How To Stop Dog Biting

In one of my earlier blogs I mentioned a few dogs that were destroyed for biting people, I feel bad for the animals, disgust at some irresponsible dog owners for not training or restraining their dogs. When I was a child I was bitten on the stomach by a sheepdog, it was a working dog and I was a stupid kid who threw my arms around it’s head as if it was one of my own dogs. I think this is why I still don’t trust many dogs and don’t tolerate irresponsibility.

The dog that bit me wasn’t bad, people should look after their dogs as well as their children, and both shouldn’t be left unsupervised at any time.

It is usually possible to train a dog not to bite, if it is a young dog doing it as part of play with you and other people that he knows. The best way is to say 'No' or 'Ouch!' firmly and loudly right at him, and stop playing with him whenever he does it.

This is the same way that mother dogs teach their puppies not to bite too hard. First, they bark and growl at the puppy. Then they turn away and ignore the puppy for a while. If he continues to bite, the mother will grip the scruff of his neck and shake him until he submits. Going limp is a sign of submission.

Your puppy may have been taken from his mother before he learnt this, so you may have to play the part of the mother. Don't hit him but if he persistently bites you despite being ignored, take hold of the scruff of the neck and shake. But don't lift him when you do this - it is not necessary and could be dangerous.

If your dog is a puppy, he is probably teething. Like a child, he needs toys to chew on, so you should make sure there are plenty of these that he knows are his. However, do not give him a toy immediately when he bites you, or he may see it as a reward. That would encourage him to bite you every time he wants a toy to chew on!

Then at other times, when you see him chewing on his toy, praise him and give him attention. This will reinforce the good behavior. This can be the hardest thing to do. While it seems natural to us to correct bad behavior, we usually ignore good behavior. But if you fuss when he bites you, and ignore him when he chews his toy, what do you think he will prefer to do? Yes, bite you, of course!

If an older dog bites, the problem can be more serious, especially if it is a large breed. Bites that break the skin can become infected, and if your dog is allowed to continue biting there is a risk that someone may be seriously injured.

Biting is natural to dogs and they do have to be trained out of it. It will be harder now that he has the habit, but even more important to train him successfully. You will need to be very consistent in your training over several weeks or even months.

You may have adopted a rescue dog whose history you do not know, or an older dog that you were told was well behaved but now is not. Try the same methods, but don't try to shake a big dog. Keep in mind that this may be a temporary behavioral problem related to the stress of the dog's new life in your home. Your training will be most effective if accompanied by a lot of love. Let him keep any toys that he brought with him. These might help him to settle, as well as being something that he can safely bite.

If the dog is aggressive in other ways, e.g. growling when people approach his food bowl or acting aggressively toward other pets or children in a way that is clearly not play, then he is trying to be dominant in the household. Often, the dog will allow one adult to be 'leader of the pack' but he wants to be second. This can be a dangerous situation and you may need to work with a professional dog trainer on this.

If you have small children it is better not to take on dogs that have been bred for guard dogs or sheep dogs, who tend to bite more seriously than others. These include Doberman, Chow Chow, Collie and Rottweiler. There are other breeds that don't get along well with kids for other reasons, including Pekinese, Chihuahua, Toy Poodle, Cocker Spaniel and Dachshund.

If you have one of these dogs and then you have a baby, you may have to consider finding a new home for your pet. In this situation it may not be safe to rely on being able to train a dog not to bite.

enter>Dogs Will Be Dogs

Dogs Will Be Dogs

Jumping, barking, digging, chewing and house soiling are just a few of the topics covered in this audio download.

* Leader of the Pack
* Good House Manners
* The Art of Housebreaking
* My Destructive Dog

The first step in establishing a healthy, happy relationship with your dog is understanding why he behaves the way he does. This entertaining audio program--designed for all ages--will teach you about "dogs being dogs."

Experts from St. Hubert’s Dog Training School in Madison, New Jersey--one of the largest dog training schools in America--share simple and humane techniques for gently but effectively training your four-footed friend. Hear directly from the dog’s mouth the straight scoop on canine motives and how he perceives your behavior. Learn how to communicate to your dog what you want him to do and what behaviors are acceptable.

Helping your dog become a well-behaved member of your household can be fun and rewarding--for both of you!

About the Authors
St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center is a nonprofit animal welfare organization dedicated to alleviating the suffering and neglect of companion animals. Our animal shelters provide safe refuge and compassionate care for thousands of lost, abandoned, abused, and unwanted dogs and cats every year.

Founded in 1939 by Geraldine R. Dodge, St. Hubert’s serves the animals and people of the community with a wide variety of programs that nurture the human-animal bond and foster an environment in which people respect all living creatures. Many of our innovative programs for animals and people serve as models for other organizations across the country.

Click Here Dogs Will Be Dogs

How Do You Train Your Dog Not To Jump On People?

Isn’t it annoying when you visit a fiends place and their dog’s straight away jump up to greet you! Not only can it be a frightening experience if you don’t trust the dog yet, it wants to be close to your face, or greedy dogs wanting to smell your mouth or sniff your hands. Some dogs are too heavy to simply push off you!

Most owners of puppies need to train the dog not to jump up at people. Most young dogs are very interested in any new person and they will be so eager to meet your visitors or any other human that they encounter, that they will jump up on their legs in greeting.

This is in fact submissive behavior on the dog's part. It is showing that it has no intention of starting a fight with the person. However, the jumping can be very frightening for children. A big dog can easily knock a young child over, without intending to hurt them at all. This can lead to some kids becoming terrified of dogs. This is unnecessary and I am sure you will want to make sure that your dog does not cause that kind of reaction.

