Bond With Your Pet Through Obedience

We routinely recommend obedience training, especially in young dogs, but dogs of any age will benefit. Many owners wonder abut the value for their particular pet, especially if their pet only stays home with the family. The advantages are many.

• Your dog will learn to watch you for an appropriate response when there are other things going on around you. This is a real plus when other dogs are competing for your dog’s attention.
• Your dog will learn specific behaviors that are good, and which result in reward and praise. These simple ‘tricks’ such as sit and down give the dog a clear path to follow if he finds himself in a confusing situation where he doesn’t know what you expect of him.
• Obedience training, especially if started a young age, strengthens the owner-dog bond and reinforces desirable behavior. A dog that knows what is expected of him is a long way along the road to being a good pet. This is important because the number one reason why owners euthanize their pets is behavior problems.
• A trained dog is much more acceptable in many situations, even visiting. Well trained, responsive and gentle dogs are usually able to be certified for use visiting hospitals as pet therapy dogs. (If you have an interest in this, call us and find out when our next certification will be held.)
• Obedience training can save your dog’s life. In an emergency, it is important that your dog will listen to you. A situation like this happened with my own beloved dog, Sabra many years ago. I had her out in the yard off-leash and we were tossing a ball. A stray dog happened to approach and Sabra took off hot at his heels after him. They were nearing the road just as a car came barreling down. I screamed a stop and come command to my dog as the other dog dashed into the road; Sabra had reached the curb and was ready to run out into the path of the car herself. Even with all of the excitement of the chase and the distractions she heard me. Since we had established a very close bond and she was used to responding to me quickly, she stopped instantly and started to turn to come back to me; the car barely grazed her shoulder. Sabra ended up with only very minor injuries; unfortunately the other dog was killed instantly.

Basic obedience usually consists of learning to walk on a leash properly, learning to walk next to the owner at a command of heel, and learning sit and down. Beginning classes start to work on stay as well, usually for a short time on a leash at firs, and gradually increasing time and distance. The command come is also included, on leash for starters.

Obedience classes are fun and a great way to teach your dog while there are many distractions of other dogs and owners. A metal link training collar is used for quick corrections. While also known as a "choke collar" it is not meant to choke but to merely get the dogs attention with a quick pull and release. I caution that these collars should only be put on the dog for training, because in other situations it is possible for a dog to choke or hang itself. Use a regular buckle collar with identification tags at all other times.

With a period of classes and consistently spending at least 10 minutes a day practicing, you and your dog will be off to a great start and a much more enjoyable relationship.

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