If you train your dog properly, he'll understand where he fits into your household. Here, we give you some tips on how to do this effectively.

Good training plays a big role in ensuring a happy and successful relationship between you and your dog. Through training, your dog will learn to understand what his human companions expect of him and be better equipped to fit into his environment. On the other hand, the better you understand your dog's behaviour, the more rewarding your relationship will be.

What makes the dog such a favored companion is that dogs, like humans, are social animals. It is natural for a dog to live and interact within a group. Problems can, however, arise when we place human values upon dogs. It's important to remember that dogs are dogs and not people.

Although now domesticated, dogs of today still require a group or pack structure like their ancestors and wild relatives. Some dogs will naturally choose to follow, others will try to lead. However, in the canine-human pack it is imperative that the dog understands that he is lower ranking than any human, including children. And this understanding can be achieved through effective training.

One way in which dogs will communicate the hierarchy within a canine pack is by adhering to very basic rules. One example is that the "top dog" will eat first and rest in the best places, if he chooses to. These rules can be replicated in the human-canine relationship. One simple way of establishing and maintaining you and your family's "top dog" status is by controlling the games you and your dog play. This means, for example, that you should always take possession of the toy at the end of play.

Dogs do not communicate like people. The dog-to-dog language is very different from the person- to-person language, and it is up to us to try and learn how dogs communicate. While people communicate mostly verbally, dogs communicate by way of signs and signal, by body language. To be effective trainers, we need to read and understand our dog's body language.

Here's a quick guide that will take you through the most important steps in training your dog.

Socialization
House Training
Positive Reinforcement
Other Activities

Socialization

Socialization is the term describing the process by which a dog learns to relate to people, other dogs and his environment. Your dog will carry on learning throughout his whole life, however, puppy hood is the time when experiences - good or bad - have an optimum impact. These experiences are critical for your puppy's future and will have a long lasting effect on his behaviour throughout his life.

When acquiring a puppy, ensure that you have time to invest in an intensive socialization program during his early weeks with you. Socializing your puppy is very important and a worthwhile investment into your and your puppy's future. Through socialization, you are laying the foundation for the dog's behaviour later on in life, and prevention is much better than cure. It's also great fun and you will be getting to know your puppy very well during this time.

It is essential that you start the socialization program as soon as you acquire your puppy. Following your puppy's vaccination program is often seen as a hindrance to socialization, but with some imagination this can be done without compromising his vaccinations. Much of the early socialization can be done in your home. Additionally, the risk of your puppy contracting an infectious disease can be minimized by carrying him when he is outside your home.

Identify situations and environments that your puppy will need to be comfortable. These include riding in the car, meeting the mailman, having contact with the children next door (and children in general), walking along the street, tolerating large trucks and cars, horses, vacuum cleaners, washing machines - to name just a few. You are basically aiming at preparing your puppy for all eventualities, so that whenever he encounters anyone or anything new, he will greet it with inquisitiveness rather than fear or aggression.

Expose your puppy to all sights and sounds gradually and allow him to explore and learn for himself; for example, switch on the vacuum cleaner in another room to avoid startling him by a sudden loud noise and let him go to find it. Ensure that when he finds it, it is rewarding rather than threatening. You can simply do this by placing a piece of food next to the vacuum cleaner. If your puppy is quite shy and frightened, you can start off by having a snack next to the switched off vacuum cleaner, and then work your way towards your puppy tolerating it when it is switched on.

It is essential that your dog be fully comfortable with people and children, so introduce him to all sorts of different people. Let him meet people of all descriptions - bearded, thin, overweight, tall, wearing hats or glasses, carrying bags, pushing bicycles, etc. When taking your puppy for a walk, take some tasty snacks with you and ask people to give one to your puppy, and your puppy will soon learn that all people are friendly. You can incorporate some basic training into this by teaching him to sit before people give him a snack - this will prevent him jumping up at strangers.

It is important that children be taught the rules of handling puppies, but an adult should always supervise children and dogs. Children may be seen as a different species to adults by dogs, as they move differently, speak differently and react differently to adults. Start slowly by spending time in and around children's parks where your puppy will learn the sights and sounds of children playing. Start by having just a few children around your puppy, then build up to a larger number.

It is, of course, unrealistic and even impossible to expose your young dog to everything that he is likely to meet in his future years. However, if you can teach him that new experiences are pleasant, he will grow up learning that unknown things and situations are something to explore, rather than to be fearful of. But do not be surprised if your previously confident puppy starts to show apprehension towards objects that he was previously fine with during his juvenile period (at approximately 14 months of age, dependant on the breed), since this can be normal in some dogs at this age. If this occurs, it is important that you carry on with your socialization program by re-exposing the young dog to new experiences on a regular basis.

It is also essential that your puppy learn to interact with other dogs correctly. Puppies, like all young animals, love to play, and games play a vital part of a dog's development. Dogs develop their canine communication skills through playing with other dogs as puppies. Bite inhibition is one behaviour taught through play. When puppies play physical games, they soon learn that a litter mate or adult dog will not tolerate sharp teeth pulling on ears or necks. If a puppy "bites" another dog too hard, he will get a quick reprimand and the other dog stops the game for a brief moment. A puppy soon learns to inhibit the strength of his "bites" and will cease to bite too hard when playing with other dogs. You and your family should continue the teaching of bite inhibition. Whenever your puppy uses his teeth on your skin, you should respond with a sharp yelp of pain (even if it does not hurt!), as this will teach your puppy to learn that touching human skin with his teeth is not allowed, no matter how gentle he is. Additionally, the game you and your puppy were playing should cease momentarily, and your puppy will quickly learn that in order to continue having fun he must not "bite" you.

