Dog Training 101

A lot of people think training a dog to hand-shake with a man is so easy. Maybe it is. So, they consider teaching a dog doing a hand-shake “dog training”. Certainly a no, no, no!

Dog training is more than just teaching a dog to do a hand-shake, or to catch a ball, or to roll. There's more to those tricks. But of course, those tricks are also a part of “dog training”. Other than caring for their dog health, dog owners will eventually want to teach their dogs with even just the basic tricks because they want them to behave in a way that they are pleasant to be around. Studies proved that dogs do not learn obedience on their own, instead they have to be trained in order for them to act the way humans want them to.

Dog training has several areas. One of the most popular and commonly done by trainers, handlers, owners or friends of the dogs is the obedience training. This is the basic area of dog training where you teach your dog to “sit”, “stand”, “lie”, “heel”, “beg”, “come”, and “stay and down”. Obedience is the prerequisite or the foundation of your dog training and it usually requires a good relationship and trust between the dog and the owner or the handler.

Once the dog already knows the basics and is already “obedient”, then you can move on to a more difficult area like teaching more tricks to be performed in a circus, or to be a guide to the blind, or to be a rescue dog and help find victims during a disaster, or be a hunting dog and help hunters find what they want in the forest. Be sure that you are not jeopardizing your dog health along the process of your dog training. Dogs play an important role as guard animals. You may also train dogs with other tricks which can be very helpful so they may be police dogs, rescue dogs, detection dogs, sheep dogs or schutzhund, a German term for protection dogs.

Dogs are considered to be man's best friend. They are among the very few animals that are easy to teach and to be tamed. It’s good to train dogs if they are still puppies because just like humans, this is the stage where their attitudes and abilities and dog health are still developing. Dogs that are petted and are handled carefully during this stage is more amenable to be trained and to be lived with in the house. There are some training schools for dogs where professionals teach them the tricks. However, it is also advisable that the owners learn the tricks as well. It is best that both the dog and the owner enroll to the training school together so they learn easily and interaction will be fun.

For those who are patient who want to spend time personally with their dog training, it is quite easy, though it requires patience. Just like life, you cannot just train the dog overnight. It also requires constant practice. It is trial and error. Communication is a very important factor. Humans want to teach the dogs what attitudes and behaviors are correct. They want the dog to know what is right and wrong, but it may be so difficult because these animals cannot talk nor can they understand what a person is trying to say. Dogs bark and they cannot speak so humans must make effort to show the dog what he wants to happen and once the dog learns what is being taught, they must also be given a reward. Just like human beings, these animals have feelings; too, so rewarding them for a job well-done will also boost their self-esteem.