Dogs are among the most intelligent animals and it is the joy of every pet owner to maximize the potential of his dog. There are traditional and more recent training methods for dogs, and it has been found that negative reinforcement techniques that use punishments to eliminate unpleasant behaviors are less effective compared to training methods that use positive reinforcement.

Among the benefits to positive reinforcement training methods are the establishment of mutual trust and positive feelings between master and pet. Negative reinforcement techniques were more prominent in the past, where dogs where used for hunting and military purposes and this type of training emphasized a dog’s pack mentality where a dog views his master as the alpha dog of his pack. This causes a dog to appease his master at all costs, so that what happens is that the dog is more focused on appeasing his master without really knowing whether what it is doing is right or wrong. Using negative reinforcement then makes it difficult for pet owners to teach accurate tricks to their pets. ...

1. Your dog is a dog - not a human child in a furry suit!
2. Your dog has the same emotions that humans have - he just reacts to them very differently.
3. Unless you teach your dog what behaviors YOU want him to use, he will not know that ANY of his behaviors are wrong.
4. Dogs do ONLY those behaviors that work for them! If peeing on your carpet provides an absorbent surface, he will pee on your carpet UNTIL you motivate him to pee outside.
5. If you put newspaper or wee-wee pads on the floor, you will teach your dog to pee on the floor!
6. If you show aggressive behavior toward your dog, he will probably show aggression toward you (or he may act out with others). He will want to defend himself! ...

1. Make sure your expectations of your dog are reasonable. Don’t expect
your dog to acquire good behaviors until you train him to do what you want.

2. When you begin extinguishing attention-seeking behaviors (e.g.,
jumping, barking in your face, pawing at you, stealing, etc.) expect these
behaviors to get worse before they get better (known as an extinction burst). Be consistent in your training, and be patient!

3. When saying English words to your dog (e.g., his name, commands like
sit or down, etc.), do not repeat these words more than ONCE. When we nag our dogs by repeating and repeating, they learn to stop listening to us. ...

Does your dog think he's a human and forget he's a dog?


"Don't make the mistake of treating your dogs like humans,
or they'll treat you like dogs." -- Martha Scott


Many people say they "spoil" their dogs in a variety of ways. What is spoiling to one person is normal treatment for another. For instance, some people believe that allowing dogs to sleep with you in your bed is spoiling them, others believe it is normal or even good for their dogs. Some people believe that allowing dogs to sit in a chair during dinner and be hand fed table scraps is spoiling a dog, others believe it is normal or even good for their dogs.

What is the answer? The answer is that none of these things are necessarily good for dogs, and in fact these types of things can be detrimental as you run the risk of "humanizing" your dog. But they may or not be spoiling the dog. Spoiling does not constitute one action, but rather a state of mind and collection of actions on how you treat your dog. ...

Many people use chains, tethers, or tie-outs to have their dogs outside, yet restricted. I see all of these devices advertised in popular dog magazines, I see them hanging in pet supply stores, and I see many dogs on the end of one of them. Unfortunately, I have never seen any one of these devices come with instructions or recommendations on how, why, and when it is appropriate to chain, tether, or tie-out your dog. Also, I have rarely seen any written information regarding chained or tethered dogs. I live in a rural neighborhood where some dogs live on chains twenty-four hours a day. I have seen playful pups turn into aggressive dogs, I have heard (and helped) chained dogs barking because they couldn't reach their shade or water. I've helped dogs that I've heard crying because they've become "hung" on a fence with their chain. On one particular day, my neighbor's dog came over for a visit, but was not his happy usual self when he arrived. He had a worried look on his face; he paced and whined. I walked him home to make sure everything was all right. Upon reaching his house and his owner, his owner and I began a casual conversation. His owner casually mentioned that he just buried their new puppy in the backyard. The puppy had gotten tangled in her nylon tie-out and had strangled to death sometime that morning. Their other new puppy had witnessed the whole thing and, in fact was tangled but not strangled in the ordeal. Ironically, a week later they brought another puppy home and chained her as well. ...