dog behavior training

Staffordshire Bull Terriers, or Staffies to their friends, are often thought to be pit bull terriers and get an undeserved reputation as a result. They are exceptionally strong for their size and can be challenging to train, but if trained correctly from young, they make superb family dogs. The usual behaviors that need attention early if they are to be corrected quickly are:

Staffordshire Bull Terrier

• Pulling on the leash, relentlessly if allowed
• Aggression towards other dogs, trying to be “top dog”
• Sometimes foolhardy in the pursuit of their objective
• NEVER let them start fighting other dogs - it could prove very costly

They are naturally very friendly towards humans, as with other breeds unless trained otherwise. A few general points are relevant to training Staffordshire Bull Terriers:

1. Like all terriers they are attention-seekers, which means, used appropriately with this breed, ignoring them can work well; however, in my experience there is hardly ever a need for this if the other tips advised here are applied consistently.
2. They take to a general daily routine very easily if not too rigid. Getting into a routine quickly will contribute towards training success.
3. Food is a real driver with this breed; coupled with their mammoth capacity for exercise, when young, food treats work very well as rewards.
4. Don’t have too high an expectation of them at the outset. By keeping things simple and focusing on the basics in short sessions, the training process will be much easier.
5. Invest in a chest halter! A traditional lead will work with some, and with most Staffies it will work some of the time, but if he gets into pursuit mode, all kinds of problems can ensue.

Parts II and III of this post will go into more specific training techniques for the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Dalmatians are very energetic, strong and require a firm hand when training. Training from as early a stage as possible is particularly important with Dalmatians. Once trained they make fabulous pets, especially for families and when well-exercised, but if not trained correctly early they can develop stubborn traits.

To get the best out of Dalmatians, training should make use of their natural characteristics while also being alert to which behaviors need to be held in check. They are always eager to run around at top speed, so chasing balls and strong frisbees is a popular occupation, which should be maximized during the training process, for example by letting them chase around but encouraging the desired coimmands and behaviors before and after the run. Conversely, their natural tendency to chase things such as animals has to be discouraged and controlled.

Dalmatians are highly alert to their keepers, intelligent so trainable more easily than some breeds, but often excitable. Long energetic walks are required and ideally a good opportunity to run every day, possibly by the keeper using a bicycle. Dalamations were historically used to run alongside horse-drawn coaches as they could then use their energy and were adept at not running under the wheels or troubling the horses while engaged in this way.

The breed needs socializing with other dogs from an early age; if not, they can become aggressive to other dogs when older. They are very good with children if able to get used to them from puppy stage, but need to be supervised as they are extremely friendly, strong and often boisterous. As the children grow, this high-energy dog makes a great companion.

For help with training your Dalmatian, click here. Enjoy!

The numerous varieties of spaniel can be broadly grouped into three types, each of which contains various breeds:

• Cocker Spaniels
• Springer Spaniels
• Toy Spaniels

All spaniels are naturally very enthusiastic, positive and fun-loving. Their high energy levels mean that they can get bored if inactive and start to cause problems. They will normally pick up basic training easily at first, but it is advisable, especially with the Cocker Spaniel and Springer Spaniel, to spend a little longer than normal on the basic training and if possible to then move onto more advanced training, to which they will react very well, in order to make the best use of their energy. Fun training is definitely to be recommended with these athletic dogs.

These dogs were originally bred for tracking, flushing out and retrieving game birds. They can have an independent streak and given the chance they will catch a scent and go hunting on their own if not well-trained early in their lives.

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and the King Charles Spaniel (also known as the English Toy Spaniel) are very sociable and while they do not need as much exercise as Springer Spaniels, they do not always react well to being left on their own for long periods. They much prefer human company to other animals and will adapt to an energetic or a relaxed lifestyle. They can be harder than some breeds to housetrain but once settled and maturing, are well-suited to apartments.

All these types of dog needs socializing when young and an owner must be aware that even as they grow older, they often cannot resist their innate traits to chase small animals, including other pets. Generally though, if trained well and observing the points mentioned, they all make fun-loving and enthusiastic pets.

Commands

Restating the earlier post, making sure the basic commands are trained first is by far the best approach with this breed.

1. “Come” is fairly natural and the easiest using rewards, starting in the garden or somewhere else enclosed, using a leash and possibly more human assistance as the distance is increased gradually.
2. “Sit” is easily trained but probably the most important command, as the submissive position and greater control that it instils will be important throughout the terrier’s life.
3. If the first two above have begun to register, then “Stay” is the next most important, particularly because it can be used quite successfully as the warning before any aggression towards other dogs is signalled (see Part II of this post).
4. “Down” or “Lie Down” can also be trained fairly early, and reinforced by gently pushing the dog’s shoulders and/or rear end down as part of the learning process, supported by appropriate rewards and praise as it registers.

After these have all been instilled, then more advanced training can be embarked upon, but it is important that these are got across to the Staffordshire from an early age.

