We’ve all heard one at one point or another in our lives. A dog that just seems to bark at anything and everything and wont stop. It is even worse when it is your own dog and you have no clue what is causing it or how to even stop barking dogs in the first place.

At least we do know that all dogs bark for a reason, even though that reason may not always be as obvious as we’d expect. The main reason why a dog barks in the first place is to warn us of strangers who may be approaching the area.

If your dog is a chronic barker then you may need to look at several different causes before finding the right one that will stop a barking dog successfully. The majority of the time a dog barks because he is bored. If you have been very busy lately and haven’t been spending as much time with your furry friend as you’d like this may be the reason for your barking troubles.

Always make sure that your dog has plenty to eat and drink because a hungry dog will turn to barking in order to let you know he is hungry or thirsty. Also, check the temperature outside. Is it very hot or very cold? If so, consider giving your dog some relief by letting him come inside or at least getting him a dog house where he can have some protection from the elements.

Either way, it is not that difficult to stop barking dogs if you just look first to see if their immediate needs are met. Spend quality time with your dog each day and make sure he has some toys to play with while you are gone.

Giving your dog some obedience training will make a world of difference because you will be able to teach your dog a certain command that lets him know when he should stop barking. Plus, you and your dog will grow closer as you go through dog obedience training together.

Please think about your neighbors. Imagine how it feels to live next to a dog that barks all day and all night. It is bound to get stressful, I know because I lived next to a chronic barker myself. Try not to be offended if your neighbor comes over stressed out and asks you to stop the dog barking. Your dog may be barking up a storm when you aren’t home and you haven’t even realized it.

Even though our goal is to stop dog barking, we don’t want to get rid of it completely. Barking is the easiest way for our dogs to communicate with us and we don’t want to destroy that ability. So be sure to make sure his needs are fulfilled and then teach him when it is alright to bark and of course, when to stop barking.

Could you train your dog by following the steps on a DVD? Could you really begin with a darling little puppy who knows practically nothing of how you want him to behave in your home, yet end up with a puppy who is housetrained and knows how to sit, stay, come, and all the rest? Or could you start with an older dog who doesn’t know everything you want him to, and get him to be willingly doing all the basics?

The answer is evident: maybe.

It depends on you. The dog or puppy is willing to learn, and it’s not hard to get a really good DVD on dog training. Do you want to do this enough that you will really get around to it? If you will, you’ll find that a DVD can motivate as well as teach you what you need to do.

Here’s how to proceed: figure out when you can do short dog training sessions. Ideally you would do them three to five times a day, but even twice a day will be a good start, perhaps right before the dog’s morning and evening meals. You want to do short bits of training because the dogs learn more effectively than if you tried to do everything just once a day for a longer period.

If you like to make plans and carry them out, then you are a natural for training your dog with a DVD. If you aren’t a huge fan of planning but can do it when you see a good reason, you should do fine too.

DVDs or dog training classes?

Is it better to use a DVD or to take your dog to a class? This depends on the circumstances. How close is the nearest dog training class, and are its hours and price a good fit for you? Even more important is the approach that the trainer takes. New information has been making its way into the world of dog training over the past couple of decades, but not every trainer has yet crossed over to using the pain-free positive methods that are the most effective.

If a good dog or puppy training class is available, it can be useful for helping the dog to be at home with many dogs — something you will need to develop in any case — and for learning a lot. Once you and the dog see how much fun it can be to learn new things together, you may want some DVDs to help you continue your dog’s lifelong learning.

Selecting the Best Dog Training DVD

The best DVD that I have seen on the topic is Train Your Dog: The Positive, Gentle Method, featuring experienced trainers Nicole Wilde and Laura Bourhenne. It’s inexpensive yet has everything you need for a great start for your dog.

Want to know how to make your dog obey your commands when you are training him? One simple procedure is to make it known to your dog that you are the leader, the alpha of the pack and that he is the follower. Once your dog learns that you are the leader, he will obey your commands much faster and your training sessions will go more smoothly.

You see, dogs work in a pack hierarchy mentality where there is one leader and many followers. The leader of the pack is the dog who gets first dibs on everything from toys to food and does whatever he feels like doing. The leader will make all the decisions for the pack and the other dogs, being followers, will do whatever the leader will allow them to do. So, it is essential that your dog see you as the leader before you begin training, and he will then listen to you and obey your commands much faster. Here are 5 techniques you can start putting into practice to make your dog learn that you are the leader of the pack and he is just the follower.

