Training Your New (or Old) Dog

Behavior change in our pets begins first. with us. That's right. When working with your dog or new puppy-- remember, the most important thing you can provide for your pet's training is your own consistency and structure. Before starting with a basic obedience program (sit, down, stay, come), make a commitment to work this into your own daily schedule.
Try and set aside about one week for each new concept.

How long should each session be? Around 20 minutes or 30 minutes is usually the ideal amount of time you'll need for requesting the new behavior as well as reinforcing the dog for proper follow through.

Sounds easy, right? Believe it or not, over 40% of all pet owners don't give daily follow through when teaching their puppy or dog a new behavior. No wonder so many animals end up in shelters because their owners give up or don't have time. All of us, dogs included, have experienced the frustration of trying to replace bad habits with brand new behavior. Success takes time, awareness and repetition. Once done, however, we also know the wonderful feeling of having helped each other.

Who knows? By making this process a joint effort between you and your dog, you may just learn a few things about yourself.



by: Doris Whitworth, Dog Training Consultant 404 352-0422