Well, obedience training dogs would be difficult if they were bigger and smarter than you, but they can't read a web page the way you are doing, so you have a good start.

An expert dog trainer can re-train a vicious rotweiler that is bigger than he is, but you only want to train a puppy, so you're bigger and smarter, so that is easy.

Now we come to what isn't as easy - disciplining yourself. House training dogs will be your first challenge, and if you fail you will be doing a lifetime's disservice to the poor little thing. Dogs are naturally clean. The bitch keeps them clean at first, giving them 100% of her attention. But as soon as they can stagger out of their den they learn to be clean.

That is the secret. Why do you do most things? Habit. Why don't you need nappies now? A habit that your mother taught you. All you need for house training a puppy is the same 100% attention that the bitch would give it. Only let it into the living area of the house as a privilege while you can give it that attention.

The moment the romping puppy slows down and starts to look pensive, snatch it up and take it to the appropriate place. Soon the dog will get into the habit of going for himself, but until then, never let it into the living area of your house when you can't offer full attention to it.

The rest of dogs training for obedience is mostly using your superior intelligence to develop the habits that you want. The first thing you need your intelligence for is to understand how your dog thinks, because he can never understand how you think.

Humans argue with the leader. If a dog isn't the leader his nature makes him obey without question. A dog doesn't love the hand that feeds it. It loves its trainer. That's right - it loves the boss. So never allow your dog to think that he is boss.

You might be able to get away with it with a tiny breed of dog, or a bitch, but if you allow even a medium size breed such as a doberman to become boss, it may eventually need to be killed. You may have seen a dog that won't allow anyone near the couch where it is, or near its food bowl. That is a recipe for disaster. The boss dog always walks in front, lies where he wants, eats before anybody else. So don't even let your dog into the dining room during a meal. He eats after you do.

Dogs don't hit or kick. They bite. When your hand grips the neck of your dog, that is seen as a bite. Don't make your dog hand-shy.

Puppies training should lead to dog classes as soon as they think your dog is old enough. They will train you to train your dog. Dogs training books will show you most of what you need, but classes will teach you how to use your voice to command and to praise. The second is more important.

Once you have learned to use your voice you can probably find a training dogs guide on the web, that will allow you to enter obedience dog competitions. But training yourself is more important than obedience training dogs.

Train yourself not even to use expressions every day that the dog might hear as commands. Better still, teach command words that you won't use every day. If you tell your dog to sit down, and sit means sit but down means lie, what will the poor mutt do?

About the Author

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