I love music and I love dogs. With this in mind, sometimes I have a tendency to make odd comparisons. Like this one. When I see someone improperly handling a dog on a leash and collar, I think of the Motorcity Madman Ted Nugent and his song, Stranglehold.
No one likes being preached to or admonished, but there’s one thing that raises my ire like the hairs of a Rhodesian Ridgeback
, it’s people that don’t train their dogs. It’s pretty simple to me, yet many don’t seem to get it.
Dogs are like our children. They are our responsibility and their well being and development depends on us.
Would you allow your kids to run amok in society. Well, come to think of it, many do. And how do those kids turn out? They exhibit socially unacceptable behavior, commit crimes or are just people we don’t want to be around.
Well the good news is our dogs don’t have to be social deviants. With the proper training, patience and commitment our dogs can become welcome members of society.
Unfortunately many Dog Moms and Dads think training is too hard, costly, or too time consuming. Training does not have to be any of the aforementioned. In fact it’s not hard, it doesn’t have to be costly and it can actually be fun.
When deciding which resource to use to learn how to train you dog, consider the way you like to learn. Do you like reading books? Do you enjoy the pace of learning through online video or dvd courses? Or would you prefer to pay a trainer to come to your home or attend a class?
If you are considering hiring a personal trainer, you'll do well to consider the following:
- Beware of amateurs. There are many so called dog trainers that simply read a book or took a course and then post their services. Ask for references, check backgrounds and most important ask for their methodologies. ( Do they use choke chains? Do they use positive or negative reinforcement?
- How long have they been training?
- Are they familiar with and have they worked with your particular breed of dog? Different breeds are easier to train than others.
- Ask them do they guarantee results.
Asking these simple questions is a great start in finding the right fit to train your dog. If you are patient and like to get things done yourself we recommend the following resources: dogtraining