Dog Training Video - The AKC Canine Good Citizen Test

The Canine Good Citizen has become very popular over the past ten years. It is a program open to mix and pure breed dogs. It is a great program and I highly recommend it. Here is a quick video explaining what your dog needs to do to pass the test:



The Canine Good Citizen is offered in most communities. Many animal shelters have information when a Canine Good Citizen test is being held.

Why Some Dogs DON'T Get Trained

So yesterday I helped my sister-in-law move into a new home.

I got up at 5:30AM, drove two hours, rented a U-haul and spent the rest of the day helping her move.

If you were to ask me what my top five least favorite things to do are, moving would be right next to getting a root canal and meeting with my accountant.

It's the kind of project that you would procrastinate doing if you could.

Procrastination is a HUGE problem for a lot of people - me included.

I have to fight it all the time.

But I have found the cure for procrastination and I'm going to share it with you.
Here it is:

When you are focused on a task that needs to be completed, focus on the reward NOT
the process.

Simple yes. Profound, absolutely.

See, a lot of dogs don't get trained because we focus on the process and NOT the reward. There are times when we're tired, stressed, or pressed for time and it's just easier to put off the training.

Some people just don't enjoy the process of training, but, if you can focus on the reward and not the process, you can get your dog to behave and become the obedient dog that you always dreamed of.

Right now I'm training one of my dogs to retrieve an adult beverage from the fridge
when I give the command. I'm hoping to have her trained by the Superbowl.

Some days even me, The Amazing Dog Training Man, thinks of better things to do than training. When I start thinking that way, I focus on the reward. I think about how awesome it will be to have my dog run over to the fridge, open the door and bring my back a cold beverage.

I can picture the looks on my friends' faces when they see her do the command. I can picture all of them asking me if they can ask her to get them a brewski.

When you start thinking that way the process goes away and the training becomes fun.

Do you want your dog to walk on leash without pulling, to come back when you call, to stay when you ask? If you're ready to focus on the reward and not the process and start training your dog to listen to all of your commands, let me help you.

My on-line course can help you. Check it out at:

http://www.amazingdogtrainingman.com/homestudy1.htm

See for yourself how easy and fun training can be.

Your friend,

Eric

7 Ways To Cure Your Dogs Housetraining Problem

In my dog training business, if I had to list the top five behavior problems housetraining would be near the top. I get a lot of email and phone calls for housetraining.

Here are 7 ways to cure your dogs housetraining problem:

1. Management - One of the easiest steps to take is to use a crate. This will help you manage your dogs behavior when you are not there or can't watch your dog.

2. Teach a cue - Teach your dog to give you a cue that they need to go out. Hanging a bell on the door is popular. This way when your dog needs to go they hit the bell to let you know. Most dogs will give off some type of cue that they need to go. Some bark at the door, some scratch at the door and some dogs just pace around the room. Pay attention to see what type of cue your dog gives.

3. Proper cleaning - Don't clean with ammonia based products. The ammonia smells like urine and it will attract your dog back to the same spot. Clean with products that have enzymes that break down the smell.

4. Health check - Physical problems always need to be ruled out. If your dog has a physical problem no amount of behavior training can help.

5. Go on command - Teach your dog to go on command. It's easy and your dog can learn this in about a week.

6. Be there to influence behavior - If your dog goes in the house you need to be there to catch your dog "in the act". This way you can discourage your dog from going in the house and bring her out. The same holds true for when your dog is outside. A lot of people let there dog out into a fenced yard on their own. Now when the dog goes outside there is no one there to reward the dog for going in the right place. You need to be there to discourage AND reward.

7. Careful with punishment - A dog that is heavily punished for doing a natural, normal behavior in the wrong place becomes confused easily. If you harshly punish your dog for a mistake, your dog may hold it when in your presence - inside and outside. Now your dog will sneak off in the house and do his stuff when your not looking.

There you have it. The Amazing Dog Training Man's 7 Ways To Cue Your Dog's Housetraining Problems. Please feel free to leave a comment.

All the best,

Eric

P.S. My online dog training course includes my report "How To Housetrain Your Dog In 10 Days Or Less. You can get all the details here:

http://theamazingdogtrainingman.com/homestudy1.htm

When Good Pets Go Bad

Last night my beautiful girlfriend and I went to our good friends' house for dinner. Before we sat down for some chow, my friend Bob asked me to go to the Congamong lake with him to check the ice.

Bob loves to ice fish and wanted to see how thick the ice was. We loaded up his pups and off we went. When we got back, his wife Sue had cooked up an awesome dinner and we all had a very enjoyable evening until...

The show "When Good Pets Go Bad" came on.

Shows like "When Good Pets Go Bad" are like a car accident that you pass as you drive down the highway, you try to look away but you need to see what happened.

"When Good Pets Go Bad" comes on you start to watch it and before you know it an hour has gone by, you're sitting there in disbelief, with a bad taste in your mouth because you have just observed some truly horrific stuff.