One way of getting good socialization with other dogs and puppies is by attending so called 'puppy parties' at your local veterinary clinic or your local dog training group, where your puppy can meet other dogs (and other people) in a friendly and structured environment.

House training your puppy

House training rarely presents a problem with puppies who have been reared under normal conditions, as a puppy reared with its mother until 6 or 7 weeks of age will have learned to move away from his sleeping area to go to the toilet. Puppies instinctively want to be clean and very few puppies will foul their sleeping area if given the choice.

A young puppy needs to urinate and defecate frequently as he has a very small bladder and bowel. This gives you as a puppy owner plenty of opportunity to praise your puppy for performing in the right area, allowing him to learn quickly. Do not punish your puppy for doing wrong. It is your responsibility to ensure that you take your puppy to the chosen toilet area as frequently as he needs to go, generally as soon as he wakes up, after every meal and at hourly intervals. Take your puppy outside, wait with him until he performs and then praise him by giving him a snack or playing with him. While he is learning, it is essential that you wait with him, so that you can praise him at the correct time.

Young puppies will inevitably have 'accidents'. It is important to ignore these, and to clean up well so that the smell does not linger, as this may encourage him to repeat the performance on the same spot. Do not scold your dog for mistakes, but rather reward him when he is correct and he will soon want to go outside.

It is also possible to train your dog to urinate and defecate on command. As he performs, add the words that you choose such as "be quick" or "busy". Your dog will then build up an association of the word with the action. It is important that you only say the words as he is actually performing. Toileting on command is very useful, as dog owners have a duty to prevent their dogs from fouling indiscriminately. Teaching your dog to toilet in your yard before you leave your home can help to prevent accidents in parks or on sidewalks. Additionally, always ensure that you carry a scoop so that if your dog does defecate in a public place, you can clear up.

Positive Reinforcement

Training plays a crucial role to ensure a happy and successful relationship between you and your dog. The foundations for a happy, well-adjusted dog are laid down during the early stages of puppy hood with a well structured training program, which should be fun for both you and your dog. There are many methods of training, but the most satisfying for both you and your dog are methods based on positive reinforcement. This means that the dog is rewarded for correct actions.

To train a dog most effectively we need to understand how dogs learn. Learning in the 'doggy world' consists of trying out new behaviours and seeing what happens as a consequence of this behaviour. If the behaviour (action) is followed by a good consequence, this behaviour will be repeated. One example could be begging at the table which is rewarded by getting food. If the behaviour (e.g. the begging) is, however, followed by a negative consequence (in this case, no food given), the behaviour will eventually be stopped. Effective training should work on the same principle and should be a combination of information (what you want the dog to do), motivation (a reason for your dog to do it), and timing (when to reward a good action).

'Clicker Training' encompasses the principle of positive reinforcement. A 'clicker' is a small plastic box containing a strip of metal, which produces a 'click' when pressed. The vital first step to 'Clicker Training' is finding the dog's motivation, which for most individuals tends to be a tasty snack or play. The next step is to associate a positive meaning to the 'click', telling the dog 'Yes, this is right, you have done the right thing and a reward will follow'. The first stage is therefore to associate the sound of the 'click' with something positive. This information needs to be delivered within very short timing (within seconds).

A simple exercise to try with your puppy with the 'Clicker Training' method is teaching him to sit:


There are many methods of training, and 'Clicker Training' is just one of these. The principle of positive reinforcement should, however, be adhered to all methods. In summary, we should aim to reward everything, which is positive, desirable behaviour and ignore any negative, undesirable behaviour. In practice it is not always easy to ignore all negative behaviour. Jumping up at visitors, for instance, is an undesirable behaviour, which is difficult to ignore. It would be useful to distract the dog from an undesirable behaviour by asking him for a desirable one, for example to sit. If the dog is then rewarded for sitting, he will find that sitting is more satisfying than jumping up.

Other Activities

Now that you have decided to use kind, effective training based on positive reinforcement, you can apply this principle to a number of other activities with your dog, such as:

Agility
Flyball
Obedience training

Agility Training

In order to take part in agility training, both you and your dog must be physically fit. Agility can be great fun and is both mentally and physically rewarding for your dog. Agility courses consist of a number of obstacles that you and your dog must negotiate as a team. Examples of these obstacles can be:

Flyball Training

Again, to take part in Flyball, both you and your dog need to be physically fit. Flyball is a team relay race with four dogs and their owners taking part. The objective of the race is for each dog to jump over four low hurdles and then trigger a box that contains a tennis ball, catch the ball and return over the hurdles to the start / finish line. As soon as the first dog returns, the next is released and so on. The race is won by the first team to get four dogs and four balls back. This type of training can be great fun for you and your dog.

Obedience Training

Competitive obedience is akin to 'fine tuning' your basic dog training. You and your dog will have to demonstrate in a ring that all of the basic elements of good dog training can be performed to a high standard. This can be very rewarding for both dog and owner and will assist in increasing the bond between the two of you. Some of the disciplines are: