Hunting Dog Training

There are forms of hunting which are now illegal in the UK but some forms of hunting are not. Bird hunting seems to be a popular hunting sport for dogs and handlers. Hunting dog training is a lengthy, time consuming process which at the end is very worth it! You have to be completely dedicated and willing to put in a great deal of time to get the desired effects.

There are three essential commands when teaching your dog to hunt. The commands are "whoa", "come" and "heel". Handlers believe that "whoa" is the most important of all three and is crucial when hunting birds, your dog needs to understand that when you say "whoa" you need to your dog to stop completely in its tracks, no matter where it is or what it is doing, this command is not only helpful in hunting but can also save your dog’s life in other situations such as traffic!

Hunting dog training is quite a specific training field and needs to be done by professional hunters. They have the best knowledge and information on how to optimise your dog's hunting potential. Many people think hunters use their dogs but they adore their dogs very much and treasure them as they would children, in fact most of them are like little spoiled kids!

Hunters believe that if you can "whoa" your dog you have the hardest part over and done with. You can make him stand still while you rush to him and congratulate him on a hard days work, that’s what it’s all about; making sure your dog knows he’s done good! Always take a lot of time praising him in a soft soothing voice, dogs are born to make their masters happy and when he knows what makes (he will know because you praise him when he does what makes you happy) you happy he will constantly get better and better at the task you are asking him to do.

Apparently even the best champion only ever has his dog command "whoa", "come" and "heel". His dog does it to perfection though. A lot of breeds of dog today are being interbred to produce a perfect hunting dog. All dogs have a great potential to become the greatest hunting dog in the world, you just need to give him some hunting dog training. Experts say that half an hour a day when the dog is under one year old, and when the dog is over the year mark one hour a day three days a week is all it takes to train your dog in the ways of a hunter!

Home Dog Training

There are special services available which do home dog training. For a fee you can hire someone to come to your home to teach your dog every day. You choose how long you want the programme to last then they will end out a specialised handler who will determine what is the most effective training method for your dog then carry it out and of course you have to join in to.

Home dog training is relatively new on the dog marketing scene and is quite a hit especially in America. It's not because people are lazy so they are hiring professionals. It's because they need someone with a lot of experience to help them train their dog, maybe their dog is giving them a hard time.

One of the largest home dog training services are Bark Busters, they are a globally known home dog training service and have achieved results all over the world. There are hundreds of testimonials and reviews available so read one for yourself. They have sites in all parts of the globe. They offer a lifetime guarantee as well; you should visit their website to read more about them and the services they offer, also to see if you live close to a visiting dog trainer.

There is another large home dog training service located in the UK only, they are called "Dog Training UK". One feature with them is that they don’t actually train your dog at your home. They take them away to a place kind of like kennels for three weeks and train them there, so when your dog is returned to you he can do all the things that you have been trying to teach him for months! They can only accept dogs which are up to date with their vaccinations and cannot train very aggressive dogs.

Many people are turning to home dog training as it is convenient and helpful especially if you haven’t had experiences training a dog before. A lot of people get tense and irritated when their dog doesn’t do what they say but that doesn’t help. Training a dog can be a very stressful time and home dog training just makes it that much easier. I say if it's there for the taking, why not?!

Dog Training equipment

To train your dog you need some good equipment to do it! It's easy enough to find places that sell dog training equipment these days. You can find stores in your local phonebook or on the internet. The internet has everything these days and is usually a lot less expensive. So I suggest having a look there first. Dog training equipment comes in all shapes, sizes and colours so there is something to suit everyone.

Dog training equipment can be used anywhere, at home, at a friend’s house or even in a field in the middle of nowhere. The equipment is usually lightweight and portable and very easy to pack so you should have no problems carting it around. Not only can you get dog training equipment for dog agility but you can also purchase items for dog obedience.

Dog obedience items are simple things like clickers, treat balls (which are amazing), extendable leashes and other similar items. They are a lot easier to get than agility items. When you decided you want to compete with your dog you usually pick one or the other, dog agility or dog obedience. For dog obedience you only concentrate on dog obedience, for dog agility you need your dog to be obedient so there is a little bit more training involved.

Dog training equipment can be funky or old fashioned, bright or dull it’s up to you. Many stores cater for individual needs so you can specify what you would like your equipment to be like. Dog training equipment is sometimes needed for obedience when you have a stubborn dog, and for dog agility training equipment is essential.

Dog training equipment needn’t only be for competition purposes. You can get equipment for fun training to. When you want to teach your dog to come, sit and stay and some other commands toys are always a great help. You and your dog need to enjoy special moments together to make a bond with each other, why not make a bond and train at the same time? The better the bond the more fun it will be!

Dog Training Video

When training your dog it can be a stressful time, but if you let it, it can be an enjoyable fun time. Many people are turning to aids to help them with their dog training, whether that be a friend, family member, training class book or dog training video.

Dog training videos are possible the next best thing to a personal professional dog training. They offer lots of handy hints, advice and techniques but you can see them put into action so you can tell where you are going wrong. There are thousand dog training videos out there to choose from. Your local supermarket may even sell some, if not your pet store and also the internet is a great choice for purchasing dog training videos. On the internet you can read reviews and personal opinions and success stories about the video that you are going to choose, not to mention there are sites that give you free clips to watch . So sometimes you don’t even have to pay to train.

I have tried several different dog training videos and they are all presented differently. Some videos focus on the training from the dog’s point of view, with the dog doing the talking and no handler is actually present; these videos are ok but sometimes you need to see the body language of the handler so you know what you are supposed to do.