For adults, it is usually not scary (unless they had a bad experience in childhood) but it can be annoying if the dog is wet or muddy and leaves marks on their clothes. However, it is often the case that the person will react in a friendly way, by stroking the dog, saying hello and playing with him. People may do this either because they genuinely like dogs, or to stop the dog embarrassing them by sniffing their groin.

This can be a big problem if you are trying to teach the dog not to jump. He gets a confusing message. On the one hand, you are saying 'Down!' or calling him to you; on the other hand, the visitor is clearly rewarding him for his jumping with lots of lovely attention. So it is better for you not to react when he jumps on a stranger.

If you concentrate on training him when he is jumping on people that he knows, you can enlist their help. Be sure they know that the dog is not allowed to jump up at them and must not be rewarded for it. If he jumps, they should just stand very still and not even make eye contact with him.

You can do the same when he jumps on you. He will soon get down and when he does, you can speak the command 'Down' or 'Off' and reward him. This way he is only rewarded for getting off - not jumping. Or you can wait a moment, then tell him to 'Sit' and reward him for that.

You and your family members will probably know the dog well enough to see when he is about to jump at you. You can forestall him by turning sideways and slowly walking away. This will show him that you are neither afraid of him nor aggressive toward him, and it will calm him.

It is very important not to punish the dog for jumping by slapping him down or grabbing his paws. Remember that the dog is showing his submissiveness by doing this - so if you are aggressive with him, he thinks his message has not come across and he will try even harder with the same behavior. It is very important not to either reward or punish the unwanted behavior when you want to train a dog not to jump.

A Quick & Easy Technique To Teach Your Dog To Fetch

Don’t you just love it when you can be lazy and throw a toy for your dog and it brings it back and puts it on your lap, you don’t even need to bend down to pick it up again.

One of my closest friends though has a dog which has an OCD about “stuff” nothing in particular just anything it can put in front of your toes and then stand there and look at it!

The dog’s name was Spud which is funny because that is also my childhood nickname from my brothers. Spud would come over and no matter how clean you though your house was he would always find some little scrap of fluff to put at your toes and then stare at. Even if you slightly turned he would pick it up and relocate it to right in front of your toes, several times I ended up picking my feet up off the ground just to stop the feeling of claustrophobia creeping in lol!

It is a lot of fun to train a dog to fetch. Most young dogs are very happy to learn this new game, although they may initially be a little confused about the rules.

Many people start out wrongly with sticks in the park, perhaps putting the dog on a long leash. Although you will later be able to throw sticks for your dog in this way, it is not the best place to begin. Both the park and the stick itself are much too stimulating for the dog. She is going to find it hard to focus on you and your game there.

Instead, start in the house. The best place is a hallway where there are not too many distractions and you have room to throw. Close doors into rooms so that she really only has one place to go with the object: back to you.

Begin with the dog's favorite toys. You should come armed with as many as you can find. You will also need treats for when she gets it right. If you don't like to give her sweet treats, try carrots, which many dogs enjoy chewing on.

Take the first toy and wave it around the dog's nose to get her interested in it, then throw. If she goes after it, she gets a treat. She doesn't have to bring it back to be rewarded at this stage - chasing is enough. If she doesn't go after it but just looks or ignores it, let it lie where it fell and throw another one. Sooner or later she will chase after one of them as you throw.

The next step to be rewarded is when she picks up the toy you just threw. (Don't reward her for picking up a toy that you threw a few minutes before - she will not learn the game that way).

If you have already trained her to come, you can call her back to you, but at first she will probably drop the toy. Don't reward her for coming back without the toy, unless she brings it close to where you are. Sooner or later she will bring one all the way and that is the moment for the rewards to start again. Even if she will not give you the toy, she gets a reward the first time she does this.

Finally, she will drop the toy in front of you, panting happily, and wait expectantly for you to reward her or throw it again. And again, and again, and again.

Most dogs can easily be taught this game and they love it. If you have a dog who does not seem to want to learn, you may be able to teach her by getting together with another owner whose dog is a good fetcher. Play with the other dog and let your dog see that you are rewarding him for fetching correctly. If your dog still doesn't join in, maybe she is not interested in the treats.

When you can play fetch with your dog in the park, she gets tons of exercise without you having to do a lot of running around or worrying about where she is and what she is into. So it is worth continuing to train a dog to fetch.

Selecting A Used Dog Training Collar

You can often find a used dog training collar online if you keep your eyes open. But before you bid or buy, there are some things that you should know about electronic dog training collars.

The way that these collars work is quite simple. They fasten around the dog's neck and can emit a small electric shock to the dog. The idea is that getting a shock each time he does something unwanted will teach the dog not to do that any more.

Strength Of Stimulation

The strength of the shock can vary and the first thing that you should do is consider whether you know what strength your dog will need.

Just about all professional dog trainers these days agree that the best way to train a dog is by rewards and reinforcing good behavior. Punishing a dog for bad behavior is not nearly so effective. Often it confuses the dog and just makes him scared of life, without changing his behavior at all. So it is very important that the training collar that you buy just gives the dog a slight buzz that he would prefer to avoid, not any kind of painful or frightening shock that could be considered a punishment.

Other things being equal, you would expect a large dog to require a stronger reminder than a small dog, but this is not necessarily the case. Some breeds and some individual dogs are more stubborn and harder to train than others. So it is a good idea if you are looking for one of these collars, to choose one that has a variable setting. Start with the lowest setting and see how your dog responds.

Owner-Controlled Collars

Collars vary in the type of control. Some collars are remote-operated by the owner and others are automatic.

With a remote-operated collar, you would only use the collar when you were actively training the dog. You would hold a small instrument like a pager and you would press a button on it when you wanted to control the dog.

