Roundup: ‘How to Train a Dog’ Edition

We’ve all seen the German Shepherd pup at the dog park who sees you coming, charging at full gallop only to bulldoze you at the gate. The other dogs stand in a circle over you, panting and drooling. The dog owners continue talking together at the other end of the dog run. Oopsie!

Among young dog owners, there are two camps of kids. There are those, like Seth, who distribute treats at what could best be described as wild abandon, and then there are the dictators. The dictator child holds the bag of treats in hand, and shouts a command to the dog in staccato, five-minute iterations, until the dog raises an eyebrow in disgust and retreats to your bed to chew up a down pillow.

“First of all,” explains Beard, “teach the dog that you mean exactly what you say, and that he must obey you.” This is where both camps fail, as any foolish command after the first teaches the dog to ignore the owner.

Whatever camp your child falls into, the burden falls upon you to teach your dog a basic set of skills, but your child can watch you and learn. The most important thing to impress upon a youngster is your authority over the dog and the dog’s trust in you. This is the key to successful training. You can accomplish quite a lot once you have built this relationship with the dog.

Every well-mannered dog should have a basic set of skills under his collar, but we’re not the authority on dog training. However, we’ve sniffed out a pack of helpful sites that can help you learn more:

• 5 commands that Animal Planet endorses as foundation material (sit, stay, come, down, & heel) in a concise online guide.  Once your dog can master this skill set, he can move on to more advanced training, like taking out the trash (right?!).

• Find obedience classes offered locally (The American Kennel Club). By submitting a form, you can find classes in your area where you and your pup can learn these skills from a licensed professional.

• 5 things to teach your dog in the first 5 months (Associated Content)–because you never can be too early to train your charge! Parents understand this:  the first three years of life are the most critical years for learning new concepts and skills. Well, turns out human babies aren’t the only ones! According to the experts, the first 5 months of a pup’s life are the most critical weeks of learning opportunity, as far as dog training is concerned. Who knows? You may have a canine Einstein on your hands.

• Dog Training for Obedience Want to see some examples? This site details how to teach each individual task, accompanied by video tutorials.

Personal Dog Trainer and Dog Behavior Consultant Pam Young, LVT CDBC CPDT, of Dog Gone Good LLC, lists everything your dog should ideally strive to master under your charge:

CHECKLIST FOR WELL-ADJUSTED, WELL-BEHAVED DOGS

• Able to walk on a loose leash without pulling
• Able to greet friends and strangers without jumping or shying away
• Able to walk without chasing bicycles, children, cars, squirrels, rabbits, balls, other dogs, etc
• Can quiet barking on command
• Understands nipping and mouthing is not allowed
• Able to be left alone at home without destruction, barking or anxiety
• Able to play, chew and relax without constant interaction with owner
• Able to relinquish food, toys or inappropriate objects at owner’s bidding
• Can be groomed or handled without complaint
• Is reliable with housebreaking
• Veterinarian or groomer can handle dog without a problem
• Does not rush through doorways ahead of owner
• Interacts appropriately with children
• Able to tolerate accidental nudging or grabbing (even when asleep) without snapping
• Will move location - even if on furniture or bed - when directed without growling or snapping
• Respects leadership of owner
• Tolerates at least, and my play or interact appropriately with other dogs

Despite all we could train the dog to do, the boys do their best to reinforce the skills they appreciate  most in Seti: retrieving a tennis ball, for example, is always a natural way to reinforce the “come” and “go” commands, while simultaneously improving your swing:

And then there are other useful commands, like “speaking” and chasing squirrel (strictly for fun), hopping up into the truck (useful whenever it’s time to board a vehicle), going home (for when he’s standing in the middle of the street, daydreaming) and getting off the bed (useful for when he has forgotten whose bed it really is). Anything else in the skill set seems irrelevant. After all, it’s kind of fun to watch Seti take off after the mail truck. And you can bet that whenever he’s at the dog park, he’s too busy in pursuit of a ball to waste any time on people-pouncing.