Advanced Training: Fun for Dog and Family
In my last post I wrote about puppy socialization and basic dog obedience training. While the fundamentals are necessary, some dog owners and dogs may have extraordinary talents that can be fostered through advanced training. The type of advanced training may depend on you and your dogs’ personalities.
A puppy and her owner who have successfully completed the STAR final examination can move up and participate in the Canine Good Citizen Program. A Canine Good Citizen has passed a ten-point test on such behaviors as meeting strangers, walking in a crowd and coming when called. Once your dog has completed obedience training, you may want to move on to advanced training opportunities such as high level obedience training, pet therapy or agility competitions.
If you have a sociable mush of a dog, additional training as a therapy dog might fit his personality. Therapy Dogs International uses the Canine Good Citizen training as a key component of their evaluation of potential therapy dogs. The Delta Society Pet Partners offers courses and registers dogs and other companion animals as pet partners. Once you and your dog are certified as a therapy team, you can work with organizations such as Angels on a Leash, the AMC’s partner in providing pet therapy in New York City.
If you have a smart, energetic dog, agility training might be for you. If you are not sure what agility dogs do check out these great videos of dogs enthusiastically running, jumping and tunneling. All members of the family can be involved in agility training and any breed or mix is welcome to join. The United States Dog Agility Association is a 25,000-member organization for dog agility certification. Another organization for those interested in agility is the North American Dog Agility Council. Both groups sponsor training and competitions.
Advanced obedience training expands on sit, come and stay commands, challenging both the human and the dog. Getting your dog to follow commands when she is off leash, 50 feet away and without verbal cues may be easy in your local park, but in a bustling, noisy competition field for advanced obedience, you and your dog need laser focus to successfully compete.
While researching this blog, I also found information on courtroom dogs, terrier trials and herding competitions.
Seems to me there are as many creative and fun opportunities for dogs as there are types of dogs. Take advantage of them! Your dog will thank you.
Training Your Puppy: Why and How?
I live in New York City and work at the Animal Medical Center. For NYC dog lovers, finding a dog-friendly apartment that meets the needs of the human members of the family is not easy. When a building accepts dogs, you can bet there will be lots of them, and in my building there are plenty. The newest canine resident is Cooper, a chocolate mini Labradoodle.
If I’m lucky, Cooper is heading out when I am. Then his owner and I can walk and talk about the puppy. The other day we talked about dog training. Cooper is now old enough to need obedience training, and he is enrolled in beginner classes at the neighborhood doggie day care center.
Obedience training is key to making your dog a good community member, especially in a city as densely populated with dogs and people as New York. Barking dogs, poorly housebroken dogs and dogs with separation anxiety are not welcome members of apartment building communities. Dogs that are obedience trained are less likely to suffer from separation anxiety and are less likely to be relinquished to an animal shelter, possibly because they have fewer behavior problems. Obedience trained dogs may also be less likely to bite humans.
The first level of training for puppies, like Cooper, is a puppy socialization class, sometimes called puppy kindergarten. Here, puppies around six-17 weeks of age are exposed to a new smells, sights, sounds and walking surfaces, as well as interactions with unfamiliar dogs and humans. The goal of this type of class is to promote social skills in puppies at an age where they are readily accepting of social interaction.
Following puppy socialization, the next level of training involves teaching the puppy to respond to basic commands from the owner — the classic sit, stay, come. These behaviors are commonly promoted through positive reinforcement. Humane societies, SPCAs and other community groups offer classes in beginning obedience training.
The American Kennel Club’s STAR (socialization, training, activity, responsibility) program is one such program for puppies (<1 year of age) and their owners. Successful completion of STAR requires six owner behaviors, five puppy behaviors and successful completion of a nine task final examination. After passing the STAR final examination the puppy and owner may move up and participate in the Canine Good Citizen Program. (Check back for my next post regarding advanced training options for your dog.)
An obedience trained dog is a happy dog. Dogs, like children, need structure in their lives. They need to know what is expected of them. In an unfamiliar situation, an obedience trained dog can be told to sit, stay or lie down. He will be more comfortable in strange surroundings when he is performing a familiar task.
To read a heartwarming story about how obedience training helps dogs and humans, click here.
Three Labrador Training Secrets To Get Good Results
Correct labrador training is one certain way to make this breed a perfect man’s best friend. With that friendly and extremely adaptable temperament, for sure pet owners and their families would like to have this intelligent four-legged creature as pet. But dogs can’t figure out commands on their own. No matter how intelligent, obedient or even tempered the breed is, right training is greatly recommended to teach them how to behave in ways acceptable by their human companions.
Training isn’t a one-time session neither a one-week activity. It is actually a long-term process to ensure he learn what he’s supposed to learn at the same time corrected should he made a mistake. To reach the effects you desire, here are a few points to help you understand labrador training better:
Develop good communication with your dog.
Inability to understand your pet can be as frustrating as inability to make your pet understand you. You are less likely to progress on training if the two of you cannot understand each other. It is therefore essential to establish good communication as soon as possible. Since dog’s can’t talk just like humans do, one way to communicate with them is to understand their body language. Wagging of tail, intent stare, barking or curled lips mean something and when misunderstood will certainly affect the training as well as your pet’s behavior. Good communication also enables you to gain your pet’s trust and respect. And when that happens, making your dog obey your commands is surely an easy task to do.
Provide short but high quality training sessions.
Lengthy labrador training doesn’t mean that a dog gets to master many lessons and tricks. In fact, it can do more damage than good taking into account a dog’s short attention span. To keep your dog’s focus, training must be fun, exciting and short. It should not last more than 20 minutes since anything longer than that can be boring even to a dog breed with gentle temperament such as the Labrador. Moreover, you also need to make sure that your pet is physically fit and mentally prepared for training. Be aware that a sick or nervous dog will not learn efficiently so it is better to put off the training for the meantime. Training sessions should also end on a positive note.
