Dog Obedience Training Classes - Why Every Dog Should Go Through Them

Every dog should be thought basic obedience because it is a good way to keep a dog under control and at the same time, teach it proper manners. Whether we like it or not, our dogs are always learning; if we do not make an effort to teach them, they will start to learn things on their own and make their own rules, many of which we will not like.

Have you seen, for example, dogs who:

• Jump up to greet guest
• Gate charge
• Eating their own poo

And this list of bad behaviours can go on and on. While we may find these behaviours appalling, to a dog they are very natural. Hence dogs need to be taught how to behave the way we want them to in a human world and putting a dog through obedience training is a great place to start.

"Sit" - A Great First Cue to Teach

A great first cue to start teaching your dog is "Sit." Why? Because when your dog sits politely on cue, it simply cannot misbehave. For example if your dog is fond of jumping at guest, you can solve the problem easily by simply cuing "sit" when your guest is approaching. If your dog is trained, it will sit politely instead of jumping up.

How to Teach "Sit"

There are many ways to teach your dog to sit on cue. For us, we prefer the force free, positive rewards based method because it is gentler for the dog. Using the rewards based method, all you have to do is wait patiently for the dog to sit, say "sit" the moment its butt touches the ground and reward with treat and praises.

If you are using the clicker method, just click the moment it sits and reward. You can add the cue "Sit" later when your dog is offering sit after sit just to earn clicks.

Generalizing (Proofing) the Behaviour

It is important to know that a dog that happily sits when cued in your living room, free from distractions, may not do so in the face of greater distraction e.g. when a guest is approaching. Hence it is important to practice the sit cue at various places, with increasingly higher levels of distraction to ensure your dog will sit reliably under almost any circumstances. This process is called generalizing (or proofing) of a behaviour. In general, all behaviours (and not just the "Sit" cue) where reliability is needed has to be proofed. Common proofing parameters include distraction, duration and distance. So if your dog is not responding to your cue in the face of greater distractions, it simply means that you have not put in enough effort proofing the behavior in such situations.

A Note on Training Outdoors

When proofing a behaviour, you will eventually have to move to progressively more distracting environments and that will include moving outdoors.

When outdoors, it is important to:

• Make sure your dog is leashed at all times, for its safety as well as that of others (you don't want your dog running around uncontrollably, causing a public nuisance)
• Use higher value treats to interest your dog; kibbles may be enough in your living room but when you are competing with the great outdoors, it just may not be sufficient.