"Why Good Dog Training Starts With Gaining Your Dogs Respect, Trust and Confidence!"

 

The basis of good dog training is winning its trust, confidence and respect.  True dog obedience training cannot begin until the animal has accepted you as its leader, respects you and entrusted you with his or her confidence.

 

The mistake many dog owners make is mistaking love and affection for respect and confidence.  While it is certainly important to love your new dog or puppy, it is also very important that your pet respects you and sees you as his leader.  Dogs are naturally pack animals, and every dog looks to the lead dog for advice and direction. Making yourself the pack leader is vital to the success of training your dog.

 

The key to dog training any new dog, whether working with a 12 week old puppy or an older dog, is to immediately get the respect of the animal.  Failure to do so can create a dog that is disobedient, out of control and even dangerous.  Problem dogs are dangerous, whether they are created through bad breeding, owner ignorance or improper dog training.  It is important to train your pet right from the start, since retraining a problem dog is much more difficult than training a dog or puppy properly the first time.

 

Dog obedience training does not mean using rough or dangerous handling methods, but it does mean letting the dog know that you are in control of the situation.  Dogs need structure in their lives, and they will not resent the owner taking control.  As a matter of fact, the dog will appreciate your taking the role of trainer and coach as you begin your dog training session.

 

When starting to train your pet, it is important to keep the dog training sessions short at first.  This is particularly important when working with a young puppy, since puppies tend to have much shorter attention spans than older dogs.  Keeping the puppy training sessions short, and fun, is essential for effective training as it will help your pup retain the information long term.