Some people choose to train the dog this way because it seems like an easy option. Instead of spending hours playing and speaking to the dog, you can just press a button. However, people who use training collars this way do not find they work very well! Reinforcement is vital in dog training and even if you use a collar method, you should reward the dog for correct behavior at the same time.

Automatic Collars

Other collars are worn by the dog all of the time and will automatically give the electric shock reminder when the dog does a certain thing. These are most commonly used for 2 purposes:

1. Keep the dog within a certain area

These collars will activate when the dog crosses a perimeter boundary that you set up on your land. They work a little like an electric fence, but instead of a physical fence there is a sensor system.

This can be useful if you have an unfenced yard or if you want to restrict the dog to certain areas of your property. However, it is not effective on every individual dog and will work best on a dog who is new to your property.

If the dog has been allowed to go all over the property in the past and suddenly you try to restrict him with a collar, the reminder may not be enough to make him drop his habit of wandering. If he braves it once, he will find that after he is through the barrier, he is free. So an older dog may blast his way through - not every time perhaps, but enough to make the barrier unreliable.

2. Stop unwanted barking

The collar senses when the dog barks, and administers a shock. These collars are mostly used by people who have to leave their dog alone a lot and have neighbors complaining about the barking. They can be very effective in this situation.

Sensors can work either on sound, or on the vibration of the vocal chords, or both. The most reliable ones use both. An anti-barking collar that works on both sound and vocal chord vibration is probably the best use of an electronic dog training collar, because there is no other effective way to train a dog not to bark when you are not home to do it yourself.

For this to work as a training system it is vital that the sensor is accurate. If the dog receives random shocks when he didn't bark (e.g. because another dog barked on the street) he will not associate the shock with his own barking and will not learn to stop.

It is also important not to have this type of collar controlling the dog all of the time. You must allow the dog times when he can bark, because it is a natural function to him. So you can have him bark when you are home. But if you only put the collar on him when you are about to go out, he will associate it with you leaving, which could cause a problem in itself. So it is better if you can disable the sensor, or put the collar on him well ahead of time.

Electronic dog collars can cause lesions around the dog's neck because they are often heavy and need to be close-fitting for the electrodes to contact the skin. So if you do go ahead and buy a used dog training collar, check your dog regularly for sore spots.

A Guide To Dog Training

A Guide To Dog Training

Getting a new puppy or adult dog is always an exciting time for the entire family. But unless you understand the intricacies of caring for a new best friend, that furry bundle of joy could become an anxiety problem. Stop problems in their tracks right now with this informative special report that will tell you everything you need to know about caring for your dog.

Adding a new puppy or dog to your family can be a wonderful experience and the beginning a long relationship filled with love and companionship. In order to achieve that level of love and companionship, however, it is important to start you need puppy or adult dog off on the right foot. training puppies – I also picked up some material on training adult dogs because by this time my cute little puppy was an obnoxious teenager!

What I learned absolutely changed my life-and the relationship I had with my dog!

Suddenly the dog that couldn’t wait to tear into every new pair of shoes I brought home was now a respectable pup that stuck with her puppy chow. The same dog that nearly gave my neighbor a heart-attack with her incessant jumping, barking and chasing was very well mannered. And no more near misses with passing cars!

How did I do it?

I would love to share my secrets with you and my new special report on training your puppy or dog does just that!

Everything you need to know is included in this special report:

• Dog training basics – training the new puppy
• Training your new puppy the right way
• Training your new puppy to accept the collar and lead
• Training your puppy – eliminating biting behaviors
• ** You won’t want to miss the number one way to eliminate biting problems!!

I leave absolutely nothing out! Everything that I learned in order to transform my impossible, but lovable pup into a polite, well-mannered best friend is included.

For example; did you know that socialization is a critical skill for your dog?

Teaching a puppy or a dog proper socialization skills is vital to the safety of both your dog and other dogs and people with whom he comes into contact. A properly socialized dog is a happy dog, and a joy to be around for both humans and animals. A poorly socialized dog, or one with no socialization at all, is a danger to other animals, other people and even his own family.

My special report will teach you how to teach your puppy the proper socialization skills, including an exhausting do’s and don’t list. I also teach you how to eliminate your puppy or dog’s bad habits!

What’s the secret to training your puppy? I reveal it in my special report!

One of the most common problems for any new pet owner is house training. This can be a difficult time for both you and your puppy. I’ll show you how to make this training period easier and less traumatic for both of you! If you’re dealing with urination problems with an older dog; you must read this report because I even cover that as well!!

One of the worst fears of most pet owners is losing their beloved pet due to an accident with an automobile. Many times this occurs because the animal was not properly trained to obey even the most basic commands. Don’t allow that to happen to you and your dog. Teach your dog basic commands and ensure that he comes when you call.

Kick it up a notch!

When you’ve mastered the basic commands, I’ll show you how to train your dog on advanced commands.

This comprehensive special report covers the following topics:

• Training your dog the reward training way
• Dog Training – Dealing with Separation Anxiety
• Dog training – keeping your dog motivated
• Training your dog not to chase people, bicycles, joggers, etc.
• Eliminating problem dog behaviors – jumping and roaming
• Training the shy or fearful puppy or dog
• Training your dog not to fear loud noises
• Training your dog not to chase cars
• Teaching your dog not to chew

Make your life and your dog’s more enjoyable and less problematic by learning the most effective methods for dog training!!

You'll Receive The Audio Book
Plus A 92 Page eBook!

Click Here A Guide To Dog Training

Online Dog Training Schools

About ten years ago we had a guy in town who knew about dog training, his own dog was one of the most well trained dogs I’ve ever seen. Birdie (the trainer) held free classes up at the oval and people who really cared for their pooches took them up and did the training. It was a great social tool, my brother and I had one good dog, and one bad dog!