One way to show your dog that you are in charge is during feeding time. In the alpha pack, the leader dog always eats first and gets the best portions. Only after he is done eating, can the others eat. So, if you feed your dog before you eat, you are showing him that he is the leader over you. What you need to do is prepare your meals and eat first, even if it is a small snack. Then get ready to feed your dog by placing his food in his bowl and swishing it around with your hands. This distributes your smell all over the food which reinforces that you are in charge. Then before you place his food bowl down for your dog to eat, you need to make him sit first. The goal is to make him obey your commands or wants and avoid giving your dog what he wants. This seems like a simple step, but believe me it can work wonders.

A further technique is to completely ignore your dog when you come home. I know this one will be very hard as it was for me when training my dog. Your first instinct is to praise your dog with a lot of love immediately, but this only reinforces to your dog that he is in charge because he is setting the rules on when he gets attention and love. You see, in a dog’s world, the alpha or leader always gets the attention first, so be greeting your dog first and not your family, you are telling your dog that he is the alpha and that your family is the followers. What you need to do is completely ignore your dog when you come home and greet all the other people in your house hold. Your dog will soon realize he is being ignored and will calm down and sometimes he will lay or sit down, patiently waiting for you to be ready to give him love. Once he is calm then, go ahead and shower him with a lot of love. Your dog will soon learn his place and he will patiently and calmly wait for you to greet the humans first.

Another characteristic a leader of a pack shows is that he makes all the decisions. So, by you letting your dog do what he wants when he wants to do it, is proving that he is the leader and you are the follower. This one training tip will take a bit longer for you to learn simply because it involves working with your dog in everything he does all day long. What you need to do is make all the decisions for him. Yes, this sounds simple enough but it can get a bit tricky, epically when your dog is used to doing it his way. If he wants to play, say no and wait until he gives up by either lying down or doing something else. Then call him over, pick up his favorite toy and ask him if he wants to play. If he wants some pets and love, just look at him and then look away, wait until he gives up, and then call him over for some loves. Just try to make sure that you are making all the decisions for your dog and this will show him that you are the leader and he must follow you.

Bedtime is an additional technique where you can show your dog that you are the leader of your pack. When it comes to bedtime, the alpha pack leader always gets the highest sleeping spot because he is the one who looks out for the rest of the pack. So, when you allow your dog to sleep with you on the bed, you are reinforcing that he is the pack leader and you are not. It is ok to allow him to be on the bed with you at night while you are watching TV, but when it is time to sleep you need to make him go to his own bed on the floor. This will help strengthen your position as the pack leader.

The last way you can demonstrate to your dog that you are the alpha leader is by grooming him and rubbing his belly. In the dog world, lying down displays submission to an authority leader and a pack leader will never show submission to those under him. This is what will make these sessions so great. It’s a fun and relaxing way for both you and your pet and it also proves to your dog that you are the leader and he is subordinate to you. All you have to do is make your dog lay down on his side and then brush him and rub his belly. This may be hard to do at first since your dog is not used to doing this, but as you continue to it, it will become easier and he will even begin to look forward to his grooming sessions.

When you put these five methods presented above into practice, your dog will soon begin to learn that you are the leader and he is the follower. Once he learns this lesson, your regular training sessions will go much more smoothly and easier since he already knows you are the leader and he place is to follow and do what ever you want him to do.

Having problems teaching your Labrador to keep his paws on the ground? There are quite a few resources out there that can teach you how to train a labrador to be well behaved. The key is to communicate effectively to your Labrador that jumping on people is a big no-no.

Now that we’re looking into how to train a labrador, let’s take a closer look at the breed itself. Known as great working dogs and loyal pets, The Labrador is one of the most popular types of dogs in America. They are gentle, intelligent, energetic and good natured making them excellent pets.

Learning how to train a labrador is not very difficult. There are very intelligent dogs who take and follow direction really well so once you communicate to them what you want they pick it fairly quickly. However, they’re also very exuberant creatures with tons of energy which is where all that jumping comes from.

So why is your Labrador jumping on you anyway? More than likely he’s just excited and being friendly. Unlike some dogs who like to use jumping to show dominance, a Labrador is most likely just showing you his pleasure at seeing you.

Make sure that you are consistent when you are thinking about how to train a Labrador. Remember that he will be confused if jumping is encouraged in some situations but not in others. Use the same command, whether it is “off” or “down,” and stick with it.

When your dog jumps on you, give him the command and then display with your body language how unhappy you are. Turn your back away, fold your arms and don’t look at him. Essentially, this tells your dog that when he behaves in this fashion, you will not give him the attention that he craves.

