A sure sign of a well-behaved dog is when you enter someone’s home and their pet does not jump on you in greeting. Not only is jumping on guests annoying, it can be dangerous. Large dogs can knock people down and are capable of seriously injuring small children or the elderly. Not to mention all the mud he gets on your clothes on rainy days!

Jumping on people is also a sure signal that your dog thinks he’s the leader of the pack. Watch dogs together and you’ll see them exhibiting the same behavior. Allowing your dog to jump on people undermines all your training.

These dogs have learned if they jump on people they get attention and often petted. Your job is to help them unlearn that with positive reinforcement. Here are some tips to help you do just that:

1. Ignore your dog when you arrive and leave the house. Ditch the long goodbye and the long-lost dog owner greeting. Don’t greet your pet for five minutes once you get home. This will help break the habit.

2. Do you want to dance? If a week or so of not greeting your dog doesn’t break the behavior, try this on your medium or large dog. When he jumps on you, firmly grip his paws while he’s still on his hind legs. Hold them without squeezing until he starts to squirm, then firmly command, “Off!” Some trainers recommend stepping on your pet’s back paws at the same time, but this could cause injury to your pet’s delicate feet. Holding his front paws, sometimes for several minutes, will do the trick and won’t be painful.

3. Use the leash. If guests are coming over, keep your dog on a leash. When he jumps on the visitors, pop the leash to engage his training collar, command, “Off!” and lead him to the other side of the room. Praise him after you lead him away.

Marilyn Burnham

Author: ‘Dog Owners Boot Camp’

The How To Guide, Dog Training Secrets Professional Dog Trainers Don’t Want You To Know!

For More Information On Dog Training

Marilyn Burnham was the owner operator of 4 successful dog grooming stores in British Columbia, Canada for more than a decade. To spend more time with her children Marilyn made the decision to sell her business in the mid 90′s. Get a copy of her book: ‘Dog Owners Boot Camp’ The How To Guide, Dog Training Secrets Professional Dog Trainers Don’t Want You To Know! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marilyn_Burnham

Among the many dog dominance behaviors, those surrounded by perhaps more myths than any others are dog mounting problems and dog humping women. No, contrary to popular opinion, these obnoxious dog instinctive behaviors have absolutely nothing to do with sex. How embarrassing, though, for those who do not know this!

“Don’t worry,” I said to a client who was bright red as he observed his male pup trying to mount mine. Visibly, the client wanted to dig a hole and hide. He was mortified! His dog aggressively continued in his attempts at dog mounting and dog humping on mine, especially going for the head. (My good-natured, large dog easily shook him off.)

“I didn’t know my dog was queer,” he said very sheepishly and apologetically. I could not contain my laughter as I reassured the man that it was not so. How common is that misconception? In the dog world, there is no such thing as a “gay dog!”

One dog mounting over another one’s head, or even unsheathing his penis, is fairly common. The mounting dog is seriously trying to seize control over all others. The unsheathing is to release his scent on the other dog, to proclaim to all the others that he won the battle over this one.

Think about this fact: If a male dog mounts a female for mating purposes, his equipment does not miss its target. He does not fail to put it in the right place. If his intentions toward another male dog were sexual, it would be done. Note that his aim, when riding up from behind the other dog, is OVER the tail and back, not under the tail. That is NOT sexual! Riding up on another dog’s back raises the first dog above him. It is a reminder that, “Hey, you’re not the boss here!”

When the dog mounts another one’s head, he is going to one of the most extreme displays of dominance in the dog world. The head is the highest part of the dog. Bringing the head down brings the dog down from his highest point. It is all about who is higher than whom.

When a dog unsheathes his penis and releases liquid, that forces the dog who is leaked on to wear the scent of the dominant one. It is a very potent scent and stays for some time, making the low rank obvious for many miles — and even to other packs within scent range.

Dogs constantly try to dominate each other. That is dog instinctive behavior, among the rituals they go through every time they meet each other. The dogs will first size each other up through eye contact. If one surrenders by lying down, then leadership is settled. If not, the wrestle for dominance truly begins.

As they wrestle for the dominant dog position, the dogs continue to mount each other until one rolls over submissively and turns his eyes away. Until the eyes have completely turned away, surrender has not happened, and the dog who is losing may try a sneak attack against the other. Look out!

We homo sapiens usually prefer the challenge of a game such as “rock-paper-scissors,” a mind game like chess or Scrabble, or a socially acceptable ball game. It is less embarrassing to the public eye.

You have sometimes seen dog fights break out as the dogs jockey for position, through wrestling or stare-down dares. Normally, however, one dog raises his head higher than the other, and the one with the lower head surrenders.