The bad dog Sirius never really improved but in her old age now she still shakes hands before dinner but we don’t bother pushing her too much! Birdie left town many years ago and no one really puts as much effort into dog training as they should.

This online dog training school review will be very useful for you if you are not able to access a physical class for you and your dog. Online training schools are also great if you just have a few questions about training your dog that you need answered without going to the trouble and cost of signing up with a qualified dog trainer in your local area.

All dog owners long to have a pet who eagerly responds to our every command, and who knows how behave both in the home and out in public places. Or do they? Sometimes, although we think we want an obedient dog, we are in fact constantly rewarding the dog with laughter, attention and affection when he is mischievous. We may even love our dog for those particular qualities.

So if there is a behavior pattern that you really do want to alter in your dog, first be sure that you will not unconsciously undermine the training by rewarding him for being 'bad' in this respect. This doesn't mean that you have to stop loving him whenever he is naughty, but only in respect of this particular behavior pattern. For example, if you want to train your dog to stop chewing your shoes, you must act very cold with him when he does it.

In a physical class the instructor would watch your actions as well as the dog's, to check that you are not rewarding (or 'reinforcing') the dog for the exact behavior that you say you do not want. However, if you sign up with an online dog training school you will either need to do this for yourself or make the whole family aware of the issue and remind each other.

What You Can Expect

Internet dog training schools often offer different levels of membership. First there is free membership which will allow you access to certain areas of the site. For example, you may be able to read articles or receive information by email that is not available to a casual website surfer. Of course you will need to give your email address for this and the site provides this service so that they can stay in touch with you and hope that sooner or later you will register for their paid service.

Be cautious sites that require anything more than your name and email address at this stage. For free services they should not need a phone number, address etc unless they plan to call you or sell your details to somebody else - which you probably would not welcome.

Many membership sites offer a forum where you can interact with other dog owners who are interested in training. Some of them will be experienced and you are likely to find some professional dog trainers in these forums, so you can often get all of your questions answered. You may have to pay a small monthly fee for access to a good internet dog training forum, but it will be very reasonable compared with the cost of a personal dog trainer or group class.

In these forums you will also be able to ask any other questions about your dog that are bothering you, even if they are not related to training. For example you may have questions about health issues like vaccination or dog health insurance or legal questions as in many jurisdictions there are laws about dog owning that it is good to understand.

What To Watch Out For

When you are visiting these sites, look out for these signs. You may want to write them down and check off each one against each site that you find. They will be a great help to you in deciding which dog training website is the best one for you.

1. There are many great dog trainers out there who do not have top web design skills so do not judge a site solely on its looks. However, it is worth keeping in mind that a successful trainer who is focusing on his or her online service - which is what you want - should be spending some money on the website. If the website looks cheap or outdated, the owner is likely to be using the site to attract customers for a 'real-life' class and may not have much to offer you.

2. Can you trust the information that you are given? It is easy for people online (and in print) to gather testimonials from satisfied customers. Every business, even the most unsuccessful, has one or two satisfied customers! Look for people recommending the service on other websites, not only on the training school's own website.

3. Find the 'contact us' email address and ask them a specific question about your dog. A good training school will answer promptly and give you the information that you need. If there is no reply after several days, you should be suspicious about what you will get for your money.

The Bottom Line

Our advice is to find as many online dog training websites as you can and sign up for any free services that they offer. This will give you the opportunity to judge for yourself and select the best online dog training school for you and your dog.

Deaf Dog Training

I knew a girl a few years ago who’s dog had a litter of puppies, two of the puppies were deaf, she decided to keep one of them because she felt sorry for it and the other one was kept by her parents. None of the dogs got trained in any formal sense and the result was a headache for everyone concerned!

One of the puppies got destroyed after biting someone twice and the other one was discreetly relocated as a result of biting someone. It’s pretty hard to train a deaf dog but responsible dog owners will put in the effort of training their loved puppies.

People who need to know how to train a deaf dog are usually considering a puppy. You may have lost your heart to a rescue dog or a puppy that you saw, and then found out that it was deaf and you are wondering whether you will still be able to give it a home. Maybe your pet had puppies, and one of them is deaf. Or maybe you have a dog that has become deaf through accident or illness, and you are wondering whether you will still be able to train it and teach it new tricks.

The answer is that training a deaf dog is very simple, or at least, no harder than training a hearing dog. You just have to teach her to respond to body language and hand signals instead of your voice.

Signals used in dog training must be very clear. Start by picking out a signal for 'Yes' or 'Good dog'. A thumbs-up is a good clear signal for this, and you will easily remember it yourself.

You can begin the training by associating your 'Yes' signal with treats. When she happens to do something that you like and want her to repeat, give the 'Yes' signal and immediately give her a treat. This could be food or a toy.

Then you can move on to other signals, giving the new signal when she happens to do whatever behavior you want to reward, and then giving her 'Yes' and the treat. She will soon come to understand what each sign means.

You will need a way to get her attention. Stomping a foot on the floor can be good because she will often be able to feel the vibration even if she is not looking at you. Be sure to give the 'Yes' signal and the treat as soon as she looks around.

It is useful to have a visual signal for getting her to look at you too. You can use this to keep her watching you while you give the signal for another behavior. A wide movement of your arm bringing your hand up to your face is good for this. She will be able to see this from a distance. You will find that when she is running ahead on a walk, she will look back from time to time. You can make this signal to get her attention and then give the signal for 'Come here' to call her back to you.

You can buy a vibrating collar so that you can attract her attention even when she is out of sight on a walk. You carry a pager and 'buzz' her to get her attention. Once she is looking, you can give the 'Come here' signal to have her come back to you. Of course you must train her to respond to the collar first. You can do this at home by rewarding her for looking round at you when she feels the buzz.

