Westie Training

There’s a difference between disobedience and incomprehension. If your dog does not obey an order from you because he doesn´t understand what you want to do, it´s not a behavior problem at all, it simply means that the two of you need to spend some time together learning from each other.

Disobedience occurs when your dog does not obey an order, despite having very clear what you are asking to do (and you know it was done in several earlier occasions). Although this may seem a small issue in reality it´s very serious – not only it can be dangerous for your Westy (ex: if in any busy road and ignores an order), but is also detrimental to the relationship with your dog. Disobedience begins with disrespect. When your dog deliberately does not obey, the dog is saying, “I do not respect your authority enough to do what you want me to do.” If you let them get away with it, you’re going to allow the habit of passive aggression. This will not be something you can leave and reject “- the problem is worse, and if you let it go out of your hands it may never improve.

It is very important that your dog must know where are you in the hierarchy within the family. The concept of alpha status is one that you have to be familiar with in order to maintain a healthy and functional relationship with your dog. It may sound cruel from our perspective, but your dog will be happier when he knows that someone is responsible for making all decisions . It will not be possible to have a good relationship with your dog unless you understand who is the leader of the family, he should know that he is below you in the chain of command.

The first step in the treatment of generalized disobedience is to reestablish your dominance. Here are some tips for doing so: – When leaving the house and car, get out before your dog. This is clearly alpha behavior: a dog, only the first alpha leaves. If he is allowed to leave the house before you, He´s saying: “You are stronger than me, so come out first and you take the decisions.” interior doors are not as important, but each time you exit house or car, he must wait for you to go first, until you release the word ‘go’ . – Make him wait for his meal. Your family and you must eat before him – whether this means he has to wait half an hour or so for you to eat his food, it won´t bother him at all. When you put the food down for him, tell him to sit and wait until you say he can eat. Keep your feeding schedule fixed so he will always be aware who is in charge of his food – do not let him have false expectations to which when must he be fed.

Do not allow him to be free, with access to the entire house. The house is your den: He can be inside. Remind him that he can stay or go to his lair – it´s a  privilege to be there, not a right – so you allow him to  go outside for half an hour from time to time. Keep designated areas of the house strictly for their own well (as his bed, some furniture, or some rooms).

Never let the dog play whenever he wants. If he is pushing to create attention or to start a game, you may think it’s cute and loving, but what’ you are really saying is “I’m the boss and I´m going to tell him to play with me right now.” If you start worrying about the attention, ignore him for a few moments: get up and do something else” . Wait until he gives up before you start the game yourself. Playtime is a fantastic way to bond with your dog, but should be done in your terms, not his. – When you get home, do not go directly to hug or play with him. That is not alpha behavior at all – an alpha dog, upon arriving home, doesn´t go to the other dogs and says, “Here I am! I’ve missed you guys! Let’s have a hug! “- That overrides all others, he relaxes a little, maybe goes to eat something, and only interacts with them when it’s good and ready. Although you’re probably okay and eager to play or hold your dog as soon as you get home, it will make more sense for him – and underline your authority – it is best to ignore him from three to five minutes.

Another great way of counteracting disobedience is to start – and maintain – a basic plan for obedience training. You do not have to do anything strange or too demanding, just ten minutes a day of learning will be sufficient. This can go down to five minutes per day once your dog becomes accustomed to your rank. Here are some tips for a good Westie training program: – Never give an order unless it can be reinforced immediately if he chooses to disobey. Every time your dog has the opportunity to ignore your orders, he  is learning that is more easier and more fun to ignore you. For example, if you are in the park and you call him while playing with other dogs, the choices are clear: he could stop playing and go to you, or he could ignore you- that would be easy, because he is so far – and continue his game. Until your dog is completely reliable with your commands,  he should be on a leash or retractable lead so you can pull if necessary. – Remember to use your voice as the best option. You have to congratulate him with a good voice tone while having a nice smile on your face too. Corrections should be uttered in a firm tone, “Nothing strange: no need to scream, but your voice should be low and with authority“. – When you’re verbally interrupting your dog it´s more effective to shout, “Oi!” O “Ah-ah-ah!” Instead of saying “No”. The sounds are clearer, and there will be a better response. Remember to do the training on a leash or long line: five to fifteen minutes a day is an adequate amount of time for training. Do more than this in one session, and he would lose all concentration.

For more information and a full guide to dog obedience and other behavior problems Click Here…

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Tags: behavior, Disobedience, dog, training, westie, westy

This entry was posted by sklin on Friday, January 8th, 2010 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Disobedience. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.