11. Be the leader.
Dogs naturally follow a leader in a pack. Thus, you have to establish being a leader, so that your pet
would follow your commands. Establishing your dominance does not mean that you have to hurt your pet.
One example of it is to show him that you are the one to eat first, before giving him his food.
12. Reward your dog’s good behavior.
Giving rewards to your dog should not be limited to whenever he follows your command. Whenever you
see that he has done something good on his own, you should reward him to encourage that behavior. By
doing this, your dog would be able to know that he has done something good, and would do it again and
again.
13. Use your pet’s name.
Use your pet’s name whenever you need to get his attention. If you have just gotten him home, then you
should use it as often as you can, to get him oriented to it. Thus, whenever you are giving him his food,
you should call him by his name, as well as whenever you want to play with him or take him for a walk.
14. Be serious in giving a command.
Whenever you want to give a command to your pet dog, you have to be serious about it. In other words,
you should not let him ignore it, since that could become habit that would cause problems in the future. If
you are not ready to enforce your command, then you should give it at another time.
15. Timing is the key.
Always remember that dogs have short term memory. In other words, if you are going to reward him for
something good that he has done 15 minutes ago, then he would not be able to connect it. The same
goes for punishing him for doing something wrong. Thus, you should make sure to reward or punish him
on a real time basis, so that he would understand it well.
16. Never reinforce undesirable behavior.
There are times when your puppy does something bad, but funny at the same time, which may make you
forget about punishing him for it. Although funny bad habits can make you laugh, you should still make
your dog aware that it is not good. If you let him do it without punishing him, then that would be the same
as reinforcing it. Never reinforce negative behavior, since that can be hard to get rid of in the future.
17. Do not punish desirable behavior.
Punishing desirable behavior can be confusing to your pet, which is why it should not be practiced. Keepin mind that you may be doing it, even without your intension. For example, if you want your puppy toeliminate outside the house, then you should be with him until he does it. Leaving him alone outside may
make him feel that he is being punished, especially if he wants to be with you.
18. Never punish your dog after calling him.
Calling your dog and punishing him is not a good practice, since he has just followed your command. This
can make him have second thoughts of approaching you whenever you call him. Thus, only punish your
dog, whenever he does something bad. Aside from that, punish him on the instance of showing his
undesirable behavior, so that he would know what it is all about.
19. Do not blame your dog for misbehaving if he is not well.
You should be able to know signs that can tell you whether your dog is sick or not. This is because, there
may be times when he does not behave as well as you want him to be, due to a certain ailment. With that,
you should not punish him, but instead, get a veterinarian to check on his condition.
20. Training your dog with a leash and a collar.
Some dogs may become uncomfortable whenever you put collar and leash on them. Thus, you should do
it while your pet is still a puppy, so that he can get used to it early on. Walk your dog around the house
with a leash first, before taking him outside, so that you can train him properly.
to be continue ............