You must be sure to always use the same signal for each command. Take care too that you choose something that is different from whatever gestures you may make in conversation or to communicate with other humans (for example, don't teach the dog to respond to the gesture that you make when waving someone hello or goodbye).

It is very important to be consistent in the messages that you are giving her. This is true of all dogs. If your hand signal (or your voice, with a hearing dog) is saying one thing and your body language or facial expression is saying another, the dog will be confused. So try not to signal your dog at the same time that you are telling your kids what you want from them. That is not how to train a deaf dog, and the kids will probably ignore you too!

How To Teach Your Dog Tricks And What Dog Tricks To Teach

We have the cutest Beagle cross Staffy I’ve mentioned her in a previous blog. She is so incredible, she knows many tricks but still uses them to get food, it’s actually that she has trained us! She can Sit, Jump, Lie down, Shake hands, Talk, Bark on command and can tell the other dogs. If you say “Kiss Grandma” she will go and kiss mum, and if you say “Kiss Aunty” she will come and kiss me.

The best way to teach your dog tricks is to practice little and often. Take one trick and practise it with her several times a day if you can. Don't move on to a different trick until she has mastered the first.

Keep each session very short because your dog will be become tired, especially in the beginning while she is trying to figure out what is going on. Be sure to always reward her when she does what you wanted. At first, you can give her a treat that you know she likes. Later when she knows the trick well, it is still important to praise her every time - even years from now.

Shaking Hands

This is a simple trick to teach. Have the dog sit in front of you, reach out your hand and then take her paw. If you have noticed that she is more likely to raise one paw than the other, pick that one. At the same time, give the command which could be 'Shake'.

After a few practices she should start to put her paw into your hand when you reach out and say 'Shake'. Reward her when she does this, then end the session and repeat a few hours later.

Some dogs cannot do this trick because they need both front paws on the ground for balance. If your dog is very unwilling to let you pick up her paw, you may have to forget it and move on to something else.

Catch

Again this is a very easy trick and a dog will often do it automatically. Choose a treat that is big enough to see, but not so big that the dog could choke on it. You want something they could swallow whole without a problem.

Let the dog see the treat or sniff it, then throw it in the air and say 'Catch!' The aim is for her to catch it before it hits the ground. When she does this, praise her. It may take a little time before she first does it.

With this trick, try to end the session with a 'failure' - that is, end it when she has let one fall on the floor. Otherwise she will learn that you throw her treats until she catches one, then you stop - so catching them is bad.

Stand And Beg

This is easier for smaller dogs, and unsafe with very large ones who may do some damage to themselves, you or your home if they lose their balance!

Have the dog sit in front of you. Let her see the treat then hold it above her head at a height where she will have to stand up on her hind legs to reach it. At the same time give the command, e.g. 'Beg'. You can hold her front paws at first to support her.

Make her continue a little longer each time before she gets the treat. That way her balance will improve and soon she will not need your support. Never tease her by taking the treat away.

Generally, younger dogs will learn more quickly. As the saying goes, 'You can't teach old dog new tricks'! But a young puppy may injure herself in frantic attempts to get her reward, so don't push too hard when you start to teach your dog tricks.

When Dogs Just Don’t Stop Barking

My eleven year old Dingo is tormented by thunder, we don’t get it all the time but when it happens she just won’t stop barking at it! When often end up with her on a chain in our bedroom while there’s a storm. She doesn’t seem too stressed, just won’t shut up!

I knew this girl who would have to beg the ranger every day because when she was at work her dogs wouldn’t stop barking and the neighbors kept complaining, she was lucky she didn’t get any fines which are a possibility in most towns.

Hearing a dog happily barking as it chases after a ball in the woods can be a wonderful sound, but if the neighbors are complaining and you and your family are suffering from having a dog that barks constantly that you cannot control, you will probably want to learn how to teach a dog to stop barking.

The first thing to consider is why the dog is barking so much. A normal puppy or young adult dog is like a baby in that it will bark when it wants attention or has a need, for example if it is hungry or thirsty, wants to poop or needs exercise. With most dogs, if you figure out what they want, you can supply it and that is the end of the problem.

But some dogs bark a lot more than this. Often it is because they are bored. This is most likely if they are either kept in the house alone all day when you are at work, or if they are not getting enough exercise.

In the case of exercise, maybe you are not able to walk a big dog as often or for as long as it needs it. You could be sick or not have time, or in some climates it may be difficult to get out a lot in winter.

Letting the dog in the backyard will probably not be enough. It knows the backyard too well and there are not enough new and interesting sights and scents to keep it occupied. Instead, consider hiring a dog walking service.

Some dogs will bark whenever they see or sense someone approaching. This is what is known as 'reactive barking': barking as a reaction to events.

If a dog barks reactively, it is often because the dog has learnt to act as a guard dog in the past. If you have an adult dog it could have been trained to do this from a puppy by a previous owner. Perhaps it used to live in an isolated area and was rewarded for barking whenever there was a noise outside. If you live in a city, this will mean a lot of barking!

If the dog is used to being rewarded for barking and has been specially trained to do it, it will not understand that you do not welcome the noise. In this situation you may have to consider finding another home for the dog - or moving out of town yourself!

Another possibility is that as a puppy it learned this behavior from adult dogs and has simply never been taught not to bark. In this situation you may have more success. You can train it to be quiet in the same way you would train it to do anything else: use the command 'Quiet!' and always reward for obedience.

Remembering to reward the dog for being quiet is difficult because it is a non-behavior: instead of doing something that demands your attention and a reward, like fetching back a ball, it is not doing something. It is easy for you to give a sigh of relief at the sudden silence and move on. But it is vital to remember the reward, otherwise the training will never be successful.

