Motivation and Timing

     You know how people say you timing was great. Well ,you have to prove this to dogs as well, when you are clicker training you only have a second to two seconds to respond. It is very easy to miss your opportunity when training.To refresh from one of my first blogs about the clicker remember how you are supposed to click then treat. Yes?
     Well, the dog will do the trick you have taught him such as sit. Which I believe I already went over, but I will review. You put the food the dogs nose leading the food backwards making the dog sit, then click and treat. Repeat.

Remember she has a clicker and treat in hand.

     As for motivation, What do you think motivates your dog? Many people say food and they absolutely correct. Food is a primary motivator when training. Eventually the dog will get off the treats and clicker once you can say the trick with out having to give it a treat or use the click.

Well I cant find a photo with out the hand gesture,
just forget it was there and think about the word "sit".

     Well we know food is a motivator ,but what else is? I would have to say you the owner. The dog only wants to please you and when you say "Good Job", "Good Girl", or  "Good Boy" you are praising your dog making it feel good. Just like if someone were to tell us that we did a great job.

Sorry ,I thought this was so cute and it does make you feel pretty happy when you see it.

Motivation and Timing are important to a dog's training just make sure to use the clicker and eventually let your dog only respond to voice commands and always motivate your dog when it is doing something right.

Pack Leader

     As a dog owner you may here these words  "Pack Leader" a lot if you are a  fan of dog shows.
Well personally I believe in these words, I believe in your household there must be a pack leader in the house. I believe you have to establish pack leader skills by showing the dog you are in charge because if not the dog will become leader over you.
     The way a dog shows leadership skills is by showing it dominance. Which can be shown in a variety of forms. The dog could be over protective, not listening to you (but this could also mean it does not know its name which then it could be taught), by showing aggression, and can be pushy. Every dominant dog has its own way of showing its dominance. It also depends on your situation, an example would be if a dog was over protective of his female owner when her boyfriend would come over. A dominant dog can be difficult to deal with and might enforce its leadership with its teeth. This behavior can be corrected, but I recommend a expert's advice.

This is dominant behavior.
The corgi is being above the other dog. While the other dog is being submissive.

A dominant dog who is not pack leader can be harmful to the pack, because he/she may doing something unexpected. Which can lead to problems in the whole pack spreading the aggression.  

If your are unsure about your dog I would consult a professional.

Treats

Basic bones that can be given to your dog.

Dog treats are very important to both a owner and trainer. A treat can be considered a bone to a piece of chicken. I recommend a treat that is nice and healthy such as a piece of chicken. Try to say away from beef and pork and go for the more lean meats. Also watch out for your dog's age and if your dog has any allergies.

Treats that are often used as Training Treats

Treats come in a ll shapes and sizes and some treats are specific to the size of the dog. An example I feed my larger dog medium size bone and my quarter size bones to my small dog. I also recommend controlling how many treats you give your dog in a day as well as look at the calories on the back of the bag to ensure the treat sticks the the dog's diet. Every dog has a specific amount of calories they must eat, and it all depends of the breed and size of the animal. I f you are curious about how many calories your dog should it you should check out the weight of your dog as well as the breed. I then recommend
googling it. Just remember your dog does not care what size the treat is that you are feeding it for doing a good job it just care that you are feed it a treat.

The Leash and Collar

The leash is a very useful tool to exercise your dog as well as train your dog.

When you want a easier way to train you put the leash on the dog. It gives you a better leverage to train the dog and when holding the leash do not hold the leash tight. Either it be walking the dog or training always hold the leash loose and keeping it in a  J shape.

You can not use a leash without a collar, there a couple of collars that you as a owners could use. There is the choke chain or chain slip chain, the prong collar, everyday collar, and a harness. These are just some of the more popular collars The everyday collar is not recommended to use with a leash especially if you have a small dog because it could cause their trachea to collapse. The basic collar is used for more experienced dogs and used to hold the dog's tags. You could use a harness to walk your small dog because it is around the chest of the dog instead of around its neck.

Here are the collars.

Choke Chain

Basic Collar

Harness

Prong Collar

I prefer to use a harness when training my dogs as well as use it when walking my dogs. I feel a little more in control when using it and it more safe to use when I walk my small dog. The choke chain is also useful because it naturally forms around the dogs neck, but in my option better to use with bigger dogs. I actually do not know to much about  the prong collar.

Ok. Back to the leash sorry I detoured a bit. I your dog pulls on the leash it is probably because you have to much tension on your leash which was probably caused by your dog in the first place. When your dog starts to pulls stop dead in your tracks and wait your dog will probably turn around and see what you are doing and in turn will make the leash loose. Reward the dog for it wonderful walking behavior. This goes back to the clicker which you could  use to click and treat your dog when he/she  properly walks. Also try to get the lightest, lightest in weight, leash you can get to make the dog comfortable and simulate wearing nothing and when the leash is loose it is comfortable.

The Clicker

This amazing tool originated in the 1950s and was originally used to train dolphins and whales. It then was used to train horses, but apparently it was unsuccessful on the animals. It recently, I do not know the exact year, was introduced to training dogs. The way the contraption works is by sound recognition. You would click the clicker when the dog does a behavior you approve of then you give the dog a treat. An example would be is by showing the dog the piece of  food by bringing it to his/her nose then pulling it back making the dog sit, then you would click and give the dog the meaty treat. The clicker is very similar to Pavlov's Bell. Pavlov's Bell was used on dogs and he would ring it when it was chow time for the dogs. So eventually the dogs would salivate when the bell was rung knowing that they would eat soon.

This is Pavlov's Bell Concept.

Why is the clicker so useful, you may ask? The clicker involves a dog's prime motivator food. Dogs will do any trick for food and eventually the dog will be able to get off the clicker and treat and will be able to do the trick just by the sound of your voice, but of course the dog should still get a reward either it be a meat treat or a "good boy".

I believe this gives a good example of what clicker training is and how it works.

P.S. Clickers come in all shapes and forms. I personally have one that is shaped like a bone and has different clicking tones and a original looking one like the first picture thats just a basic one.

First Day on Blog

Hello Dog Lovers,
This is my first day blogging on my new blog. On this blog I will be talking about some basic training techniques and how to feed a dog properly. Such as count calories and healthy dog treats.
 I am doing this blog because it is a part of my high school senior project's independent study. My senior project is all about dog care and training and all the information on this blog is from research that I have found.
I hope it proves to be helpful.
-Katie