It does not surprise me when I see the national statistics for dog bites. Shows like When Good Pets Go Bad do not shock me the way they used to. As someone who makes his living working with pets I have seen first hand how dogs are treated and I am NOT talking about the pet owners.

I talking about the trainers. I have seen first hand how some dogs are trained. I have seen dogs choked, hung, beaten, shocked, slammed, and I could share some horror stories with you that you would make you ill.

In a lot of ways, dog trainers cause more problems than help. Look at some of the books on dog training, I won't mention any names here but one of the most popular dog training books was written by a guy that says you should carry a wooden stick in your back pocket. If the dog "acts up" use the stick to whack the dog across the nose.

This guy was the trainer for Walt Disney studios back in the 1960's - scary.

On the show "When Good Pet Go Bad," they show actual footage of elephants being beaten with slicks and whipped with chains, not to mention the awful conditions that they live in.

Why is it so hard to convince some people that dog training does not have to be harsh? What is the big deal about rewarding behavior, especially with a treat?

Behavior is reward driven. Relationships that are strong and lasting are developed though love and patience not anger, pain and dominance.

I know, I'm starting to sound like an animal activist. I'm not. I also believe that punishment, used correctly, can be an effective form of behavior modification - notice I said used correctly.

Punishment is often doled out when we are angry or upset with our dogs. Punishment is often associated with the owner and not the behavior and the timing is almost always wrong.

In my book "The Amazing Dog Training Man," I discuss the chalk board theory which basically goes like this:

On the top left side you write the word negative. On the right side you write the word positive.

Now every time you do something negative to your dog ie., scruff shake, leash correction, yell, smack, etc, you write a - in that column. Every time you do something positive to your dog ie., give your dog a treat, play ball, play tug, etc you put a + in the positive column. It would look something like this:

Negative Positive
- - + +
- - - - + + +
- - + +

As you look at the board you should have way more + signs that - signs on the board. If you have more - signs than + signs you have a problem.

Add up enough - signs and guess what...there is a good chance you will start to see aggressive behavior.

It's not rocket science. Raise a kid by beating him and yeling and screaming, there's a very good chance that he'll grow up to be an aggressive person.

Take a kid and rasie him with love and patience and there's a good chance that he'll grow up to be the same way.

Dogs that have been trained with hitting, "Alpha roll overs," choke chains, and electronic collars run a very good chance that they will become aggressive.

Most of the pets in "When Good Pets Go Bad" have had a lot of negative experiences and look what happens. Every person and every animal has a breaking point. Your tolerance level for certain activities may be higher than mine.

My girlfriend never, ever gets mad at other drivers. She can get cut off, stuck behind slow drivers, traffic, whatever, she never gets upset or angry.

Me on the other hand, I don't have her tolerance for driving. Some days are better than others but I can be frustrated much more easily than she is.

Training has to be done by spending the majority of time rewarding behavior. The only way we are going to see the number of dog bites go down in the United States is by changing the way we train dogs.

We can change the way we train or we can continue to hear about and watch shows where dogs are attacking and in some cases killing people.

Wouldn't it be great if we could turn on the TV and see a show "When Bad Pets Go Good"?

As always I look forward to your comments.

Peace,

Eric

The Art Of Dog Training

The funny thing about being a dog trainer is that you really aren't a dog trainer. When you become a dog trainer you spend your time training people to train their dogs. I spend way more time training people than I do training dogs.

So now when someone asks me what I do for a living I say that I am a professional people trainer. I get some strange looks but that's okay, I used to it.

So why am I sharing all of this with you.

Simple my dog loving friend...

This is the time of the year that people are looking for a good dog trainer to help train their dogs. A lot of people still get puppies for Christmas. A lot of dog owners also wait until after the holidays to start training their dogs.

So I wanted give you some tips on working with a good dog trainer. A good dog trainer is someone who is patient and fun to be with. It always amazes me when I go to a dog training class and the dog trainer is like a drill instructor.

I remember about ten years ago I went to a dog training class at a popular school. The instructor walked into the middle of the class and stated: "This is the worst class I have ever seen". She went on to belittle the whole class for about five minutes. Why the people didn't walk out I never figure out.

A good dog trainer will have different techniques to help you, a good understanding of the different training methods and breeds of dogs.

But I would have to say that one of the most important things is that the dog trainer should make it fun for you and your dog. Dog training should be all about having fun. I know there is a serious side to dog training - it stop your dog from injury, prevent your stuff from getting destroyed, not anger your Friends and neighbors etc. but...

If dog training is FUN your chance and your dogs chance for success is much greater. I'm not saying that every dog trainer has to be great at cracking jokes but the class environment can be light and enjoyable.

Well that's my take on finding a good dog trainer. Let me know what you think. Please leave a comment below.

Peace,

Eric