Place and Stay

 

Teaching the place command can be used for many purposes, but is great to use when you have guest come over to your house. If your dog tends to greet guests with too much enthusiasm, I would recommend teaching and enforcing the place command. 

The place command is having a specific place for your dog (bed, mat, rug) to go lay down in and stay until he is released. It is important for this place to be the same throughout your dogs training, and for it to be easily recognizable for your dog. 

To start off, stand with your dog next to the designated place and hover your hand above the place until your dog steps onto it. Click and drop the treat onto the mat/bed/etc. for your dog to get. Repeat this until your dog knows to get onto his spot with just a soft hand movement. 

Next, tell your dog to lie down when he steps onto his mat, and don't treat until he does so. After a few training sessions like this, your dog will begin to lie down without you asking.

Now you can start taking small steps back and repeating the above steps until you are sending your dog multiple feet away from you to go lie on his place. Go slowly and set your dog up for success.

Once your dog gets the hang of what you are asking of him, you can begin to say the command long distance, such as in another room or from across the room. Part of the place command is for your dog to stay on his mat until released, teach this the same way you would teach stay but without an initial command. Treat your dog for staying on the mat, correct for getting up, and slowly increase the three D's (Distance, Distraction, Duration) until your dog goes to his mat and stays even when strangers are walking through your door. 

Nail Clipping

If your dogs are anything like mine, they absolutely hate it when their paws are messed with and, heaven forbid, clipped. I have a lab that is particularly bad with nail trimming, and will resort to aggressive behavior if we don't do it right. But there are ways to get your dog used to nail trimming.
Here is a good article that describes in detail how you can work with difficult dogs when it comes to nail trimming:

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/nailsv.html

Summarized, it is important to have the right holding technique with your dog so that your dog is secure and cannot get up or struggle, but he doesn't feel smothered or overwhelmed. It helps to have two people available when you first start clipping your dogs nails, especially if it is a big dog. You must be firm when correcting your dog, and you must correct every time he puts up a struggle or tries to bite. Consistency and timing is key, as always, with dog training.
Have some extra tasty treats with you to distract your dog from the ordeal, and soon he may even start enjoying himself. I have found that frozen peanut butter on a spoon will keep a dog busy enough not to need restraining, but it all depends on the dog.
Don't give into your dog if he starts to bite or make a scene. A muzzle may be necessary in severe cases, but you must show your dog that he will not get his way from biting. Correct him when he is not cooperating, and reward him for holding still or every time you clip a nail. Make it a fun and positive experience for your dog, not one he will dread.   

Choosing the Right Dog Food

The importance of good nutrition for your dog is often times overlooked, but spending an extra bill for quality dog food will usually save you a big vet bill in the future, and increase your dogs life. The hard question to answer: what is the best food for my dog? unfortunately there is no one answer to this because it all depends on you and your dog. If your dog has health problems or allergies he will need a more specific diet.
But, there are some general things to look for in dog foods, and many dog foods to stay away from. One of the most common issues with dog food is that most low quality, cheaper chows are corn-based. This means your dog is getting enough calories, but is undernourished. A good quality pet food will be meat based, and will not have corn listed as a first ingredient, if at all.
A few other ingredients to stay away from are artificial colorings and flavorings, meat byproducts, any corn product or corn byproduct, gluten, grain-based and countless others.
Here is an example of a good dog food and a bad dog food. The dog food on the right (Purina) is a great example of a type of dog food you want to stay away from.









                                                

And another example of a bad dog food:




As you can see, the first ingredient in both of these foods are corn, which is very hard to digest for your dog and low in nutrition. These foods are basically full of fillers, with all sorts of added chemicals like colors, and things your dog does not need in its diet, like sugar.
I usually like to get dog foods with at least the first three ingredients a meat source. But some dogs can have allergies to meats, so other protein sources may work better for your dog. It all depends.

Here is a link that is extremely helpful with comparing different brands of dog foods. It shows you ingredients, and highlights the good and bad things about the food in a clear, understandable format.
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

Another option that I won't go into much detail is a raw diet. This is when you buy your meats and supplements and make your dogs food yourself. This method is very expensive and time consuming, and is definitely not for everyone, but is generally a healthier alternative to dry dog food.

 If you know your dog's specific needs, and learn how to read and decipher dog food labels, you can make an educated decision on which food is best for your dog. 

