Posts Tagged ‘bark’

Teaching a dog to speak

By: Ty Brown on Apr, 27, 2008 at 5:13 am | Comments (1)

Teaching a dog to bark on command is a fun trick that you can do to stimulate your dog’s mind and have a little fun.

The first thing you need to do when training your dog to speak is to determine what motivates your dog the most.  Is it food?  Is it a toy?  Is it companionship with you?  Whatever it is, that is what you are going to use.

Start out with your dog on a leash or a tie out attached to a fence or a tree or something similar.  Now, simply use whatever it is that your dog loves.  Tease the dog with it.  If it is a ball whip it back and forth.  Toss it on the ground, kick it just out of the reach.  As you do this keep repeating ’speak’, ’speak’.  As your dog makes even the slightest vocalization IMMEDIATELY reward him with the toy.

If you are using food, do the same thing.  Lots of motion as you whip the food back and forth all the while giving him the command to speak.  As he vocalizes, reward.

Some dogs aren’t too driven by food or toys but do crave the companionship of their owner.  Do the same thing as above.  Instead of stimulating the dog with food or a toy, you are the stimulation.  Run back and forth and act the fool as your dog is tied out.  As he makes a vocalization, immediately come to him and praise.

Whatever you are using as your dog’s focus continue doing so and gradually wean him off.  Soon you will simply be able to say ’speak’ and you will get a nice bark.

Posted in: Tricks | Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Why I never teach a dog to ring a bell or bark to be let out

By: Ty Brown on Apr, 15, 2008 at 5:02 am | Comments (6)

In my dog training business, CommuniCanine Inc., I always get people calling me needing to hire me to help house train their dogs.  Their complaints are often, “He goes out most of the time but other times he just goes on the floor.  He never tells me that he needs to go out!  Argghhh!”

After listening to their rant about the evils of a puppy who wont alert of his intestinal needs I typically respond with something surprising to them.

“Well, if you hire me I’m NOT going to show you how to get your dog to alert you of his potty needs.  I think it is a horrible idea to teach a dog to do this.  Here is why:”

The following reasons are why I never teach a dog to ring a bell, scratch at the door, bark to be let out, or whine near the back door:

1- Too many dogs abuse the privilege.  You know the saying ‘If you give ‘em an inch they’ll take a foot’?  With dogs the saying should read ‘If you give them an inch they’ll take a mile long run with you chasing behind them screaming for them to come back.” 

Many dogs that are taught to alert when they want to go out become abusers.  They will ask all day long so that they can head out back to play and roll around in the dirt.  They don’t need to go to the bathroom, they just want to play.  Hey, sometimes playing is fine.  But when I become the doorman for a dog that wants to play that is when I have a problem.

2- A dog that alerts will often never learn how to hold it.  If your dog is used to ringing a bell and going outside that means that he goes out on his terms.  If he is going out with such frequency there is a chance that he will never learn to hold it.  Why hold it if you can go out on a whim? 

Dogs that don’t learn how to hold it often have an accident here or there throughout their life.  The owners explain it away by saying, “Oh, it’s my fault.  I wasn’t there to see him scratching at the door.”  That’s all well and good but, frankly, I don’t EVER want my dog to have an accident.  Even if it means holding it for longer than usual.  Hey, I have to hold it longer than I want to all the time.

3- It’s ANNOYING!  If you teach your dog to ring a bell or bark at the door what happens at three in the morning?  That’s right, Fido will tell you that he feels like going out.  Come on, Fido, go back to sleep.  Well, Fido has learned that he can push your buttons by ringing a bell and he doesn’t have to hold it.

4- I don’t want to sound like a warden here but when it comes to dogs I like control.  Dogs need a strong leader that controls things for them.  That means that I control when my dogs eat, how they walk on a leash, how they greet my guests, when they go to sleep, what they do when I say ’sit’, ‘down’, etc., and also WHEN THEY GO TO THE BATHROOM.

I don’t support commands and behaviors that put the dog in control of me.  To me this is a backwards way of thinking.  My dog should be looking to me for leadership and commands, not the other way around.

So what do you think?  Do you like to teach your dog to alert or not. 

Posted in: House Breaking | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

The proper way to use a bark collar

By: Ty Brown on Apr, 10, 2008 at 5:24 am | Comments (0)

Do you have a dog with an excessive barking problem?  Is your dog waking up the neighbors and yourself and generally being a nuisance?  There are several ways to address an excessive barking problem.

Address the source of the problem

Often a dog is excessively barking due to a lack of structure, training, and mental stimulation.  Make sure your dog is getting good training, good walks, and isn’t left to himself in the backyard for 23 hours a day.

For outside dogs it may be very beneficial to bring them in the house or use a crate when it comes time for bed.

Use an electric bark collar properly

A bark collar, used properly, is a great tool for curbing excessive barking.  Most people think that this is a collar that does all the training for you.  Not true.  You have to use it properly in order to have success.  Here are several key points to have success with a bark collar.

1- Condition your dog to the collar. Most people get the collar out of the box, turn it on, and start using it right away. This is a mistake. Your dog is not dumb. He realizes, “Hey, every time they put that collar on me I can’t bark. I’ll just wait until the collar comes off.” It is important that your dog does not understand what the collar is for. Take a week or two before you start using the collar and have your dog wear the collar. Don’t turn it on, just have your dog wear it. Don’t say anything when you put it on, don’t say anything when you take it off. You want your dog to have a neutral association toward the collar.

2- Adjust the level of stimulation. It is important that you have a bark collar where YOU are in control of the level of correction. There are many collars that have only a few levels, all of them high. What happens is that the dog gets too overwhelmed too quickly.  By starting on a high level your dog is not in a great position to learn. It is kind of like throwing your dog in the deep end of the pool.  Some will learn to swim right away, others will struggle. It is best to start out on low levels and gradually increase the level as the dog understands what the correction means. You shouldn’t have to get too high on the levels if you gradually increase the levels over the course of a week or two.

3- Get a quality collar. Most pet store brand collars are junk. They get set off at the wrong times (like when a car drives by, when a neighbor dog barks, etc.), run out of batteries very quickly, and fall apart after a short time. Usually the difference between a lousy collar and a great one is about $20. Spend the extra $20 and get a great unit.

Click here for discount Dogtra electric bark collars.

Dogtra Bark Collar

Posted in: Barking, Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , ,

New website for electric training collars

By: Ty Brown on Mar, 15, 2008 at 5:18 am | Comments (0)

For those that read this website you may know that I am a big fan of electric dog training collars.  Let me qualify that statement; I am a big fan when the e-collar is used properly. 

I don’t use electric collars like most dog trainers.  I use the electric collar as a tool for communication rather than a tool for punishment.  What that means is that I never put the collar on the dog and just use shock treatment to change a behavior.  What I do is use the collar on a very low level and teach rather than punish.

The levels that I use on an e-collar are very light.  I always have my clients feel the collar before we ever use it with their dog.  About half of my clients can’t even feel the collar on the levels I use and the other half can only barely feel it.  When used properly the e-collar is a very humane tool because it allows you to teach behavior with just a tiny pulse.

Because I am a fan of electric collars I set up a new website to offer discount electric dog training collars. 
Click here to visit a website with discount electric dog training collars, bark collars, and electric dog fences.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Posted in: Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,