Other videos come with a handler and a dog in a plain white room where they basically start at point one and walk you through the steps of how to make your dog obey certain commands; these videos although very informative are boring and you lose interest pretty quickly, not only that the dog in the training video has been taught obedience so is therefore not going to show you what accidents could happen or what will happen if your dog decides he isn’t interested.

The best type of video you can purchase is one where there are a room full of beginner handlers and young untaught dogs. This video will let you see what to expect completely when trying to teach your dog, so you can be aware of what is going to happen and how to correct things if something goes wrong.

Dog training videos are a great aid in training your dog and they are very inexpensive so why not try some out? Anything that will make your dog listen to you is worth a shot isn’t it?

Dog Training Course

In agility your dog has to be trained to run courses. You can train him on obstacles separately or you can train him on a dog training course, either option is ok but a course is much better in the long run. Most dog agility handlers have had experience running and training their own dog but when new handlers arrive at a club they have had no experience in agility and need all the help that they can get! So advising them about dog training courses is the best way to start.

Some handlers may have had previous experience in competitions like dog obedience, show dog work or flyball but not in agility. When starting out learning courses is the first thing any handler must do, they must know what a course involves and how to run one, if they do not know then how is their dog supposed to? A dog training course is a simple method to teach your dog agility and is great practice for when it comes to competitions. Any dog can run a course, mini’s, midi’s or full seized dogs are welcome in shows but of course the obstacles are lowered for the smaller dogs!

A dog training course is usually used on training nights by all the members of the club and there is usually one handler there who helps the rest, by letting the handlers know what they are doing “wrong” with their dog, the handler must project good body language and good commands for the dog to follow orders if the handler doesn’t then the dog will just run around and not do anything correctly!

Separate obstacles are usually set up for handlers and dogs who need to concentrate on just one aspect of the course, for example their jumping, weaves or contact points. Again there is usually a guide there to help the beginners to show their dog what it needs to do. A lot of dog training courses are ran with inexperienced dogs on the leash so that they don’t interfere with other dogs running on different training courses.

Any dog can learn agility with the right method of training, dog training isn’t only available in agility or obedience either. I mentioned something earlier called flyball. Flyball is the new competition sweeping the UK by storm. Crufts (the biggest UK dog show) now even have a course for it. It is where the dog runs over five small low to the ground hurdles and then reaches a box where it places it two front paws on a pad, when the pad is pressed a tennis ball is released from behind the machine and the dogs aim is to catch it and run as fast as they can back! This is great to watch and even better to train for.

If trained correctly on a training course dogs can be taught amazing things and reach new heights that you didn’t think possible, try and train as often as you can and your dog will soon be a master in its game and you’ll carry home many trophies and rewards for your efforts!

Dog Behaviour Training

Bad behaviour in dogs can consist of many problems. Does he bark all night long and keeps you from sleeping? Are you afraid he is going to keep biting? Does he chew everything except his toys? If the answer to any of these questions are yes you need to invest some time into a little bit of dog behaviour training. A little training will go a long way.

Dogs that bark can be extremely irritating but the main thing is not to loose your cool, if you shout at him he will try to shout louder than you. Try and find out the cause of his barking. Is he barking because he is afraid? Is he happy? Is there someone out there? If you can’t find the reason for the barking then he is doing it because he doesn’t know it is wrong to bark all the time. This is where dog behaviour training comes in. There are lots of products available to help dogs with constant barking, there are special collars which gives them the tiniest of electric shocks so they know that it isn’t good to bark.

A biting dog is maybe one of the more serious behaviour problems, especially now that the laws are tightened and any dog that bites someone is more than likely to get put down. Teaching your dog not to bite is one of the most important teachings you can give him. This is where you have to be firm and stick to your guns. When playing with a young dog they will automatically nip and gnaw at your hand this is because when dogs play together they play with their mouths. When teaching your dog not to bite stroke him with one hand while offering something which is acceptable to be bitten with the other hand, something like a chew toy or a raw hide treat. Your dog will soon realise that hands aren’t there for biting. This process has to be done repeatedly for it to take effect.

Dog behaviour training is simple enough for the experienced dog lover but when it comes to beginners all the help available is needed. Accept help from friends and family and maybe even enroll in a dog behaviour training class, this will help you to meet other people, having the same problems with their dogs that you are with yours. You are not alone when it comes to having trouble with dog behaviour problems. Every dog will get them, it's just a matter of how you fix them.

Training Older Dog

They say that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, are they right? They are partly right. An older dog will take a heck of a lot more training and dedication from its handler than a younger dog will, basically because an older dogs mind is a lot more “set” in its ways. An older dog will have passed that crucial period in its life that influences what the dog will behave like when it is older, therefore it already thinks it knows how to behave and trying to teach him other ways to behave can take a lot of time and effort.

It is not impossible but you can’t train an old dog like you train a puppy. You have to be a little bit stricter on an older dog because they have a lot more intelligence than a puppy and know how to drive you round the bend. An older dog will more likely do something if he thinks its his idea rather than yours, for example if he goes to sit , say sit and then praise him, he will think it was his idea and if you keep on repeating this process sooner or later you will have him sitting on command. This process will work for many of the commands, like fetch, come, stay and heel.

In saying that you may find that your older dog is particularly easy to train, some dogs have a streak of stubbornness which means they do not train as easily as others but some are a lot more susceptible to training methods. Training an older dog will of course be difficult but bad habits need to be broken and long term habits need to be stopped. Your dog will thank you for it in the end and the end result will be well worth the trouble.

Training an older dog can be a gruelling task but try making it fun by joining a class (they are not just for people with puppies) or try to get some support from family or friends, invest in some training products like toys and treats, or even go as far as a training school, but one thing is for sure once you’ve taught your dog what he needs to know the bond between you will grow and you will become inseparable.