Daily Training Schedule

This post goes hand in hand with a previous post on NILIF. It is surprising how simple, yet effective, dog training can be at times. This is my typical schedule that I keep my dogs on to keep them physically and mentally exercised and obedient. Making your dog do a little work for everyday things, and taking a few minutes each day to practice simple obedience skills can make a huge difference in your dog's behavior.
6:00 AM - Dogs have to do a down-stay for two minutes before they get to eat.
7:00 AM - We go for a half-hour walk. The dogs must do a sit-stay while I prepare leashes. They also must let me exit the door/gate first and wait for the release command to follow me.
8:00-4:00 - The dogs are locked to one room of the house with access to the yard during week days. During weekends I use this time for any formal training or more exercise.
4:00 - Fetch. During this time I practice recall, stay, heeling and a few other random tricks to keep my dogs fresh on the important commands. Fetch is a great reward for dogs with a high drive for the game.
4:30 -Hour walk, again the dogs must sit-stay while leashes are prepared.
5:00 - Another two minute sit-stay is performed before the dogs can eat.

As you can see, this schedule is extremely simple, and besides the walks (which should be provided for your dog, training or no training) it takes very little time and effort. But this, along with a strict NILIF program, keeps my dogs in check and obedient.

Dog Parks

 

A dog park is a fun and easy way to get your dog exercised and socialized, but there are many dangers that go with dog parks. Having so many unknown dogs in the same area can sometimes lead to problems, and you wouldn’t want your dog caught in the middle of a fight. Here are a few pointers for having a safe and fun experience at the dog park.

Whenever I first arrive at a dog park, no matter how many times I’ve been to it, I will watch how the dogs interact with one other before entering. If there seems to be more than a few dogs that are too rough or picking on other dogs, I will go for a walk and come back later when the problem dogs are gone. Once I have decided the environment is friendly and safe, I make sure my dogs do a sit-stay before they get to run free.

The most important thing to remember when at a dog park is to keep a very close eye on your dog. Attacks can happen in seconds and often times without much warning. If you feel your dog is at risk or putting others at risk, leave.

Make sure your dog does not bully other dogs. My black lab tends to be a little rough when playing and I often have to stop him mid-play and calm him down when he starts to become too much for the other dog. Play has to be two sided, both dogs have to be having fun; it is not play if one of the dogs is running out of fear while the other has a blast chasing it.

Your dog can also be harassed by other dogs, if your dog is not having fun, or if any of the other dogs are too much for him, it is best to leave and come again another time. There will always be a few dogs out there that your dog does not get along with.

It may also be helpful to bring treats with you to the dog park. Dog parks are a great way to increase your dog’s obedience skills. Having them sit, stay, come etc. around all those distractions will be a great challenge for your dog if he is already reliable without the distractions. Use the treats to call your dog to you every now and again, not just when you are leaving. This way you can get your dog away from undesirable situations by just calling his name.

One last thing I would suggest is to not bring a young puppy to dog parks (or very small dogs for that matter). They are just too vulnerable and puppies are much more prone to develop behavior problems from traumatic experiences when they are young. If a puppy has just one bad experience at the dog park she may have a fear of dogs for a very long time. 

 

NILIF

 

NILIF, which stands for Nothing In Life Is Free, is a training program and technique that is the foundation to having a good relationship with your dog. If done right, your dog will not only respect you, he will listen to you and every aspect of his training will improve.

So what is NILIF? The idea is very simple, actually sticking to the program is the hard part. The idea is that your dog has to work for EVERYTHING he wants. Whether it’s a simple sit, or something more complex and engaging, your dog has to do something in order to make an everyday outcome happen. For example, your dog has to do something in order to get pet, go for a walk, get food, play fetch, go outside, or have/do anything that your dog needs/enjoys.  You can make your dog do a sit stay before he is fed, or have him go lay in his crate before he gets to greet a stranger.

Some dogs may be resistant at first if they are not used to listening to you, but the great thing about NILIF is that soon your dog will look forward to doing as you say because he gets something good in the end.  

Depending on your dog and your household, you may need to be on a very strict NILIF, meaning your dog gets absolutely NOTHING unless he does something. In my household, where my dogs listen fairly well to me, we have a much looser NILIF where our dogs only have to sit-stay before eating and wait for us to go out the door before barging through.

Almost all behavioral problems stem from the dog not having a respectful relationship with its owner, with NILIF that respect can begin to grow and you can accomplish so much more with your dog.