Articles

Dog Training - Training for Proper Behavior

Author: Cathy Perkins

There are many reasons for teaching proper dog behavior, and teaching such behavior has many benefits for

both the human and canine partners. Dog behavior training is vital to such life and death issues as preventing

aggression, controlling dog on dog aggression problems and teaching dogs to interact properly with both

their handlers and with other members of the family.

Understanding how dogs evolved, and how dogs interact with each other, is very important to understanding

how to properly train your dog to be a devoted, loyal companion.

The original dogs were probably orphaned wolf pups adopted by early humans.

These wild dogs probably learned to perform behaviors that their human protectors valued, such as guarding the

cave or scaring off predators. In exchange for these valued behaviors, the humans probably provided their new

companions with foods, protection and shelter.

That kind of relationship still exists today, of course, and dogs still can, and do, perform valuable jobs for their

human benefactors. Those jobs include herding and guarding livestock, guarding property, guarding people, and

finding game.

When planning a dog training program, it is important to know that dogs are pack animals. In wild dog societies,

packs are formed, and each member of the pack quickly learns his or her place in the pecking order.

Except in the event of death or injury to the alpha dog, the hierarchy never changes once it has been established.

The lower dogs know not to challenge the alpha dog, and the alpha dog understand his place as leader of the pack.

All the other dogs in the pack look to the alpha dog for leadership, in important survival issues like finding food

and avoiding larger predators. In order to properly train your dog and gain its respect, it is important for you to

become the alpha dog.

That is because a dog that sees its owner as a superior leader will follow the commands the owner gives

without question. Getting the respect of the dog is the most important step to proper dog training, and it will

form the basis of all subsequent training.

The reasons for training a dog properly are many, especially in today’s world. A well mannered, obedient dog

is a joy to be around, both for the owner and his or her family, and for people in the community at large.

In addition, seeing a well mannered dog sets people’s mind at ease, especially with breeds of dog thought to be

dangerous, such as Dobermans, rottweilers and pit bulls.

When training dogs and dealing with unwanted dog behaviors, it is important to understand the motivating factors

behind those behaviors. For example, many dogs exhibit unwanted behaviors such as chewing and destroying

furniture due to separation anxiety. Dealing with the sources of problem behaviors is an important first step toward

eliminating those problem behaviors.

Many dogs exhibit unwanted behaviors as a result of stress in the animal’s life, and its inability to cope with that

stress. The goal of a good dog training program is to allow the dog to tolerate greater levels of stress

without becoming a problem animal.

When dealing with dog behavior, it is important not to confuse human behavior with dog behavior.

While there is a great temptation on the part of dog owners to see their dogs as almost human, in reality dogs and

humans have very different motivations, and very different reactions to similar situations.

One trait that humans and dogs do share, however, is the need to form close social groups and strong bonds

within those social groups. This bonding is important to both humans and dogs, but it has served vastly different

ends as both species have evolved and changed over time.

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