Useful Dog Obedience Training Tips

Okay, so you just bought that cute female puppy that you've been eyeing on for months. Now, what are you planning to do with her? Are you thinking about teaching her new tricks? If you are, then as early as now, you must accustom her to being handled for grooming and veterinary care so she'll respond nicely. Whenever you have free time, take her in your lap and gently brush her.

Speak to her softly and say words like, "That feels good, doggie, right?" Then, stroke her paws and simply run your fingers through her. That way she will learn that touch is pleasant and not something that is frightening. Once you are able to handle her well, it will not be that difficult to start teaching her new tricks like making her obey your "sit", "wait or stay", and "do not jump" commands. Anyway, here are some useful dog obedience training tips for you.

For the "Sit" Command

This is actually one of the easiest tricks to teach and often the most useful. Since your pet is still a puppy, as early as now, you must teach her how to obey the sit command because it is a great way to reinforce your status as her leader. How to do it? First, you have to get her attention. Start by showing her a treat and then slowly move it upward in a way that she has to raise her head for her to see it further. You'll notice that in order to do this, she will move into a sitting position, just like most dogs do. If she doesn't do this, slowly push down on her rump while you move your hand back over the head to give her the idea. And once she's on that sitting position, give her the treat.

For the "Stay or Wait" Command

This one can be more difficult than the sit command as dogs tend to move a lot. To teach your dog to wait or stay, simply place her in a sitting position. Then, hold up your hand, on which the flat of your palm is towards her face, and tell her to wait or stay. Now, move a few steps backward. If she stays where she is, give her words of praise, like "Good girl or good doggie!" But if she moves towards you or away, do not shout at her or punish her. Just put her back in position and start all over again.

For the "Do not jump" Command

A jumping puppy is very cute to look at, but when her size has doubled and she still does a lot of jumping, it will not be too fun at all. So, you must replace that jumping behavior with the sit command. Instead of pushing her away, simply pivot so that she misses you and then tell her to sit. When she obeys, give her praise or a simple treat.

These are just some useful dog obedience training tips that you can keep in mind. Take note, your puppy will be more lovable if she learns how to obey your simple commands.

Read the rest of this entry »

Training Sniffing Dogs

Do you ever wonder how dogs find criminals in a passenger ship? It's simple: by sniffing. They are called detection or sniffer dogs. Trained to detect people and substances, through their senses, such as explosives, illegal drugs and blood; almost always the sense of smell, which is two thousand times much stronger, and fifty times more sensitive than that of a human's. In addition to sensitivity, a dog's sense of smell is pricky.

It can discern a specific scent; meaning it can recognize cheese in a fish and vegetable market thousand miles away from where it is standing. Hunting dogs that search for game and search dog that search for missing humans are generally not considered dogs. However, there is some confusion with cadaver dogs, only trained to detect human remains.

As to not make a fuss, they are taught to learn two kinds of alerting: the passive and the aggressive. Drug dogs use an aggressive alert, where they dig and paw at the spot where the smell the dugs. On the other hand, there are some cases where this kind of alert would be bad news. Placed in a situation where bombs are included, scratching can be very disastrous. In these cases, a passive alert is used.

A good example for this type are the beagles used by the Department of Agriculture where the dogs are trained to sniff out produces that are not allowed to enter the country. The Beagle Brigade, as how they are called, sniffs people's luggage while they wait in lines at airports and border crossings. In other countries, some also are used in emergency search actions. Because no one wants a dog digging in their belongings, the USDA beagles have been trained to simply sit down when they are able to smell it.

Trainers have come up with a strategy for dogs employed to sniff out drugs. On odd cases, they seem to eat them when they have found the illegal substance. Is it because they are addicted to those drugs themselves? In fact, the dogs have absolutely no interest in drugs. What they are actually looking for is their favorite toy. In an article found in discovery.com, the "toys" that are mostly often used are white towels. Since dogs love to play this vigorous game of tug-of-war, they have generated the "White Towel Game" idea.

To begin the training, the handler simply plays with the dog using a towel, which has been washed carefully to appear null and without scent for the trainee. Later, a bag of marijuana, for instance, is rolled up inside the towel.

After playing for a while, the dogs starts to recognize the smell of the drug as the smell of his favorite toy. The handler then hides the towel, with the drug, in various places. Whenever the dog sniffs out the drugs, he digs and scratches, trying to get his toy. He soon comes to learn that if he sniffs out the smell of drugs, as soon as he finds them, he'll be rewarded with a game of tug-of-war.

As training progresses, different drugs are placed in the towel, until the dog is able to sniff out a host of illegal substances. The same method is used for bomb-detection dogs, except various chemicals used to manufacture explosives are placed in the towel instead of drugs.

Read the rest of this entry »