Clearly, this is an instinctive dog behavior, a ritual dogs often go through. I recommend to all who are interested to question experts and to study this dog dominance behavior for themselves. Dog humping women and dog mounting problems have nothing to do with sex, and they CAN be solved. Remember, there is no such thing as a “GAY DOG!”

Want to Stop Bad Dog Behaviors and Dog Instinctive Behaviors, such as Dog Dominance Behavior and Dog Food Aggression? Ask Dog Obedience Trainer – Dog Behaviorist, Rena Murray. Rena shares extensive Dog Behavior Modification experience, blending the best of the Dog Whisper Behavior and other dog training techniques in self-help Articles, free email Newsletter – PAW PERSUASION POINTERS , and more on her Dog Dominance Behavior web site and in her Paw Persuasion Blog. Contact Rena at PawPersuasion.com for the help you need! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rena_Murray

Obedience training for your dog must be an enjoyable process. Not something you feel that you must do but rather something that you want to do. If you enjoy the training sessions then you dog will enjoy the time with you and will learn quicker. What are the points to be kept in mind from the outset.

• Obedience training is a lifetime process, not something that you will deal with in the first few weeks that you have your new friend. Therefore, it is important that you are able to make the quality time available.
• If your intention is that your dog is only going to be a pet then keep the training simple. There should be nothing complicated in the training, certainly not in the early stages, it is merely a case of ensuring that your dog obeys your commands at the first time of asking.
• Ensure that you are in the right frame of mind. This is an essential factor. At times training your dog will be frustrating. But approached correctly it will normally be very rewarding. If you have had a bad day at the office or at home it is not the time to start a training session as you may take out your frustration of the day on your dog – that isn’t fair.
• Keep the training sessions short. Early on in your dog’s training there attention span will be short so make sure that is reflected in the length of each session. Gradually increase the time as the basics are achieved.
• Ensure that you do not confuse your dog by having one set of standards during the training session and another when they are at home. To emphasize the earlier point – training is a constant ongoing process. It is always possible to make a fuss of your dog without undoing the hard work you put into training. Just think before you act.

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Sit is one of the easiest commands you can teach your dog. And it is usually the first step or lesson in obedience training.

The simplest way to teach your new puppy or dog to sit requires that you have your dog’s food dish and integrate feeding time with training time.

This is only one method of teaching your dog to sit and there are many. However this simple way works quite well.

Prepare your dog’s food and put it in the serving bowl. Then call your puppy’s name and after your dog comes to you, you want to hold the dog food dish above your puppy’s head. This will cause your dog to raise its head and try to see into or get at the food in the dish. When he or she is leaning back toward the dish and about to fall over, you say “sit.” When your dog’s butt hits the floor, you want to give your dog lots of loving praise and then set down the food dish and allow your dog to eat.

If you do this scenario consistently with each feeding time, your dog will soon come to you and sit for you routinely for each meal.

Now this training method works best if you do not allow “free feeding” for your dog. Free feeding means that you leave the dish of dog food out at all times and your dog can eat its food whenever it feels “free” to which is basically anytime. When food is always available and not given at set times, you lose the ability to use food as a training tool and food can be one of your most powerful training advantages. You want to be able to use it to more easily train your dog. So avoid “free feeding” and don’t let other family members give your dog food either as that will dilute the training technique you are teaching.

When the weather is cold your dog will stay warm, dry, and comfortable with a heated dog house or a warming dog house heater. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ella_Sanchez

Would you like to guarantee that your dog learns the most common obedience commands? This is much easier than you might believe!

Think carefully about the times you interact with your dog(s) during the day and see which of the common obedience commands you can incorporate into these interactions.

Here’s a few examples:

Examples
1. You’re bringing your dog in from outdoors. Ask him to Sit and Stay, and once you’ve walked through the door into your home, ask him to Come. Same activity going out the door, unless the dog really has to go!

2. Before you put his full food disk on the floor, ask for a Sit or a Down.

3. Your new puppy is shadowing you all over the house. As he’s following you, stop, say Come, and lavish a lot of praise when the dog comes to you (and he will).

4. My pup Alvin gets an occasional ice cube to supplement his drinking water. I get him to lie down, put the ice cube a foot in front of him, and say Leave It. Once he looks at me, I say Okay and he gets the ice cube.

5. My other pup Simon is leased in the house sometimes because he’s not fully housetrained. So we practice the Come command a lot.

What Happens When You Follow Through With These Activities?
I’m sure you can think of other situations where you can use these common obedience commands. Once you’ve done these reinforcing activities for a few weeks, they become part of the routine. Your dog will do them automatically.

You will find that it’ll make life easier for you and you will have a well-trained dog in no time. As a new puppy owner myself, anything that makes life easier is a gift!

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