If the dog is alone in the house all day while you work, it is not surprising that it gets bored. Dogs love company and leaving a dog alone for 10 hours a day, as many people do, are sure to have an effect. If it wasn't barking it would probably be either tearing the furniture apart or becoming seriously depressed. So what can you do to stop your lonely barking dog from driving the neighbors crazy?

First, the dog walking service is something that you might want to consider in this situation too. You will need to find a service that you trust enough to give them a key to the house. Then they can come when you are not home, pick up the dog and take it walking. This will break up the dog's day and make it much more accepting of the times that it is left alone. You want to make sure that the service will walk the dog as close to the middle of the day as possible.

Other things that you can do to keep the dog calm while you are working:

- Close the drapes or shades. The best is to have shades or shutters that the dog cannot get behind. This will keep their focus indoors, so they do not look out the window barking at everything that moves outside. But this will increase boredom so it is not enough by itself.

- Get another pet, either a cat or another dog. Even an aquarium can help to keep the dog interested.

- Leave the TV on at a low volume.

A dog that barks at every little thing that happens, even when you are home, may have a problem - for example if it barks every time that you stand up or sit down. This is abnormal behavior and could be due to a difficult early life (especially if it is a rescue dog) or some physical condition or illness. You should see a veterinarian in this case, because you probably will not be able to teach the dog to stop barking by yourself.

Four Steps To House Training Your Puppy

This is a lovely topic that I know lots of people have to deal with. I had a friend who brought her cute little puppy over and while it was roaming through my house it did a little spot on the carpet in my hallway out of view of me. Since then every time I miss the signs that my dogs need to go they do their business right there! On that same spot! So annoying to say the least!

In this article we will look at how to house train a dog. Whether you have a puppy or an adult dog that is not behaving the way you would like, the method is the same. It is simply a question of teaching the dog to poop outside and not in the house!

1. If you are starting with a puppy, you will first need to establish how you reward good behavior. Usually this is done by saying 'Yes!' in an approving voice, and giving a treat. When the puppy understands that 'Yes!' comes with a treat, you can begin the house training.

2. Encourage the dog to go in the backyard any time he shows signs that he wants to use the bathroom. Just like us, dogs often urinate or have a bowel movement right after waking up or eating, during or after exercise and play, and any time anything exciting or stressful happens. So at these times, watch the dog carefully for signs that he is about to urinate or worse. Most dogs have particular behavior that they will always repeat. This may include circling around, sniffing the floor, squatting, etc.

3. When you have him in the backyard, stay with him and lead him to a particular place that you have picked out (or even better, a place that he has picked out himself and used before). Always go to the same place. Wait there with him. If he goes ahead and does his thing, you can speak praise to him while he is doing it and then reward him immediately that he is done.

4. If nothing is produced in the yard, have him come back in the house. Continue to watch him carefully and call him outside again as soon as he starts those pre-bathroom behaviors.

So those are the four steps - you can see how simple it is. But there are some more points that you should know before you get started.

- If you have an adult dog that was house trained but is now too sick to make it outside when he needs to go, you can put newspaper on the floor in a certain place. With a very sick dog you may want to have a place in every room. Then you will need to show him what it is for by picking him up and placing him on the newspaper every time that he looks like he is about to make a mess (or even after he has started). Be very gentle and reward him for producing his waste there. And don't leave your daily newspaper on the floor until after you have read it!

- If you have to leave the dog alone in the house while you are out, leave him somewhere that you will not mind if he makes a mess, and train him to use newspaper as above.

- Never punish or talk angrily to a dog who has messed in the house, or show that you are unhappy about the mess. This will not help at all. If he even understands why you are upset, he will just hide from you when he wants to do it, e.g. going behind furniture. Result: you never know when he is about to go so you have no chance of training him. Plus you will often have a bad time finding and cleaning up that hidden mess.

Please go ahead and bookmark this page so that you can often refer back to these seven easy steps while you put the method of how to house train a dog into practice.

A Guide To Walking Fitness By Andy Guides

So i guess you've all gatherred by now that i'm a bit of a walk-o-holic! well here is a good book for anyone else who enjoys a good walk for health.

Fitness walking is an excellent way to get in better shape, tone those muscles, lose some weight and achieve better health; however, without the right tools and information, it could take you years to figure out the secrets to successful walking fitness.

A Guide To Walking Fitness

Stop Stressing Out!

My Internet Business allows me to work from home, dealing with who i want, when i want. There's not much need to stress out lately! Except when I have an assignment due and I’ve been procrastinating! But maybe because I am more balanced now I see stress in others a lot more! Being around people like that stresses me out too!

I do know what it’s like to burn out though, when I was working away from home I spent every moment working and any extra was spent volunteering. I couldn’t afford my own place so I spent my entire time there house sitting for people which meant I would have to move around quite a lot. I lasted nine months in that lifestyle before my body had enough; the mind had already gone but being a person who can’t say NO I kept pushing myself harder and harder!

When I broke my back I decided that I better stop before worse happens and I came home to rest. That experience was the best thing that ever happened to me as since then I have been able to sense when I am getting stressed out and make a mental change to not let it get worse.

I’ve left jobs because the bosses expected way too much of me, (keep in mind that I am the type of person to give everything I’ve got!) and jobs that have started getting boring. That’s a kind of anti stress, when you feel like your wasting your precious time working for someone else!

So that’s why my present lifestyle of working on the internet from home suits me so well! I love it.

Here is A Guide To Eliminating Stress and Anxiety I though that you can use at night when you are having trouble sleeping, it may help you come to a similar outcome of satisfaction as I have achieved.

