dog behavior training

The wide range of breeds of terrier have one thing in common, their strong will. They can test patience to the limit and beyond, so you need patience in abundance to train terriers. The key is to align what they want with what you are trying to train them to do.

Full of energy, terriers like attention. Praising your terrier for doing the right thing generally works better than being negative, as they are highly inclined to react, and not for the better, in the latter case. However, keep rewards to an absolute minimum or they will become overweight quite quickly. So lavish praise and affection works best, when it is deserved.

In terms of commands, a snap of your fingers works well to achieve “sit”, couple with an outstretched arm to achieve “sit away”. You should use the words “sit” and “away” as well, but they will be less effective than with other breeds. Standard verbal commands do not work quite so well, unless your terrier is gaining what she wants, which might be a toy, playing a game or something that makes use of their affinity for running, chasing and the like. Hence small obstacle courses can be a useful and enjoyable training aid and if they incorporate hurdles and/or tunnels, so much the better.

With terriers, I’ve found that combining commands and gestures are most easy to reinforce while out walking - after a little while rather than too early when they are still expending some of that pent-up energy! For an excellent training course that I applied with our Staffordshire Terrier and wholeheartedly recommend, click here.

Terriers will learn the basic commands, but as you can gather from the above, usually through slightly different commands and over a longer period than some other breeds. Keep your expectations realistic, be prepared for your patience to be tested, stay calm, consider the alpha mentality and techniques and you will get there - eventually!

Border collies are very intelligent dogs and normally train easily, especially if appropriately trained from young. However, the breed’s origins as a working dog coupled with its bundles of energy, if left undirected, can create challenges later.

More than most breeds, border collies needs socializing from a young age with children and other dogs or pets. It is not unusual to see a collie trying to herd children, which is a trait that needs to be addressed before it escalates.

Border collies have a natural behavior of eyeing other animals in order to try establish control. It is usually accompanied with a hunching movement and will be seen by most other dogs as what it is, i.e. an aggressive threat, which many dogs will react to and often with aggression themselves. This is a behavior which an alert owner  can arrest early but is best addressed in early training. Hence there is the requirement for socializing the dog and establishing which behavior is appropriate early on in its life.

The border collie needs lots of exercise as it has huge reserves of stamina; a farm dog will run much more than ten miles a day while controlling sheep!  Prospective owners will probably  be aware of the need for exercise. Training involving games with balls and toys and plenty of chasing will be met enthusiastically by this breed.

It is well worth considering taking training further with a border collie into more advanced training to make use of the dog’s characteristics and help keep it stimulated. The border collie is also a natural guard dog, being highly alert and if anything, a bit jumpy on occasion at strange sounds. This trait is again one that should be utilized in training and in some circumstances, training using a clicker may be effective in helping train the dog to not over-react.

For help with training your Border Collie, click here.

Dog behavior training issues are usually associated with assertive dogs. You could be forgiven for thinking that passive dogs should be easy to train.

After all, a passive dog is one that waits for others and seems comfortable letting others lead to the point where it will be last to do everything. One clue to a passive dog is that when in a pack, if there is more than one dog at home, or if playing with a group while exercising, it stays a little detached from the others. We are not talking about an older dog here, or a frightened or placid one. So what’s the problem?

Much of passive behavior isn’t a problem, but there could be some:

1. For example, the passive dog is not going to be much help guarding your house.
2. It will let strangers approach you or it with no reaction, in any circumstances.
3. In a situation with other dogs, it could get into problems from other, more exuberant dogs.
4. If it is part of a pack of dogs at home, its food could be taken in some circumstances. It may even find itself being chased away at times, which will lead to more serious issues in future.

These examples may not always be desirable. While recognizing that dogs have characters and some traits may be largely unchangeable, by working with the nature of the dog and consistently training the change in behavior you are seeking, over time it can be encouraged to be more outgoing in some situations by using some or all of the following techniques:

• Find the toy or reward it likes best, and use that to reward it, possibly by going so far as to remove a toy at times so that it has more impact when used.
• If training a behavior, be a little more gentle than normal when appropriate. This might be by using a more friendly tone, not waiting so long for a reaction and/or being a little more patient though still persistent in training exercises, etc.
• If you have more than one dog at home, while helping the passive one in situations where the others are taking advantage, clear signals can be sent to all by making sure it goes first for things occasionally, for example when entering the house.
• Again in the “pack” environment, be seen to take it out on its own on occasion and in some circumstances, feeding it separately to the others will reinforce its confidence in itself and its position to the others.

It may take time but by setting modest goals for any changes, these tips create more opportunity for the changes to happen.