Dog Training Archives • Canine Life Skills

Walking Your Dog on a Prong Collar

The Prong Collar

Gentle Steering For Your Dog

If you have a dog you can’t control on the leash or need help right away, then the prong collar is the tool for you. It’s the best training collar option for using the gentle “pressure and release” technique to gain control on the walk. Plus, when positioned correctly, it distributes the pressure around the dog’s neck. Don’t let looks fool you. The prong collar is one of the best dog training tools you can use. (more…)

6 Reasons to teach your dog the Place command

What is the Place command?

We teach the word “Place” to dogs to direct them to an object with a defined parameter to stay on. Unlike the sit/stay or down/stay, the rules for the “Place” are only to stay on it unless you’ve also asked for the dog to sit or lay down. The dog can choose to lay down, stand up, or move around as long as all four paws are still on the object.

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Creating a calmer dog

Why should you teach your dog to be calm.

It helps alleviate stress coming from not being able to self settle themselves or always being “on”.

It reduces the chances of your dog lunging and barking at other dogs and people due to stress and fear and helps your dog handle new situations.

And best of all, it creates a more balanced dog.

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The Sit on the Dog Exercise

The Sit on the Dog exercise was created by Margo Woods years ago to help dogs calm themselves. It is one of the best exercises to teach your dog and can be done anytime and almost anywhere.

So here it is…

Sit on the Dog

If you only do ONE exercise with your dog, it’s this one.

Not sit. Not stay. Not even come.

This exercise will do more to create a bond and build a relationship of trust with your dog than any other.

In order to help your dog learn that you will not be available to entertain him at all times, and to teach him that he is expected to calm down and be well-behaved during those moments, we will introduce the long down, or “sit on the dog” exercise.

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Teach Your Puppy to Potty on Command

Why teach your puppy to potty on command? Because sometimes you need your dog to do their business right away and not be distracted by by smells or more interesting things.

To do this we give them a command to communicate that it’s time to pee or poop. First, your dog needs to learn Word + Action.

Choose your potty commands. You will want two separate potty commands. One for pee and one for poop. I use words like “go pee” or “potty” and “do your business” or “go poo”. You can be creative if you wish but simple is better.

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Training a German Shepherd Dog

We train a German Shepherd the same way we train any dog. Using the basic commands: heel, sit, down, come, wait, place, off and out to give us the foundation to expand on in different situations and around more difficult distractions.

Exercise is important for this breed and the more structured the better. (more…)