Dog Training - A Step by Step Guide to Build a Solid Obedience Dog

Dog Training - A Step by Step Guide to Build a Solid Obedience Dog

Have you ever watched the "dream teams" within the obedience ring and sighed, "Wish I had THAT dog!". Guess what, you are doing have that dog - he goes home with you each day, and goes to practice with you each chance he gets! Your dog are often a solid performer if you follow a couple of simple rules.

Rule favorite 

Every time you're together with your dog, you're training your dog. If your dog ignores you within the yard once you call him into the house, why would you think that he'd are available an obedience trial when there are 1,000,000 interesting distractions around?

Rule number two

Motivation is everything. Really. If the dog isn't enjoying the work with you, you would possibly pass the CD title, but the probabilities of passing Open or Utility aren't that great. Your dog must LOVE the work.

Rule number three

Don't enter an attempt until your dog is basically ready. meaning you'll work on the dog park, in parking lots, near a playground filled with kids or a baseball ... and therefore the dog doesn't lose focus.

Let's check out a few of "challenging" behaviors (it's no coincidence that they're duration behaviors).

Heeling

Heel is that the first behavior your dog is asked to perform whenever you enter the obedience ring. it is the behavior you spend the foremost of your "performance time" doing. it is also inherently boring. So how does one make it "not boring"? Consider "life rewards". what's your dog distracted by? are you able to make that a gift permanently heeling? Are the squirrels in your yard making it impossible for your dog to work? Try a couple of steps of heel followed by "get the squirrel!" (Assuming in fact that your dog can't actually catch the squirrel.) How about the dog that's playing ball at the park? invite a touch heel work, then pull out your own ball! Train together with your dog's best friend: Heel, heel, go play!

Remember also that each time you permit your dog's focus to wander while he's heeling, you're training him to disengage. If your dog's attention breaks faraway from you, stop right there. Remind him what he's alleged to be doing and begin again. After you've had a "corrective moment" (this isn't a "correction", just stopping the activity to remind the dog), heel for a couple of steps then reward with play or treats - whatever is best than the distraction for your dog. Don't send the dog to the distraction directly , but keep it in mind for a future reward!

Stay

The key to a solid stay is adding time and distractions before you add distance. Stay may be a nother inherently boring behavior so you do not want your dog to find out to self-reward (running round the room is a lot more fun than sitting still for 3 minutes). Plan your stay work. Increase the problem of 1 criteria at a time.

So, for instance you are going to figure on time today (that's one criteria). Go from 5 seconds to fifteen seconds, then 9 seconds, then 25 seconds. Sometimes it's harder (your goal is 5 minutes), sometimes it's easier. Don't always just increase the duration - your dog won't celebrate thereupon , sometimes it's very easy , sometimes it's hard.

Once your stay is up to 1 minute, start performing on distractions (that's your next criteria). return to five - 15 seconds with another dog working within the room, start building some time copy thereupon level of distraction. once you are copy to a moment or more, make the distraction harder (a dog playing ball within the room) and reduce some time criteria again.

Only when your dog is up to 3-4 minutes of stick with tons of heavy distractions is it time to start out leaving your dog. Same idea as before, start small (one or two steps away) with short time and minimal distractions. Don't increase all the standards copy directly , add more distance OR longer OR more distractions. Yes, it takes time to create a solid foundation for stay - but it's worthwhile once you get to the ring and you'll relax once you've passed the individual exercises!

Building a solid foundation does take time. But if you prepare and systematically create a solid foundation, your "house of heeling" will survive "ring stress" once you start competing!