Not only does it include timely tips and advice understanding the factors that cause you stress, but also clues to help you zero in on and control key stress factors within your life. This comprehensive special report covers the following topics:

Is Your Personality Causing You Stress?
· Is your Relationship Causing You Stress?
· Is Your Organization Causing You Stress?
· Are You Stressed Out by Your Marriage?
· The Stress of Death
· The Stress of Mental Illness
· Stress on the Job
· The Stress of Pregnancy
· Stress and the First Year of Parenthood
· News Junkie Stress
· The Dollars and Cents of Financial Stress
· Driving Away Stress

A Guide To Eliminating Stress and Anxiety

Out Of The Dark

This morning was just plain weird and creepy! I woke up around 4am so decided to take the dogs for a walk and noticed that nearly every street light was out.

It was the creepiest feeling, a little like that scene in Harry Potter's Prisoner of Azkaban where he is sitting under the street light and it goes out.

I normally do a walk which is about 1.5 hours long; it goes out to the Haul Pac Road and down to the hwy and back into town. I walk at about 8km per hour but this morning i stopped t the base of Luke's dump where the last of the lights were.

It was just too weird!!! there were a few bush birds waking up so me and the dogs decided to come home, the walk was 30mins and i only felt safe when i closed my front door behind me. totally strange!

Earth Hour was a month ago, i wonder why the lights were out this morning?

Beautiful Start To The Day

I passed out about 7pm last night and woke up around midnight full of beans so i got stuck into some study and worked through heaps. About 5:30 this morning i decided i would take the dogs for a walk.
I went the opposite way to what i normally walk and it was odd with some of the differences like walking past truckies sleeping on the side of the highway and bigger trucks passing me from the other direction.
The dogs enjoyed it thoroughly an i used the time to put my headphones in and do some French lessons. I'm up to lesson 6 now Bonjour!
Anyway here are some photos from my walk
:)

Talk to Meeka FM

Well today is a landmark occasion for Meeka FM, We finally after 12 years installed a telephone hibrid which means we are now able to talk live with community members, artists and visiting people.

I hope it increases listener ship and and membership of Meeka FM and helps us evolve to another level.

Here's a challenge for you, if you are reading this i dare you to give us a call and tell us what you think! +61 899811358

Good Karma or Bad Karma?

What goes around comes around

It’s a philosophy that so many people believe in. One catches oneself thinking after a good deed has been done that something good will happen to them as a result.

There’s also the anticipation for the bad side of it too! Have you ever been so angry or annoyed at someone without having the courage to tell them whets on your mind and then badly stubbed your toe? It happens to me often; I’ve spent months recovering and re-growing toenails, lovely thought hey!

On Facebook there is an application called “Send Good Karma” there’s no real point to it really except people expect to get good karma in return, making them happier!

In my opinion karma is a crazy energy, two days ago I had a guy knocking on the front door of my sanctuary threatening me and I knew as he was talking that he was full of it! And so I refused to play victim to him.

During the course of the day I dealt with the situation and later in a phonecall with him he hung up the phone on me that was officially the first time I’d ever been hung up on!

I’ve talked to people about it but I still can’t sleep! I am so exhausted but the conversation keeps on running through my head, obviously there is more going on than just that particular conversation, stress from not being on time with my courses, trying to budget a holiday when prices skyrocket beneath you and feeling a bit alone as all my family is out of town.

So I found this book which is looking at karma and meditation, it is really relaxing, I am listening to it now with a cup of chamomile tea hoping I don’t oversleep today.

Here is the link, go ahead and listen to the sample and see what you think about it!

Understanding Karma

How To Train Your Cute, Adorable, Naughty Beagle

In July 2005 Daley our Staffy x Beagle joined our family as a eight week old puppy. Named after Troy Cassar-Daley she is nothing like the Australian singer/songwriter. She was the most loved and adored puppy in the world and she knew it! She is still one of the smartest dogs I’ve ever seen but it took a lot of work to get her just right, and she still manages to follow her nose just a little too much sometimes.

Beagle owners will agree that that a beagle is the most rewarding and wonderful dog to own, but beagle dog training is not the easiest. Beagles are very smart dogs and many people assume from this that they will be easy to train. But the smartest dogs, like the smartest people, are not the most obedient.

Beagles can be stubborn and set in their ways. It is not difficult to make them understand what you want them to do, but having them actually go ahead and do it is a very different matter. However, with steady, consistent training you will be able to achieve your aims in the end.

There are 3 points that concern beagle owners in particular, more than owners of other dogs. These are:

1. How to make a beagle come when it is called.

If they are unleashed or manage to escape from the yard, beagles will chase after anything or nothing, often running into danger on the street. They are hunting dogs and they will follow a scent even if the animal that left it has been gone for hours.

To train her to come, first you need to teach your dog to come to you in the house. Then move to the yard. You can use a leash, increasing the length as she becomes more obedient. Finally, let her off the leash - but put her back on it if she does not come when called.

In this early stage of training, never leash her when she comes to your call - she will see that as punishment for coming to you!

When you are sure that she understands the command and will obey it, begin using it on a long leash outside of the yard too. But accept that you may never be able to let your beagle off the leash in unfenced areas.

2. How to stop a beagle chewing clothes, furnishings, children's toys ... whatever it is, they will try to eat it.

Something that is useful here is to give the beagle plenty of toys of her own, and try to keep other things out of reach. You will find that you need to keep a very tidy house with all your shoes, etc, hidden away.

Any time that you find the dog chewing something of yours, just offer her own toy instead. When she takes it, reward her. Remember it is natural to beagles to chew, so rewarding her for chewing the right things is the best way to train her.

