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Here are some great articals, websites, and info products I have found on dog traning. Hope you enjoy

Friday, April 18, 2008

The Center Of The Storm

Once a dog owner's expectations have been shattered it often becomes difficult to move forward. Knowing how to find the calm center within the pack relationship is the first step toward creating a happy follower role for your dog. Context is everything when it comes to understanding behavior. Balance creates balance. Calm creates the same. The mind is a powerful thing and can challenge, strip away power and create role change without ever using a choke chain, remote collar, gadget or device. Devices often shift the focus and interfere with the most important part of creating role change...the power of your mind. The owner's personality, dog's temperament and overall interactions all play a part in the role changing process.

Dogs have a special connection to humans through pack. Certain thoughts, feelings and interactions link to the type of pack energy which can force our dog to take the vacant dominant pack role. Dogs live in the moment and respond through the roles. To understand Pack is to know that hope exists regardless of the past. Pack is about moving forward and beginning again as if waking up to a new day. Over the years dogs have taught me more about myself than the other way around. Only with the loss of my first Police Dog, in that moment, did I truly understand this.

In the end finding the calm center of the storm and moving forward is really more about looking inside ourselves before beginning the journey with our dog.
Author Dale McCluskey
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dale_McCluskey

Obedience Training your Dog

When taking your puppy home, one of the things you need to begin is obedience training. Although this may seem like a tedious process, it will definitely pay off when you have a very well behaved puppy. Whether your dog is a puppy or an adult dog, obedience training is a good way to have successful communication with you and your dog. Although it won't always satisfy all of your dog's behavioral problems, it can take care of quite a bit of it.

Clear and concise communication between you and your dog is the key to beginning obedience training. One word commands tend to help the dog understand exactly what it is supposed to do the moment you say the command. For instance, when you say "sit", the dog begins to understand that when you say that he is supposed to put his bottom on the ground with his front legs still up straight. Remember when you are training your dog, you need to be very sure of the command you are giving your dog and reward the puppy only when they have successfully accomplished the "trick".

Dogs are social creatures and they love being around other dogs and their owners. If you don't train your dog well, then you risk your dog destroying your furniture while waiting for you to come home. Also remember that with your training you must also play with the puppy. All dogs require some type of play time with their owner. It helps the dog to feel loved and appreciated by the owner.

Repetitiveness is also a very important factor when training your dog. For the puppy, it's just like riding a bike; the more you do it, the better at it you are. Giving the dog a puppy treat is also a big motivator for the dog. Every time the dog accomplishes the action you commanded it to do, you should give the puppy a treat. The puppy will begin to associate hearing the different words with a treat and will do the commands you give it even without a treat.

Obedience training is an ongoing process, and you must continue to repeat the training, so that the dog never forgets what each of the different commands means. Dogs often think of the family as a pack. By going through obedience training with your dog, it helps to establish dominance in the group. You always need to establish the alpha males of the house. If you don't do this, you can often have the dog overpowering other members of the family if you don't set everything forward from the beginning.
If you need a veterinarian that can good care of your dog in all situations, contact Austin Veterinarian Clinic at www.Austinveterinarianclinics.com .
Joseph Devine
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Devine

The Dominant Pack Dog

Flooding refers to a dog which is at an elevated dominant state of mind and behavior has become unmanageable. Areas, such as dog parks, and situations, such as meeting another dog, trigger this type of behavior and can turn a situation into a nightmare for the owner of the dominant pack dog. Often dog owners will start to avoid and fear certain areas which in turn shifts and feeds even more psychological power into this dominant role.

Socialization through pack within the context of group training with other dogs and owners is really an energy exercise and an opportunity to create more true role change. Everything must come through Pack Leader. Again, context is everything. The appearance that the dominant dog is behaving when wandering around the house or within other areas is the deceiving part of pack and behavior. Appearances can be deceiving.

The real issue is how he is she perceives the dog owner within pack every moment of the day. Even a aggressive and dominant dog will appear alright as long as no one is stepping out of their role and the script is being followed. Attempting to assert energy and authority onto a dog when he or she is flooded can often trigger an aggressive response from the dominant dog.
Often dog owners will wait until something bad is happening before responding. Applying method when the dominant dog appears alright is the best time to begin the process of role change. What is seen from the surface doesn't necessarily reflect what is happening within Pack. Changing the dog owner from onlooker and referee to assertive and calm Pack Leader is the first step towards creating a happy and balanced relationship.
Author Dale McCluskey
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dale_McCluskey