Then, when all four of his paws hit the ground again (watch out of the corner of your eye) praise him lavishly. Pet him, and play with him when he has gotten back down and you’ll soon see that he will respond to the command down in no time at all. When thinking about how to train a Labrador, remember that like any dog that they will respond better to rewards than to punishments.

Learning how to train a Labrador to keep his paws on the ground can be a fun and fairly simple process with a little effort, patience, and lots of love.

separation anxiety is the kind of sensation that we can relate to. Young children have the same sort of anxiety when their parents leave for a night out. They learn that their parents will return and do not feel anxiety anymore. The same process has to happen for our dogs so that their anxiety is reduced. Anxiety in dogs will often manifest as disconsolate howling, chewing things or uncontrolled urination. If the dogs stays indoors this can be a problem for you. This article will give you some ideas on how to ease separation anxiety in dogs.

Separation anxiety is something that a dog learns early in life. A puppy that isn’t weaned off it’s mother properly can have this problem later on in life. The puppy should spend around eight weeks with it’s mother before being separated.

Start teaching your puppy about separation anxiety as soon as it gets into it’s new home. although it is hard not to cuddle a puppy, try not to be too affectionate. This is pertinent at night times when you are going to bed. Place you puppy in it’s sleeping basket and walk away. Don’t make a fuss of it. It will learn that there will be times when it is alone.

If you make it clear to the puppy that you will not always be there then it will get used to it and will probably not suffer from separation anxiety when it gets older.

It might not be as straightforward to train a grown dog to not suffer from separation anxiety. Often grown dogs may have come from a shelter, the pound or have been given to you by the previous owner.

A dog that has spent any time in a shelter or pound has effectively been abandoned by it’s previous owner. Thus anxiety over a past or future separation may be a completely rational conclusion to draw from past experience. It may also have had little affection in the shelter making it even more anxious.

If it has been given to you by the previous owner there is generally a good reason why they have done this. It may be that there were family problems, a divorce, money problems or that the person had to leave the country. As a dog is a social animal and needs the support that a family gives to it, it is also aware when there are problems in the family. This can trigger emotional problems that could result in displaying separation anxiety at some point.

So for an older dog the first step is to heal old emotional wounds. In terms of separation anxiety, you will have to leve at some point so start off slowly. Practice leaving. Leave for a few minutes and then return. Don’t make a gbig deal of the leaving and returning, so as to imply that this is a normal process.

Continue this mock separation process but increase the time each time you separate. If you hear the dog getting anxious then return to a separation interval that he is comfortable with. Gradually the dog will be completely adjusted to separation and will not get anxious.

Other strategies that may work are to keep you pet bust while you are out. So you could hide some tasty treats in the garden to take his mind off the fact that he is alone.

When it comes to training your dog, it is a good idea to start as soon as you possibly can with them.  But do not think for one moment that just because your dog is older they are unlikely to be able to learn what you are trying to teach them.  In fact, even older dogs are able to learn some of the very basics of training.

It is important to remember that if you are considering using any of the dog training tips that are free is that dog’s attention span is not very long.  So keep the training sessions you do with your dog as short as you possibly can.  If you carry on for any length of time, they will soon become bored and lose interest in you and what you are trying to do with them.

Also, when training it is a good idea that you try to mix the lessons in with other activities that you will normally do with them and this will help to hold their attention for longer.  Also at all times, you should use as much positive reinforcement with your dog during the sessions.  But you should only provide them with a reward when they have actually done what it is you have asked them to do.

If you do find yourself having to reprimand your dog for any kind of bad behavior it is crucial that you keep it short and sharp and to the point.  Also it is crucial that you reprimand them as soon as the bad behavior has occurred rather than waiting until later after the training has been completed, as the dog will simply not understand why you are telling them.  As previously mentioned a dog’s attention span is not very long and generally the live for what is going on now as what has happened in the past or what is going to happen in the future.

Along with the few dog training tips, we have offered above there are plenty of others which you may want to consider using during your sessions.  Below we offer a few more dog training tips free that you may find useful, plus you can find many more with the SitStayFetch product.

It is important to remember that dogs are pack animals and so before you start any training it is a good idea to establish with them that you are the pack leader (alpha dog).  One way of quickly and effectively establishing this is by rubbing their belly and as soon as they roll over and show this to you, then they have submitted and approved you as pack leader.  Certainly by establishing yourself as pack leader you will find that the training sessions you have with your dog will go much more smoothly.

When you are spending time training your dog it is important that you remember that it will take time.  Plus you will need to have lots of patience and at all times you should be consistent in the way in which you train your dog.  If you are able to keep these and the dog training free tips we have provided above in mind, then you will find that the whole process of teaching your dog something new will be a much more pleasurable experience for you both.