Leash Training

This is vital with such a strong dog, and I make no apology for restating that a chest halter is a must in my experience. No doubt other methods can be tried and may succeed but the halter gives more control and is mopre comfortable fopr your dog. The necks of many smaller dogs can be strong, but the chest, neck and muscle of a Staff are very powerful indeed, and a normal lead will not only be ineffective but also mean high risk if control of your dog is lost outdoors.

It’s a matter of preference about the leash, but I’ve found that using one of the strong nylon ribbon retractable leads was one of the best twenty-pound investments I’ve ever made. By getting the dog used to walking on a short length, when it is shortened it signals to him that he should behave and he doesn’t pull.

If your dog does pull, the halter and leash will quickly assert control. If necessary, you should simply stop walking and make him stay still or even sit befoire you signify that you are willing to continue. The same procedure will work with any jumping if it occurs.

Un-neutered Staffordshire Bull Terriers will prove slightly more difficult initially, but the techniques outlined here will work. Points applicable to the training process include:

• It is best to do training with Staffs in short sessions, and when he is most alert, i.e. not shortly after a meal or exercise
• As always, consistency is a must, and with young Staffordshires, a disciplined approach and use of short commands will work, as will positive reinforcement techniques, with “Stop” or “No” accompanying wrong behaviors and rewards plus “Good”,”Good Lad”,”Good Boy”, etc, soon becoming recognized by the dog. Aggression with any dog is no use if training as a pet, and with a Staffordshire is likely to encourage him to return it in kind, if only as a defense measure.

Socializing

Staffordshire Bull Terriers definitely need socializing and making familiar with as many new situations as possible from young, so as to avoid surprising or startling them later and thereby producing an inappropriate reaction.

They are fine with children if socialized from young, but with these and other dogs, supervision of both dogs and children is strongly advised.

Always keep the Staffie on a leash when around other dogs. If there is any sign of imminent aggression, which is usually relatively obvious if alert to the signs but can progress quickly from “walking tall” - ears and tail up, still curious at this stage - to squaring up. By this point any experienced keeper will have sent a “No” signal to the dog, but if not, things are going to get serious when the Staffordshire starts eyeballing the other dog to try and register dominance, then lip curling, growling, snarling and beyond. The keeper must in all circumstances pull the Staff away and ALWAYS reprimand him with a good telling-off and a bit of ignoring for a while. The dog will get the message quite quickly after a few repetitions.

Jack Russell Terriers and Parson Russell Terriers are very similar dogs, the Parson Russell being taller, from about twelve inches in height. The two breeds’ behavioral characteristics are generally the same:

• Highly energetic, and soon bored
• Tend to yap and bark a lot as they are soon aroused
• More likely to bite than many breeds
• Can be difficult to leash train

Some of these behaviors can be appropriately trained using techniques described in other posts on this site. The standard training practices of being consistent, assertive and not indicating stress to the dog will be required but coupled with persistence and more patience than is often the case with “normal” dog training.

Russell Terriers like a challenge and plenty of exercise and activity, so much so that they do well in advanced training like agility training and the more energetic exhibition activities. This aspect lends more emphasis to the idea of completing basic training as soon as possible with the young dog, but NOT at the expense of losing sdome of the individual dog’s spirit, character and natural exuberance.

One of the most important parts of training the Jack Russell Terrier is to ensure that it is socialized when young with other dogs, pets and children, especially the latter and under supervision with all three. It is worth doing a little teaching of the children too, when a Russell Terrier is around. Teasing the Russell puppy will be risky both immediately and longer-term as if an inappropriate reaction occurs in the dog, which will rapidly become a hard-to-stop habit if not admonished.

A feisty and difficult Russell may require the use of additional training tools such as training collars and leashes, but only usually if it has not been trained properly early enough. As an owner, you will be in the best position to judge when these might be appropriate. However, help is available if required. Jack Russell Terriers and Parson Russell Terriers make great pets, but getting the right training in early is the key.

One of the most popular breeds, with several specific types, their easy-going nature make them one of the easiest types of dog to train. They also have high energy levels. For these reasons, as well as making generally good pets, they are used as gundogs, guide dogs and in more specialist areas susch as mountain rescue. As pets they are normally gentle and friendly with people and other dogs. Most of the labrador retriever breed are especially good with children.

In my experience, they can occasionally have sensitive stomachs as very young puppies so some care should be taken in terms of their general feeding and what toys they have to play with. Like other large, active dogs, they need lots of exercise; labrador retrievers especially enjoy swimming. Lack of exercise can lead to boredom and make them inclined to be a little too boisterous at times.

So its important to exercise them and train them as a puppy and through their adolescent stages. They should also be socialized with other dogs from an early stage.

Their naturally positive attitude makes it easier than with some other breeds to control their exuberance with a fairly standard set of commands. They are also enjoy doing tricks, so at a fairly early stage after basic training your training can progress to more complex areas if required.

An additional point about the labrador retriever is that their tightly-knitted coat, as with similar breeds, is prone to shedding, so its worth investing in a good brush. Then more frequent brushing, even daily, helps reduce the amount shed. Care should be taken about brushing matted fur as it is easy to pull the dog’s skin. In terms of labrador behavior and training, it’s worth getting her used to regular brushing from an early stage as a training reinforcement. Lovely dogs, especially if you welcome exercise as well!

