Training | Pet Training | Pets
My Experiences Attempting to Train my Dogs
Sharing What I Have Learned
I have two dogs that are rescues. They mean so much to me and I love them with all my heart, but they don’t always behave the way I would like them to.
- My dogs love people very much, so they get excited and jump on guests when they come into my home.
- My dogs bark excessively when they hear anyone or anything near my house.
- My dogs pull on their leash while taking walks to the point they actually choke themselves.
- One of my dogs acts out when we leave him home alone, so he “marks his territory” (AKA urinates) on curtains or any vertical surface around the house.
- My older grumpy dog gets territorial and growls with toys, treats and his pillow.
People love to claim that they can’t control their dog or are in denial about their dogs having an issue in the first place. This is where we go wrong. I knew there were problems, so I watched training videos, took my dog to training courses, read training articles and Caesar Milan’s books and watched Caesar Milan’s shows. I realized that my training thus far was not successful, not because of my dogs, but because of me. So, I needed to make some changes.
- When my dogs are jump on people I realized that my family members and I get excitable too. We even make this mistake when we come home and we LOVE seeing the dogs getting so happy to see us and they jump and we use our high pitch voices to show how much we love them. This encourages them. When guests come over and the dogs jump, we start yelling and pulling them away. This crazy and excessive energy contradicts the point we are trying to make for the dogs. So, I realized that I needed to control my energy and keep their energy at bay. If I know people are coming over I try to have their leashes on and have control of the situation and dogs. I hold them back, while keeping my composure, and wait until they calm down. Then I let them go so that they can slowly walk over to the visitors and sniff them.
- With the dogs barking, we are guilty of making a similar mistake. The dogs bark, because they are trying to alert us to potential danger or because they want go outside and be a part of whatever action is happening. They are once again excited and we yell “STOP!” “BE QUIET!” “WRONG!” “NO ONE IS THERE!”. To the dogs, now this is a yelling competition of who can be the loudest. This is not what we are trying accomplish at all. Since my dogs are trying to protect our home they are allowed a few barks until their cue sound of “tch!” is made and then they should stop, which is basically quiet training. Sometimes I hold my dogs snout closed gently. Honestly, this is a still a work in progress.
- When it comes to my dogs choking themselves on walks, I realized that I need to show the dogs that I am the one in control. They aren’t taking me on a walk, I’m taking them on a walk. If they are pulling too much we stop and I tell them to sit to calm down. Also, the more I take them on walks the better and more comfortable they get on a leash.
- In terms of the urination, my dog usually urinates in the house because he upset, which is definitely a huge behavioral problem. Dogs do better with positive reinforcement, rather than punishment. So, we would give the dogs a little piece of treat or extra attention and pets every time they come back in the house from going potty. Although, we do, occasionally, put him in a crate when we leave. Not as a punishment, but as a precaution and training technique. (Read my article “Tips For Crate Training Your Dog” for more information)
- We do NOT ever tolerate growling and being territorial in my house. If my dog ever displays this type of behavior of an area or toy, we remove him from that area or take the toy away from him. He has now become less possessive and more playful with his toys, but he’s still not 100% over it.
This has been an ongoing learning process. I have learned about my dogs and myself. Keep in mind that dogs are only as good as their owners. They need proper training and guidance. I hope you can learn something from my journey of trial and error. Try different methods and see what works for you and your dog! Please let me know if you have any tips of your own!
I wish you much success with your pet training!
