Discipline Your Dog Properly

Owning a dog may be harder than you initially expected. But, don't worry. We've all been there. Until a dog is well trained -and, even after, there are still incidents- you can expect to arrive home to chaos every once in awhile. How you handle the chaos can make a huge difference in what, and how quickly, your pooch learns. Number one rule: stay calm. Then, you can work on ways to turn the behavior around.

If your dog is untrained, then you may dread stepping through the door when you get home from work. Who knows what he has chewed up this time? And, when you find your precious item torn to shreds, the first thing you do is turn angrily to your pet. He can sense your anger, and shrinks away in fear. You see his behavior as a way of admitting guilt; when, in fact, he's just responding to your body language. So, realize that one of the worst things you can do at this point is to try to punish him. He will not understand why he is in trouble; the shoe incident (or whatever precious item he got a hold of) happened hours ago, and you are angry now. If you decide to punish him by tossing him in his crate or grabbing a rolled up newspaper, then get ready to work twice as hard, because you haven't taught him anything. A great rule to follow is if you don't catch him in the act, then don't catch him at all!

It's important that you start obedience training right away. Through obedience training, you can not only stop your pooch from partaking in undesirable behaviors, you can also teach him how to act instead. Start with simple commands, such as "sit," "stay," and "leave it" or "no." If your pup gets into mischief while you are away, then the "leave it" or "no" command is especially important. You can teach this command in a number of ways, but it is much easier to teach if your pet knows "sit" and "stay." Grab a handful of treats, a leash, and a tennis ball. With your pooch on the leash in the "sit" position, roll the ball out a few feet in front of you. Command the dog to "stay" no matter how much he may want to chase the ball. Then, allow him to get the ball. When he has the ball in his mouth, pull out a treat and say "no" or "leave it." Take the ball away as he eats the treat. Repeat this during several sessions until you can say the command and he drops the ball without the help of a treat. If a ball doesn't interest your pooch, then grab his favorite toy for the training.

With most dogs, it is better to reward their good behavior than to punish their bad. If you have ever heard of positive reinforcement training, then you may be familiar with this concept. When your pooch does something good, you reward him. What you reward him with is completely up to you, but treats are usually fail-safe. It's easier to reward a dog that has some sort of training, but you can reward for anything positive. For instance, you may reward a trained dog for properly responding to the command "leave it." On the other hand, you may give an untrained dog a treat when he chooses to chew on his favorite toy instead of your work shoes.

As mentioned before, if you can't catch your dog in the act, then don't catch him at all. In order to show him what not to do, then you may need to set him up. No, don't hurt your pooch or encourage him to do wrong. But, if he has already destroyed a shoe, then leave it out one day when you are home. If he starts to chew on it, take it away (or use the "leave it" command), and replace it with something else. Then, reward him for turning his attention to the new item.

All dog owners experience a few pooch problems every once in awhile. It's normal for a dog to act out until he is taught not to do so; and even after he is trained, you may still find yourself with a few problems. Remember that it does no good to punish your pooch unless you catch him doing something wrong. And then, instead of punishment, using methods of positive reinforcement is a good way to handle the situation.

This article was provided by pet-super-store.com an online pet shop featuring dog car seat covers and orthopedic dog beds.

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