5 Goals to Achieve in any Dog Training Program

Dog Training must make a dog a pleasure to be around, not just a trick machine.

People have many different expectations when they come into a dog training class or when they want you to give them an in-home session for their misbehaving new puppy.

Some of them remember how their idealized dog from their young years, some have watched the Dog Whisperer on Animal Planet, others have been asking everyone in the Craigslist Pet Forum or their friends on Facebook, and have come up with a shopping list of commands they want their pooches to obey.

Their itemized lists are pretty much very achievable, given the proper discipline on their part, but sometimes I wonder what is their final goal, or if they even know exactly what is the best for them and their dogs.

I don't claim to know what is best for everyone, but experience tells me that checking every item of their command list is not the way to go. What you want, and what is going to give you a more satisfactory relationship with your dog are these 5 goals:

1. Understand the way your dog communicates with you
2. Understand how your dog reads what you do and what you say
3. Give your dog calmness
4. Create habits that both your dog and you can share
5. Exercise your dogs thinking skills to adapt to everything life will throw your way in the future 

Have you seen your dog's face when you are angry at it after you find pee on the carpet? You see how guilty he looks? Well, that is not guilt, that is just an expression that means "could you please be calmer?, you're scaring me". That's why you need to understand your dog's body language, we often interpret it like human body language, and ofter err.

Have you notice that when your teacup chihuahua is aggressive to people walking by and you hold it in your arms, instead of calming down he gets even angrier and starts to shake? He understand that your hugging and petting means, "good job, that's is exactly what I want you to do. That is why you need to know how to communicate effectively in a dog-appropriate way.

Sometimes I find people who spent hundreds of dollars teaching their dogs all commands available and more than 50 different words, but when Fourth of July comes, there is no way to control his fears, or if you want to just lounge and relax, they get their dogs jumping all over them, playing, tugging, barking and chewing on furniture, but all they need is for their dogs to just chill with them, being calm.

About creating habits that both your dog and you can share, imagine you are sitting in front of the computer, working on an important file and your Fido rests on a doggie bed, waiting patiently for hours until you finish, or you take a car trip to visit friends while your dog sits nicely in the back seat, quiet, enjoying the ride, without distracting you.

And finally, even if your dog is a total candy at 2 years old, life is bound to bring changes, vacations, thunderstorms and any amount of other unforeseen events in your life for which neither you nor your dog are fully prepared, unless you both know how to take obstacles in stride.

That is, IMO, what you should expect from any dog training session, a preparation for life, life-long lessons that enrich you, your pets, family and anyone around.

about A Dogs Coach's training classes private, in-home and at the park.

Basic Dog Training Class

What you get with your dog training class

These are the basic abilities and knowledge that you need to start off a good relationship with your dog, no matter how old, if it's your first day or you've been years together.

Level: Basic Training and Socialization

Course Content: 

• Basic Obedience Commands, {Sit, Down, Stay, Come, Wait, Watch, etc.}
• Socialization to dogs and people, 
• Behavior Correction
• Calming Behaviors, 
• Dog-to-Human Language

Techniques: 

• Voice and Sign, 
• Clicker, 
• TAG Teaching, 
• Positive Reinforcement
• Mirror Training

Suited for:

• Puppies all ages (one-on-one training)
• Puppies 4-months and older with proper shots (group training)
• Adult Dogs with full set of shots

Requirements: 

• the dog's shots record (to show it on the first class)
• a tube of doggie toothpaste that is meat-flavored, 
• one cup of regular dog food in a zipped bag, 
• clicker,
• fixed-length leash (4-6 ft) and regular collar.

Where:

• In-home dog training in Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, Tempe, Gilbert.
• Group classes. Locations are announced in the Group Classes tab.

Dogs from shelter in want of training for their owners

There is a mix of virtues and handicaps of the pets you can find at shelters.
Most of the dogs I've seen in rescue organizations, both in Mexico and the United States, are perfectly healthy, happy, adoptable pets, but let's be honest, many of them ended up in there because of something.
Their problem? In most cases, lack of training.
Yes, they need training, but it's their previous owners, or the owners of the dogs that bred them while at large who lack the most training.
Lots of owners get a dog with a frame of mind that doesn't resemble anything like common sense, as if they don't understand that a living creature needs nurturing of the body and mind. They think the puppy they bring home will just know what to do. The humans in the house don't know what to do with a dog and they expect the dog to know what to do with humans? How does that make sense.
This weekend, the Arizona Humane Society is waiving its adoption fees because its overpopulated shelters can no longer receive more pets and they won't turn the new ones away (see the info here), and other shelters will be at the Purina Pro-Plan Rally to Rescue (the info is here).
In the introductory class for volunteers of the AAWL they told us that some of the reasons pets end up in shelters are:

• Potty problems,
• Behavioral problems,
• Changes in the family

All of those problems are solvable with dog training.
I hope all of those animals get the forever home that they deserve with owners who understand the need of education for them and their pets, the benefits of training for bonding and solving problems, and not with people who don't have the time, commitment, space or will to exercise them, educate them and love them.
Most benefits are for the adopters, the human factor of all adoptions, than for the pet, but when that fails, the most damage goes to the animal, who some people think of as disposable.
Come on, train you dog and make your live a whole lot better.

Coupon for the new class in the Park

The Dog Training class in Countryside Park (Mesa, Gilbert, Scottsdale, Chandler) is coming through big time.
I just issued a coupon at Google Offers - A Dogs Coach and Trainer

Check it out!

Exercise and mental stimulation keep dogs sane and healthy

Obstacles are good for the athletic dog - Mesa Dog Training | Examiner.com

It's the lack of that extra exercise and mental challenge that drive some dogs to eating furniture and walls, barking excessively, chasing their tails up to no end, and to developing problems like excessive shedding out of stress or constant fighting.

Treadmill exercise for senior dog, part 2

I feel elated.
On our second dog training session Tete got on the treadmill on her own, just by the lure, with more confidence. We are more than halfway there.
Here is the brief story: Tete is a 6-year-old shepherd mix female dog that has been gaining weight since the family moved from California to Arizona; because of the heat and their busy life, they can't keep up with their habitual daily walks outside and asked me to teach Tete to walk on the treadmill so she can get more exercise and keep a normal weight.

On our first session I noticed that she was not only uncomfortable getting close to the treadmill while it is turned off, but the sound of her nails scraping on the mat unnerves her. We worked on giving her more confidence and she kinda sorta did, she could walk on the treadmill sideways, putting her back legs out of the machine and her two front legs walking for a couple of seconds.
Today I sat on the end of the treadmill with hot dogs and asked her to get on, "súbete" in Spanish, without touching or pushing her in any way so she could get on on her own time. She did, so I flooded her with rewards to create a powerful pleasant experience with this exercise on the machine.
Eventually she got so tired that sometimes couldn't lift her back legs to get on the treadmill, so I gave her a break and after 10 minutes, tried it one more time for success and rewarded her.
She still has some way to go, but it's a big advance, since we are working not on a trick (get on the treadmill) but on her confidence, losing fear, assessing her independence.
She is smart. She will get there.
This is a follow-up to "Treadmill exercise for senior dog".

The Quest for Dominance and a hundred tales

We've all heard it, loud or whispered, dogs are on the lookout for dominance, a lifelong, all-encompassing quest.
Must we believe it?
I don't, not quite.