Despite its diminutive stature, the Pomeranian can be one of the more challenging breeds for dog behavior training. With high energy levels and natural friendly yet attention-seeking characteristics, they require more than normal amounts of patience and persistence than many other dog breeds. 

Kongs, the heavy duty rubber toy with a hole in the center in which you can hide things such as small treats or smaller safe toys, seem to work particularly well with many Pomeranians.

Regular short walks are the best way to keep your Pomeranian in both good health and demeanour. This will help offset their natural requirement for being kept occupied, but they do like doing tricks as well as enjoying ball games.This affinity for tricks plus their cute appearance, are the reasons why this breed more often stars than others at shows of both the public and “stage” variety.

They tend to jump a lot if not controlled, but the issue most owners have is their barking so the training methods shown elsewhere on this page for training dogs out of jumping and barking habits should be utilised as early as possible in the Pomeranian’s life, and with a good deal of patience and persistency from early on these will normally suffice.

Its worth noting that they don’t usually get on too well with cats, and they don’t know they are small so they will actually try to dominate other dogs as well, so the alpha techniques shown below will also be useful from an early stage. With this breed more than others, it’s a very good idea to get her trained to standard verbal commands and the relevant accompanying gestures, again from as early as possible.

If you would like to know more, click here for help with your Pomeranian training program.

Also be careful when leash training as although they have strong necks relative to their small size, tugging to correct poor behavior should not be overly sharp or prolonged. Nevertheless, another great dog to enjoy!

In my experience, German Shepherds are one of the easiest dogs to train if trained from young, particularly if as the owner you make use of their natural characteristics.

The stages for training them from young are outlined in click here. Here we’ll look at some of the behaviors an owner might become accustomed to and some useful pointers on specific training tools for German Shepherd (GSD) training.

Strong chewable toys that contain “puzzles” and strong objects for GSDs to chase are both good investments. The toy helps distract them from chewing something else and the ball, ring or frisbee is key to channelling their chasing traits along the right lines before they are adults.

Their liking for a challenging obstacle will be clear when they are out exercising off the leash, but an obstacle course in the yard or garden will also prove stimulating to a German Shepherd. Hurdles, tunnels and different levels made of wood, plastic and metal, if space and materials are available, will be utilised and appreciated, and can be used as an occasional substitute for walking or more normally as a game associated with commands and training.

If they exhibit their natural trait for chasing animals, then they must be kept on the leash when near horses, sheep, etc, and a verbal command and tug on the leash or harness when showing signs of erring towards animal enclosures.

German Shepherds are unlikely to be passive and they don’t get scared. Interacting with other dogs they are clever, even wily and if trained properly from young will usually only react if provoked.

They are very versatile dogs, able to be very agile but at other times unusually relaxed and composed. Unlike many breeds, they are able to lie for long periods watching. At all times they can be seen to be protecting their owner and home, but usually almost as a sentry. They can often be seen patrolling boundaries early and late in the day, which is a natural instinct for GSDs.

Trained and socialized properly from young, their behavior towards visitors to the home can and should be trained from early. They will quickly learn the difference between friend and foe and will adapt to the combination of a unique hand gesture and vocal command for each. They are usually very good with children.

It is unnatural and not normal for a German Shepherd to bite unprovoked. Their bite is more of the crushing type relying on the considerable strength of their jaws, which bruises under a human skin, and it isn’t normal for them to apply such pressure beyond the puppy stage unless trained to do so.

For more advanced training of your German Shepherd, click here. Enjoy!

The chihuahua is naturally fairly strong-willed. Behavioral problems almost invariably arise from when an owner has been too lenient with the chihuahua puppy on account of it being small and cute. Training needs to start early, especially socialization in as many situations as possible so that the pet chihuahua naturally becomes a fairly rounded character. This will also provide opportunities to gauge the puppy’s aptitude for advanced training because being energetic, alert and intelligent, the chihuahua is sometimes best engaged by varied and more difficult tasks if the aptitude is there in the specific dog. Training needs to be assertive and with exercise, play and varied rewards in place it is usually possible to train the chihuahua relatively easily.

The best chihuahua training methods work with the little dog’s nature, especially its liking for attention and need to be engaged. Given the principle of starting young, its need for variety in order to engage it is going to be accentuated. However it will also be very receptive to rewards, so by breaking the reward pattern up and only ever rewarding it after it completes the right behavior rather then during it, while keeping training sessions when young short and snappy, the chihuahua will quickly show what it made of and react fairly positively throughout.

Also, it is worth remembering that if something isn’t working, persisting with it immediately or becoming stressed will prove counter-productive for both your stress levels and the dog, so it is actually worth letting it go for another day, but without any rewards or they will lose their value very quickly.

Another productive technique with the young chihuahua is not to overdo a successful session, or else the dog will both tire and become bored, again illustrating the focus on short and snappy. So a little planning with simple objectives initially, and some patience, will be effective. Done properly, most chihuahuas will soon indicate their readiness to move onto advanced training and if so, it is well worth considering with this breed to make the most of its capabilities and fun-loving nature.

For help with training your Chihuahua, click here.

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.