3 Things you must do for your dog

To train your dog perfectly you must do these three things for training:

  1. Exercise
  2. Pack Structure
  3. Consistent Obedience Techniques

 All three of these things implemented simultaneously with the bond you share with your dog will allow you to have the perfect dog for you.

Exercise

Exercise is very important to your training and you should do something that is fun for your dog and also includes some core skills that you can tie into your obedience training. Fetch and Tug of War are good options. Tug of War is controversial in whether it is good to play with your dog or whether it will make your dog aggressive. The reason it is controversial is both sides are right. 

There is a way to play tug of war that will teach your dog self-control and build your bond with your dog so they see you as a leader they want to follow. There is also a way to play Tug of War that will build your dog’s prey drive that will cause them to be more forward and confident which can lead to aggression. The RCMP Dog Training Centre uses Tug of War to teach their dogs criminal apprehension where they will run down the criminal and bite them and haul them to the ground. I use Tug of War in another way to rehabilitate dogs with aggression. There are many other fun ways to exercise your dog such as Tracking or Dog Scootering.

Pack Structure

Pack Structure is more important for some dogs and less for others. A small portion of dogs automatically view you as the leader. Most will test you a bit. Some will truly fight you for that leadership position.

Most importantly, you don’t need to be aggressive and assert dominance. Dogs have a set of rules that they all seem to understand from birth. It’s like a genetic coding. We use these natural rules as a checklist to ensure they will listen and respect us.

Whenever clients are experiencing aggression issues, it will be with one of these pack rules. When people think the aggression came out of nowhere, that is not the case. Their dog is just testing on one or more of these pack structure rules.

We’ll explain to you in detail what they are and what to watch for. It is also good to know what they are when other strange dogs are around. Many dogs will be fine in a neutral area but when pack structure items come out, there can be fights. Knowing these helps prevent expensive vet bills.

Consistent Obedience Techniques

Consistent obedience training is essential to having a well trained dog. This gives your dog rules and structure to follow which allows dogs to thrive. Dogs love to learn obedience and it makes them happier to be obedient. It settles their anxiety. We use methods from all styles of training to ensure you have  a dog that loves to do what they are told. It also does not require you to treat them for years to come. Those methods combined with consistent input gives you the fastest results. This allows you to start doing all the fun things you want to do with your dog.