3. What to do with a beagle who bites your hand.

The play of young beagles often includes some nipping or biting. If you have a puppy with a tendency to do this, you will want to train her out of it as soon as possible, especially if you have kids - and it's good if you do, because beagles are pack animals who are happiest in large, active human families.

You probably want her to transfer her biting to her toys. However, it is better not to give her a toy when she bites you, because she may see this as a reward for biting you. Just withdraw your hand and walk away. Show her that you will not play if she is going to do that.

At the same time, make sure that she has plenty of her own toys that she can bite on, to satisfy her chewing instincts.

Never try to train a dog to do anything by punishing her. All of her behavior seems natural to her - it is like punishing a child for playing. All that happens is they get scared of you. It is very important to understand that it is natural to beagles to do all of these things, for successful beagle dog training.

I’ve lost many paint brushes, jogging shoes, a swag, and horse lead ropes to our puppy but I love her so much, she is the sweetest most caring sookish thing in the world. She can sit, jump, lie, talk, bark on command, shake hands and knows food refusal too! I love getting her to show off for schmakoes.

Are You Flying Solo???

For those of you who don’t know me very well yet, I am a sole trader; my business consists of home and lifestyle choice provision to tenants, colleagues and family & friends.

I don’t know much about business practices, to date everything I’ve learnt is from my mentor’s. I will be good at it. ! I am very passionate about my work, I am definitely a soloist, and it tells me I wasn’t wrong when I made the decision to go it alone.

I spend quite a bit of time researching different tools on the internet that I can use; I need it smart, instant and free! I recently found this really resourceful website that helped me take notice of issues I hadn’t come across yet but that when improved really affected my business positively, everything from phone manners to good personal happiness advice, because after all, if your not happy you waste a lot of energy getting happy or working out why your not so happy.

Another thing you should know about me is I hate wasting time, and I hate people wasting my time! When people say they are going to come over my house to pay a bill, they say they will turn up in the morning and then don’t rock up at all! That really errks me!

Anyway I digress again! This website is free, instant and very smart, they have many smart people writing articles for them so it is current relevant information for people who are flying solo or others considering working for themselves.

When you sign up for the newsletter it’s not spam and jam packed full of really great articles. It also gives you four free bonuses you can download. They are reports that really made me understand myself that little bit better! And we all know that when you understand yourself you can perform at your peak abilities, therefore not wasting time and actually achieving your goals.

So go ahead and check it out and leave a comment here telling me I’m right!!! I love being right!!! And even more I love being told I’m right lol! Kidding, but go ahead and check it out anyway, very interesting reading indeed.

FLYING SOLO

Day To Day Goal Setting

I wanted to share a little about writing down your day to day goals. My last blog entry was about keeping your goals to yourself and I still believe that! But you really do need to refresh your memory occasionally about the important things to you, otherwise you may become bogged down with day to day going’s on and forget what really matters.

I have a scrapbook in which I keep pictures of the life goals I want like a trip to Paris, a wardrobe full of really good quality clothes and my dream house. I don’t use this for my day to day goals as they would clutter up the vision for my life. Also day to day goals need constant rendering, you need to be able to add to goals and fully delete some that are just impractical or unnecessary.

I use my tasks function on my Outlook program for this. Seeing as a lot of my home business is based around my email program I can just flick through and add or delete them as I go.

Recently I was trying my hardest to study a network marketing cd full of great advice but the guy’s voice kept putting me to sleep right here at my computer, it was seriously taking me forever to get through it,

I pressed stop half way through the third session out of five and wrote on my goals, “Finish net marketing course” and each day when I found I had a break from emailing I would read through the list and find the easiest goals and try to achieve them, or at least work towards them a bit.

Yesterday after several stages of achievement I actually finished that cd! I didn’t need to celebrate completing that goal but the simple act of deleting the task felt so good! As the list gets smaller you start wondering what you might do if it got down to no tasks.

I never have no tasks in my list, there is always some little mundane thing that I’ve been putting off that needs doing, I even have on my list “put rubbish out” and “write letter to Grandparents” as it’s something I don’t need to do every day but just seeing it there means I’m more likely to do it in a timely manner.

Just so you know, it’s been years since I’ve written to my Grandparents but I always mean to! I just never get around to it! Hmmm!!! I might do that today lol!

Keep Your Goals To Yourself!

I had a really good day today; I achieved a lot of my daily goals which left me feeling proud of myself. Then I went to see my parents and Dad started sharing his negatives about his work.

Over the years I’ve become used to blocking them out, ignoring them and even thinking about something completely different while he talks

Today we got onto the subject of a new venture I am making and what arrangements I will need to do to make it work. He automatically started fidgeting and cleaning up the table. I could see this dark cloud forming around his head.

I don’t know why it is so difficult for him to support me, it’s as though his own fears have to become true for me! That’s when I lose all respect for him and don’t want to be near him, and then I have to leave talking with my mother for another occasion when he’s not around.

As soon as I get up to leave he apologizes for being negative and tries to make jokes, this just makes me dislike him even more.

I guess that’s why they suggest that you never tell anyone else your goals because they don’t have the same mental ability of making things happen as you. I remembered this saying, “evolve or die” I told that to dad and said it was fine that he remains Jurassic!

So there people, I’ve been wondering what I could possibly write today that might help someone else out. Keep your goals to yourself!

Except of course you can tell me your goals and dreams here, because I listen, and I believe that anything is possible! I am trying to teach myself French by saying things in French to my mother who used to know it, she corrects my pronunciations.

I’m sure the thought of me going off to France by myself scares her but it’s not going to stop me from going because it’s my goal and I believe in myself!

Don’t forget to check out my website and tell me what you think of it! www.passionsinspired.com