Basic Dog Obedience 101
Hi everyone! Frosty and I just started dog obedience classes last night. Although Frosty is far from my first dog, I learned a number of things that I was unaware of, or unsure of. I had to take notes for some of my friends that couldn't be there (and to take home to share with my husband - wink, wink) and I thought since I had to type them anyway, I would go ahead and post them here for anyone that's interested. Hope you learn something new!
Basic Dog Obedience 101 Notes
NEVER uses the dog's name with a negative command (ex. Frosty No!). Only use dog's name with positive commands (ex. Frosty Sit or Frosty come). The command for everything bad is NO! Only NO! (i.e. do not use "No Biting!" just use "NO!"). Whatever you are doing with them when they do something bad (i.e. playing and they bite you or feeding and they jump on you), just say NO and stop whatever you are doing with them. This will let them know that the bad behavior will cause you to stop making them happy, like with playing or feeding them.
Consistency, Consistency, Consistency! Consistency is the key. Always use the same commands. Commands should always be ONE word. Need to use the least number of commands necessary. Make a list of one word commands and what the dog should so for each command; post list in your house so that everyone in the house is using the same commands.
Always have a collar on the dog, except in the kennel. Use slip collar for training time only. At all other times, have on a nylon collar with tags.
Slip Collar - put on right wrist holding end with left hand, loop should slide accross the top of the chain towards your right wrist. Grab dogs nose with right hand and slip chain over the dogs head. Dog should always stand on your left side. Use the smallest and lightest weight slip collar you can. Should barely fit over the dogs head.
Do not put treats in your pocket! Should use a pouch of some kind and it should be located on the back side of your body. If you put treats in your pocket, the dog will associate your pocket with food and may try to eat your pocket.
Need to keep a Dog Log with all dogs information (i.e. breeder, vaccinations, any problems or sickness and when they occurred) to reference. Can possibly help your vet figure out what is going on with health/behavioral issues and will be a self reminder of when your dog's shots are due. Should have a seperate Dog Log for every dog you own.
Consistency, Consistency, Consistency! Consistency is the key. Always use the same commands. Commands should always be ONE word. Need to use the least number of commands necessary. Make a list of one word commands and what the dog should so for each command; post list in your house so that everyone in the house is using the same commands.
Always have a collar on the dog, except in the kennel. Use slip collar for training time only. At all other times, have on a nylon collar with tags.
Slip Collar - put on right wrist holding end with left hand, loop should slide accross the top of the chain towards your right wrist. Grab dogs nose with right hand and slip chain over the dogs head. Dog should always stand on your left side. Use the smallest and lightest weight slip collar you can. Should barely fit over the dogs head.
Do not put treats in your pocket! Should use a pouch of some kind and it should be located on the back side of your body. If you put treats in your pocket, the dog will associate your pocket with food and may try to eat your pocket.
Need to keep a Dog Log with all dogs information (i.e. breeder, vaccinations, any problems or sickness and when they occurred) to reference. Can possibly help your vet figure out what is going on with health/behavioral issues and will be a self reminder of when your dog's shots are due. Should have a seperate Dog Log for every dog you own.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ginny and Diggory on
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I learned about treats in the pocket the hard way... had treats in my jeans pockets when we were training when Ginny was a pup. Anyways, the jeans were on the floor (with a few treats still in the pockets that I had forgotten about. Went to the bathroom and when I came back out, there was a huge hole chewed through the jeans pocket. Hmmmm... wonder who did THAT???
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Permalink Reply by LaVerne & Shirley on
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I dont keep a collar on my dogs at all unless we are outside. I had one of my dogs get tangled up in my other dogs collar while they were playing. LaVerne had a hold of Shirley's collar with her mouth and then got twisted around, tightening the collar around Shirley's neck and cinching it around LaVerne's lower jaw. Had I not been there they would have both strangled. Scared me to death so they go "naked" 90% of the time.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Actually I like a baggy sweatshirt for treats and a cloth carpenters belt also works well. We were taught to use buckle collars.Really good point about the negative comments! I like the dog log idea too!
