How to train a dog Lesson 10

The problem of keeping your dog off the furniture is one that is usually created by the owner. When you first bring your dog home as a puppy you may have encouraged him to jump up onto your lap whilst you were sat down on the sofa, thinking it was cute. However, once your dog gets older, and bigger, you may not want him to jump up onto the furniture anymore. As your dog has been used to doing this all his life and has learnt how to jump onto the furniture, it is difficult to teach him not to.

Have you ever been dressed up to go out, sat down on your sofa and then got up covered in dog hairs? It’s not a good look. There’s also the problem of inviting guests round only to have your 50lb dog slouched on the sofa, refusing to move, causing great embarrassment. Even smaller dogs can be a problem when trying to get them off a piece of furniture that they have claimed as theirs.

A simple but effective way of training your dog to keep off the furniture is to use a ‘rattle’. This is really a tin can with 20 beans or coins it and can make a lot of noise! Dogs hate to be startled and the noise the rattle makes works perfectly in every situation. If you are lucky enough to have a dog that jumps up on the furniture whilst you are in the room, use the rattle whilst firmly telling your dog ‘no’. Tell your dog ‘no’ sometimes with the rattle and sometimes without the rattle.

Once your dog has learnt the ‘no’ command, the problem of your dog jumping up on your furniture should end. If your dog is sneaky and jumps on the sofa when you are not around, make a couple of  tin rattles and line them up along the sofa. Then when your dog jumps up on your furniture they knock the rattles,
causing the loud noise and therefore startling your dog. As with training your dog, just like any animal, patience is vital. Although it may take a lot of time and effort, the benefits in the long run are well worth it.

How to train a dog Lesson 6

In general, dogs are not naturally aggressive animals. Some dogs end up being aggressive due to the way they have been brought up by their owners. This could be because an owner doesn’t understand how to train their dog properly or because they mistreat and abuse them.

Dogs show their aggression in a variety of ways from staring, growling, barking or mounting or a combination of these things. In some cases may a dog demonstrate its aggression through biting, although this is only in extreme cases. There is always a reason behind a dog’s aggression. Once the reason for the aggression has been pinpointed, this will help find a cure for it and hopefully stop this aggressive behavior for good. There are many reasons why a dog may be aggressive. One reason is that a dog’s instinct is to dominate and by being aggressive they believe that this will happen.

Another reason for aggression is that it is a dog’s instinct to be the leader of the group and so to become this, your dog believes that barking, growling or some other aggressive behavior will make him the ‘leader’. As soon as your dog starts to become aggressive, this must be dealt with straight away. A dog may sometimes play up his aggressive behavior to challenge you and see if you will give in to him. Therefore, this needs to be dealt with immediately otherwise your dog thinks that his behavior is acceptable and the problem will become even worse.

The problem may have been started if you let your dog growl as a puppy to get his way. As your dog wasn’t told off for doing it, he still thinks that he is allowed to do it and as your dog gets older and bigger, the behavior will get even worse. In order to control your dog’s aggression, start training your dog as a puppy. You need to let your dog know that his behavior is unacceptable. To reduce your dog’s aggression it is also a good idea to make him socialize around other dogs and people. Getting your dog used to being around other dogs will help him to learn that it is wrong to bark, growl and jump at them.

If your dog was ever attacked or abused at some point in his life, this will have taught him to be aggressive back in order to protect himself. Anything that is used to physically hurt a dog will increase their aggressive behavior. Therefore physical punishment should never be used during training.

All aggressive dogs show some signs of aggression whether it be standing tall and stiff, pinning his ears down with his tail tucked between his legs, staring aggressively or crouching whilst avoiding eye contact. Gradual training is the key to helping an aggressive dog. Make sure you don’t force your dog into socializing with other dogs and people and this may make him feel threatened and trigger his aggressiveness. With a dominantly aggressive or territorial dog, the best training is obedience training. Never lose your temper as an aggressive dog will take advantage of you.