Be consistent with training.
Dogs as intelligent as the Labrador can notice and easily get confused when training inconsistencies occur. For example, you used happy and excited tone of voice when you taught him the come command. However, he may consider it a totally different command when you say the said command with an angry or annoyed tone. To put it differently, you must have regular labrador training pattern. Once you have determined what approach works best for your pet, be consistent in using it. It’s also important for family members and anyone who has direct contact with your Lab to be aware and be consistent with the rules.
Labrador Retriever Training: The Significance Of Enforcing Proper Crate Training
Do you know that crate training ought to be an essential element of your labrador retriever training programs? Perhaps you have no idea that crate training is one crucial and favorable endeavor. Indeed, it’s quite appropriate that you properly crate train your labrador pet as early as possible. In this manner, you can help your dog grow more obedient, contented and sensible. In addition, the sooner you can crate train your pet, the easier and more fun it gets to undertake numerous labrador retriever training courses and activities.
Not so many people take into account the benefits and value of engaging in proper crate training. For that reason, they are often faced with many problems concerning their dog’s habits and behaviors. Those people who ignore the need for proper crate training are usually having a hard time working with their dogs. They often battle with behavioral problems like dominance, stubbornness and aggression. Undesirable habits such as furniture chewing, urine marking and digging also come about. This is among the many reasons why wise and serious labrador owners be sure that they properly crate train their pets.
It is for a fact that numerous behavior issues can be averted or thoroughly eradicated if you do crate training correctly and consistently. In fact, the more labrador retriever training lessons and courses you set about, the lesser probabilities you have of bringing up a troublesome pet. That’s why, it is truly wise that you get started in dog training for as soon as possible. Remember, with dog ownerships comes the great responsibility to do diverse dog training programs. Failure to properly train, exercise, feed and take care of your pet can result in quite a few troubles and accidents. You won’t really take pride in owning such a marvelous dog.
Crate training is also the key to beneficial potty training or housebreaking. In fact, the moment you start crate training should also be the moment that you begin potty training your labrador pet. You must make use of your dog’s crate in order to teach him proper toilet habits together with other pleasing traits. Of course, your labrador must have your guidance, leadership and consistency. You always have to be very consistent, disciplined and patient. In this manner, you can accomplish a pleasurable, productive and rewarding dog training endeavor.
Furthermore, separation anxiety as well as destructiveness and other aggravating dog habits can also be warded off if you can successfully crate train your labrador retriever pet. You are less likely to cope with a hyperactive and unruly labrador. You will surely be able to raise a rather obedient and well-mannered pet. And the sooner you can accomplish the process of crate training, the sooner you can also begin taking on advanced levels of labrador retriever training. Now isn’t this something that you and your dog want to productively accomplish?
Health Issues To Be Familiar With Before Managing Labrador Retriever Training, Pt. 2
There are several dog health problems that could significantly have an impact on labrador retriever training. Indeed, such health conditions could either hamper or put a stop to your dog’s training progress. Failure to take applicable preventative measures might result to the development of critical health problems. As they say, prevention is always better than cure. Unfortunately, there are some dog diseases that are truly unavoidable, particularly those conditions that are prompted by their parents’ genes.
Weight issues, obesity
Most large dogs have big appetites; and so, they have the propensity to put up with weight problems like obesity. Incorrect feeding habits and the provision of fattening meals or treats are usually the reason why big dogs like the labrador retrievers tend to grow bigger than they’re meant to. Dog owners should always consider the need for discipline, especially when enforcing a strict diet.
Seek the advice of your vet concerning the best kind of diet or the kinds of nutrients needed to augment your labrador’s general health. In this manner, you can avoid struggling with weight issues, and prevent the prevalence of obesity and its complications. Obviously, an obese labrador is not that productive and easy to train with. You are unlikely to achieve effective labrador retriever training.
Centroneuclear Myopathy or Hereditary Myopathy of Labrador Retrievers (HMLR)
As the name implies, this muscle disorder is genetic; the affected lab got his disease genes from both his parents regardless whether they’ve exhibited some signs and symptoms or not. This condition is often characterized by the insufficiency of type II muscle fibers that brings about the massive decrease in skeletal muscle mass. Symptoms can include an abnormal gait and posture along with weakness in the muscles that often trigger low tolerance to strenuous physical exercises and intricate levels of dog training.
Now this means that your dog is not suitable for intense labrador retriever training activities. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that your lab is no longer efficient at doing anything. Sadly though, there is no helpful medication for such condition. However, rest and proper means of managing can minimize the pain and it’s other symptoms. Keep in mind that cold and stress should be warded off as your affected labrador retriever is very susceptible to them.
Exercise Induced Collapse (EIC)
This condition is most rampant in young adult labrador retrievers. This syndrome of exercise intolerance and collapse is inherited or genetic. Some affected dogs are even identified as muscular and fit or healthy. And even though moderate forms of physical exercises can be tolerated by affected labs, it is wise that you be very careful and heedful when conducting your labrador retriever training routines. In this manner, you will realize when to stop or what to do should any bad incident take place.
Overexertion and overwhelming excitement often trigger weakness in the legs that is then accompanied by a collapse. The majority of affected labradors stay conscious right after collapsing while others become completely stunned and disoriented. Take note that it’s important for you to end any activities upon display of wobbliness or in-coordination. A number of dogs have lost their lives during training or exercise, and others while they were resting soon after experiencing such condition.