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Dog Behavior

If your dog exhibits a behavior you like give it a name and praise her for doing it. For example my shepherd mix started spinning around when I was getting her food ready. I started saying around and around and now she does it on command. Another thing she started doing is making the door stop go boing. I told her to hit it and now if she is near a doorstop that is exactly what she does. My pomeranian/chihuahua mix likes to roll on her back when she is playing with a toy. I started saying cute and now she will roll over on command when she is playing with a toy.

 

Training this way is very easy since you don't have to teach your dog the behavior. It only takes a couple of times saying the words associated with the behavior and she's got it. The behaviors are also self-reinforcing because most of the time it's what they like to do. My shepherd likes to feel the doorstop vibrate on her mouth. My pom mix looks pretty comfortable on her back. So watch for neat behaviors that can become tricks or a desirable action and give them a name. The interaction you have with your pet will make you will love her and enjoy her even more than you already do.

Teach Your Puppy Words

Puppies are very smart and learn things quickly and easily. With human babies we label everything to help the child understand their world and to communicate with them. We can do the same with puppies.

 

Whenever you are interacting with your puppy talk to her the whole time. Label things and actions. Puppies need to know what things are so they are not afraid of them later on. If you give something a label you can tell her what it is and she will know what you are talking about. When feeding your puppy tell her it is time to eat. Afterwards ask if she needs a drink. Give all of her toys a label. When she is playing with something say the name of the toy. Later on you can ask her to go get a certain toy. Outside tell her what everything is that she sees and is interested in. Label both pee and poop instead of just potty so if she does one you can ask her to do another. Teach her everyone's names so that you can tell her who is coming to visit. If you have other pets she should know who they are too.

 

Being able to communicate with your dog allows you to enjoy your pet more and strengthens the bond between you and your best friend.

Dry Your Puppy By Towel Wrestling


Towel and PuppyIf your puppy won't sit still to be dried off after a bath turn it into a game. Grab a big thick towel and dry your puppy. She will grab at the towel and wrestle not knowing that you are accomplishing something. If she starts biting too hard or gets too rowdy move to another place to dry. All of this happens quickly and she will be dried off before you know it.