you’d see identification tags on dogs. Dog collars are common tools for directing or training dogs. Like anything, misuse of dog collars could cause injury or death.

Kinds of Dog Training Collars

There are different types of dog training collars. They come in all shapes and sizes. If you would go online, you’d end up with numerous brands for dog collars. A search in Google could give you Innotek, Sportdog, TriTronics, Dogtra and DT Systems collar. When choosing your dog training collar, you need to make sure that the collar goes well with your leash. This will allow you to control your dog without hurting him. So, make sure your dog collar fits well around your dog’s neck. It might be a good idea to take your dog neck’s measurement before you buy anything or to take your dog when you go shopping for a dog collar.

There are different kinds of dog collars. This includes the choke collar which is further classified into three kinds - the limited choke collar, snap-around choke collar and the choke chain. They serve various purposes. For instance, if you are going to train a service dog, you may want to get the limited choke collar. It fits perfectly around your dog’s neck so even if you pull on it with your dog’s leash, the collar wouldn’t change in size. So, you would avoid hurting your dog.

If you are looking for the healthiest and safest choke collar, you would want to get the snap-around choke collar. This collar doesn’t contract and it rides high on your dog’s neck so you would avoid pushing on your dog’s windpipe if you pull his leash. You would only need to use minimum force when training your dog. If you accidentally pull your hard, you wouldn’t have to worry about your snapping your dog’s neck backward.

Choosing Your Dog Training Collar

Basically, there are some factors that you have to consider when choosing your dog collar. These include finding the perfect fit. Your dog’s collar should fit snugly on your dog’s neck. It shouldn’t be too tight or too loose. Another thing that you have to consider is the size and measure of your dog’s head and neck. Measure the size so you would know what kind of dog training collar to get. Also, make sure that when you place the collar around your dog’s neck that it would rest on the top of his neck and not on the side or under his neck.

Have a great dog training day,

Dr. Alfonso