Teaching a pet dog five skills and learning to use these skills in everyday situations can be all a pet parent needs to have a well behaved New York dog.
Each dog trainer has his or her favorite "foundation" skill set. Mine are:
- Reliable housetraining
- Down
- Come when called, even in the dog run
- Leave it (dog turns head away from food, baby, animal, dirty sock, etc.)
- Loose leash walking.
These behaviors can be used creatively to keep dogs out of trouble with their families.
A few everyday uses for "Down" include
- Creating calm when you are having a snack on the sofa;
- Giving your dog something to do when riding in the elevator; and
- Making a large dog appear smaller when greeting a young child.
When you learn and use dog training techniques which emphasize giving positive reinforcement for desired behaviors, training sessions can (and should) be lots of fun for you and your canine friend. If you and your dog are not having a good time, tell your dog trainer so he or she can take a different approach.
To find a certified professional dog trainer (CPDT-KA and CPDT-KSA) near you, visit www.ccpdt.org.
To see ways to celebrate January as National Train Your Dog Month, visit www.trainyourdogmonth.com.
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