Training is a vital part of raising a happy and healthy dog. Though dog trainers and suppliers are coming up with innovative tool boxes to train dogs, these new dog training tools should not be a substitute for basic dog training knowledge.
First step of dog training is ensuring your dog’s health. You should not rely on dog equipments all the time, gentle collar for example can be harmful if your dog has unknown open sores or twisted paws.
Most puppies are ready to begin obedience lessons at the age of six to eight months, and its training lessons should start from ten (10) to fifteen (15) minutes a day, and gradually increase to thirty (30) minutes, depending on the dog’s level of concentration. Training is best accomplished with lots of praise and a strict to “no” for correction. There are various types of equipment available right now to help you in your mission of training your own dog. Examples of which are:
Clickers
A clicker is a device that fits into the palm of a hand. It produces somewhat of a “click-clack” sound with a button press. This equipment is intended for calling a dog’s attention. Its helps to avoid the trainer from repeating commands over and over again. The sound that it produces is audible and can be detected by dogs even with the presence of surrounding background noises. The sound is also good to use in giving the dog a reward when the dog for good behavior.
Leashes and Collars
Many trainers use leash and chain-link collar, also known by the term choke collar. Do not be deceived by the name as the choke collar is never meant to choke a dog, instead it is used to make quick snaps to have or direct the dog’s attention.
There are two-foot control to thirty foot extendable and retractable nylon cord and variations available in the market.
A two-foot leash is ideal for close training situations like basic obedience commands such as sit, stay, come and down. Extendable leash however, is ideal for distance training like running. Regardless of the distance between the dog and the trainer, the trainer should always lead the dog to keep an ‘alpha-male’ position.
In the case of dog collars, make sure that it snaps, meaning buttons and nylon material should be in good condition. Always check the collar and give enough space to allow the dog to move its head around but not too much room to easily slip through and escape.
Never use spike-collars for your dog, as it does not only instill fear to other dogs, it can also hurt your dog. The worst spike-collars can do is damage the neck of your dog and cause a collapse of the trachea.
Muzzles
A muzzle is basically a restraining device that is attached to the nose and jaw of a dog to prevent it from opening its mouth. Hence, you are making them incapable of biting or barking. This is an effective equipment to use if you want to prevent your dog from biting or excessive barking. One huge disadvantage of this however is that you lack the ability to restrain your dog once the muzzle is removed. A muzzle works as an effective alternate for voice commands on your pet.
For more information on Dog Training Aids, please visit http://www.mydogtrainingaids.com/ which is an educational website devoted to helping people understand how to train their dog in the shortest possible amount of time.