Fever pets

Canine ADHD
By Eric Letendre

I would be on drugs.

There would be no doubt about it. If I was in high school today some guidance counselor would have suggested and strongly recommended that I be put me on some type of drug therapy to get through high school.

You see, I barely, and I mean barely, squeaked out with a diploma. I was really just pushed through my junior and senior year of high school. When I look back on my school days, I was really just pushed through most of my schooling.

I was "diagnosed" as having a learning disability in the third grade. Today I would would be classified as ADHD.

Some of my teachers would literally fall out of their chairs if they knew that I had written a book called The Amazing Dog Training Man.

It's not that I couldn't learn, I just had a very active brain and I was BORED out of my mind. I could not concentrate on what was being taught but, when I had a subject and a teacher that was interesting, I was at the top of my class.

You see, I love to learn but for some weird reason, it has to be on my terms. I have traveled all over the United States and sat for days at a time to learn from some of the best dog trainers in the world.

So why do I share all of this with you?

Simple...

I am asked by a lot of people if it is possible for their dogs to have canine ADHD. My honest opinion is that I have NEVER come across a dog that I felt had any kind of learning disability.

What I have found is that the dog that is having a difficult time learning obedience is usually a dog that cannot pay attention. I worked with a dog, not too long ago, that had so much pent up energy that he truly could not focus. The dog was kept in a crate every day, sometimes up to ten hours. I tried and tried to explain to the person that owned the dog that no amount of training can overcome an exercise problem. I won't go into it today but the story had a very tragic ending.

One of the big influences on my training career was a British dog trainer, John Rogerson. I had the great opportunity to attend his seminars in New Hampshire and Memphis, TN.

Mr. Rogerson made a very simple but profound statement that I have never forgotten. He stated: "In order to have a good dog, you have to be a good dog owner."

Brilliant!

It changed the way I helped people train their dogs. I boiled down what I felt were the four important steps to becoming a good dog owner. Here they are:

Step #1: Effectively control and manage your dog's behavior. Or as I wrote in my book, The Amazing Dog Training Man, - M.O.B. Rules which stands for Management of Behavior.

Step #2: Give your dog enough exercise. There are two forms of exercise that every dog needs. Physical and Mental. Your dog needs to exercise his body and his brain.

Step #3: Become the leader. Dogs do respond to structure. Structure your relationship so your dog understands that you are in charge.

Step #4: Learn about behavior. Learn when to reinforce behavior and how to stop behaviors.

By following those four steps you'll develop a great relationship with your dog and your dog will become much more responsive to your training.

And remember that all training starts with attention. Your dog has to be paying attention to you before they will respond to any of your commands. It's your job to get and keep your dog's interest when you are training.

Top Tips For Training A Labrador Puppy
By Darren Gibson

You've made the decision to bring a Labrador puppy into your life - good for you! Your next step is to get some tips for training a Labrador puppy so you don't run into problems later.

A few things you need to bear in mind, particularly about this breed of dog are:

1. Labradors love people! It's no good getting a Lab then spending all day at the office while your new dog pines for you at home. If you are going to have a Labrador in your family, then you need to be prepared to spend plenty of time with her.

2. Labs are an active breed, originally bred to retrieve prey from the shoot.  If they do not spend enough time exercising, then you are highly likely to run into problems, both health wise (getting overweight, which will promote the common problem of hip dysplasia) and in terms of behavior as a result of separation anxiety.

If your Labrador is left without physical exercise, she will get overweight and have all the health problems associated with it.  If she is not mentally stimulated, she will have behavioral problems and be difficult to control.

So here are my top tips for successfully training a Labrador puppy:-

#1. Spend as much time as possible with your Labrador and use positive reinforcement (treats and praise) during training sessions.

#2. Exercise your dog at least twice a day, and incorporate training into the exercise times

#3. If there are times when you will not be home for prolonged periods, make sure you have someone available who can take her for a run to feed her need for both companionship and exercise.

Labradors are a very devoted breed.  If you give your dog the attention she rightly deserves, then the rewards will be many fold. If you do not have the time needed to raise and nurture a Lab, then please think twice before making the decision to bring one into your family. If you do have the time spare, then follow these very simple tips for training a Labrador puppy and you will have a friendship with your dog that lasts for many years.

Training Your Dog Through Punishment Should Be a Thing Of The Past
By Darren Gibson

Punishment as a form of training is still widely used by dog owners who know no better when training a dog. What your dog sees as a punishment can take many forms: verbal (shouting or an angry tone), physical (kicking, hitting or other forced actions such as rubbing his nose in the carpet) or even the posture of his master. No dog wants to be punished, nor will he do anything 'on purpose' and be aware of the (physical) consequences beforehand.

If you come home to find your dog has upset the garbage can and spread the contents all over the house, he is unlikely to realize when he is being yelled at that it is because of the mess he made some hours ago. What he will do is associate the return of his master with physical or verbal punishment, making him anxious about you returning home. You may even begin to notice your dog showing fear towards you if your training methods have included physical punishment.

If you see your dog crawling or slinking around looking "guilty" about the time you have noticed something he did earlier, you might think he knows he has done something wrong. This is not the case. Dogs have no sense of right and wrong. When shouted at, he is not acting "guilty", but is in fact just showing submissive posture in response to your harsh tone of voice or angry demeanor.

There are forms of behavior modification that may be acceptable even though they are based upon negative reinforcement that you could use in correcting unwanted behavior in a dog. If this is a method you wish to use, it is best that the 'perceived punishment' does not come from you, but instead comes from the environment your dog is in. For instance, noise can be an effective form of correction. When the dog is caught doing something that is undesirable, a sudden loud noise can disrupt what he is doing. It is important that the sound does not appear to come from you, but is something that 'mystically occurs' whenever he is misbehaving - it can come from an air horn or a tin full of beans that is shaken to make a noise. In time, your dog will associate the unwanted noise with the behavior you want to correct and avoid doing it again, even when you are not around.

If any of the above sounds familiar to you, or punishment to correct your dog's behavior is not the way you want to train your dog, why not consider positive reinforcement as a training method? Positive reinforcement is the exact opposite of punishment as a dog training technique, and providing you are consistent, it can be much more effective, rewarding and enjoyable for both you and your dog.