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Permalink Reply by Ashley and Copper on
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I love how you saw "the dog will associate your pocket with food and may try to eat your pocket." lol I love it. Also, just a question. I do keep all the info together but my vet also has a website called pet portals and it is instant access to all the animal's records and what vaccinations and when the next ones are due! I love it. was just wondering if anyone had something similar!
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Permalink Reply by Cindi on
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Good notes. In my classes, I avoid slip leads. I've just found that most folks don't use them properly no matter how many times you tell them. I prefer a regular nylon or leather collar or harness and a regular leash, no flexis. I hope you totally enjoy your class. Sounds like you're off to a good start.
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Permalink Reply by Alice on
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I'm glad you find your class beneficial. I was very disappointed with Finn's puppy class. A lot of it was just the instructor but I don't feel like Finnigan learned anything. We had already taught him basic commands (sit, stay, down) and a couple tricks (shake, roll over). What he really needed was to learn leash manners which was part of the training but Finn never gave in. He was a rebel til' the end and I was a little annoyed by the fact that she graduated him. Not that i wanted him to fail but he did not learn loose leash walking and it would have been great if she would have worked on it more so he could actually pass rather than pretending not to see the problem. Oh well, at least he got socialized and he did learn "leave it".
So do they require you to use a choker? Our trainer required us to use a harness which i think just created chaos. Some people love chokers but I;ve always been to nervous to use one. i don't want Finn to pull to the point of passing out.
Quick question, why do they all say to keep the dog to your left? Why not the right?
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Permalink Reply by Chris West on
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Ya, they require that we use choke chains, although the instructor insists that we call them "slip collars." I have always used them, and as long as you do it properly, it does not injure the dog and allows you to correct them more quickly than a regular collar or harness. The reason for putting the dog on your left relates to using the slip collar. If you follow the instructions for properly putting the collar on the dog, then when you put them on your left side, the collar will work properly. If you put them on your right side with the slip collar on correctly, the collar will not work right and may cause your dog excess distress.
I am glad that my instructor for this class has stressed that he wants to be able to deal with each dogs individual problems. To that effect, he even took our class (which is being offered at the local college as a college course) into two separate classes on different nights so that he can give each dog more attention. I thought that was really awesome that he was willing to give up another night every week to teach two classes instead of just one class.
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Couldn't you just reverse the collar and have the dog on your right? I just ask because our instructor required the dog to be on the left too but when we asked why she said it would come into play in future classes. We didn't take any more classes so we never learned the reasoning. Since she required a harness her reasoning could not have been the same anyway. Even on shows such as It's Me or the Dog they mentioned keeping the dog on the left but never do they explain why. I've always kept Finn on my right because he is too strong and since he is a puller I need the leash in my right hand since being right handing, it is my stronger side.
That's great that you like the instructor. I would like to take more classes just not at the same place we went before.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Alice, it's tradition for all formal obedience to be with the dog on the left, so your right hand was free for your gun or what you were carrying or whatever. It's the same reason horses were mounted from the left--- which means actually that a horse will walk on your right [but for horses, you always give reference points in relation to the horse's body, not your own. So, confusingly enough, when we say to handle horses from the near or left side, we mean the HORSE's left side (our right if we are facing the same way as the horse). When we say to handle dogs, we say on the left which is OUR left side (or the dog's right if we are facing the same way as the dog).]
Here's an article:
http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Why-Do-Dogs-Heel-On-The-Left-/...
For safety reasons, any animal (dog, horse, etc) should learn to be handled on either side, and walk on whatever side you put him. So formal obedience calls for the dog to the left, but if there is traffic on my left I'll put my dogs on my right. The command "heel" always applies to the left side though.
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I would love to do all my handling on the right side as I am left handed and, for me, working the dog on the left side is like using right handed scissors! For training in class purposes, I will work Frosty on the left, but yes, after we are done with class, I will most likely reverse the collar and handle him mostly on the right.
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