To take control of your dogs behavior you must first understand him.

Examples of some basic control commands before trying to correct bad behaviors:

This Dog was brought to me with anxiety proublems, out of control	Now this Dog sits on command near or far by voice commands, hand signals (as shown above) and by whistle commands	Example German Shepard named Joe stands on voice command and hand signal from the sit position at a distance.
Example Rotweiler named Zeuss was impounded for bitting, not allowed to go home till control was gained. Shown here not biting me and sitting on my command.	Zeuss came to me for boarding and training, with a severe biting problem. Stands on voice command/ hand signal from the sit position.	Example Rotweiler named Zeuss downs on voice command and hand signal from the sit position at a distance.
Come command to sit in front nose to handlers grion	Now Joe does circles to right or left on command by voice and finger commands	Example Zeuss again with a happy obedient come and sits in front.

He is an animal not unlike the animal called man.There are many similarities to man.We read things into the relationships we have with our dogs, because we become close and identify with their personalities and then juge from our civilized views and perspective. That often does not fit or match with the perspective of the K9, the basic wolf evolution of the dog. Mentally,instinctually and by drive he is not human. Though domesticated like man he is closser to his original nature,instinctual drives and needs then humans! But man does have more then a three or four level reasoning ability. Today the K9 is not born in the wild and raised by his K9 parents. He does not have the guidence and role models to teach him what is natueral to his speacease. When to be agressive, how much, when not to be, toward who or what, personal grooming, normal mating behavior, use of sences, daily need to explore and find, the hunt, even eating the hunt and pecking order are just a few of the things learned by growing up in a pack with his parents. Most today have been bread to be smaller and grow up in a home of humans. So what is observed from you, the only pack he knows is how he tries to judge and learn yet it often does not seem right, does not cover everything, does not seem to satisfy all his urges. Confussion and instability can arise as a result. If you really care, don't just love your dog. That is not all he needs. Think as a mother or father K9, think of him as a K9. Try to raise him, teach him about his needs and what to do about them as a K9. He has a physicality and an ego about that to develope, and should think of himself much as a very strong athlete does. A dog is a pack animal! Every member of the pack has a job, a function that he is good at. He is born to roam, in groups, is a socicl animal that needs companionship and if denied that becomes very anxious and panicy, even narotic. Remember he has a strong ego about himself (he should have) and his relation to others in his group! He is a born scavenger, meant to develope strong physical traits, takes pride in finding and discovering things,lets others know he has been there,marks that territory as his, he must have an area to control an area, he needs to take it. In nature he barges in, takes it over, claims this territory as his! He needs to feel he is protecting it, feel secure about it, and the support his pack gives him in keeping it. He is designed to be fast, very agile, a real flanker, he must be athletic! He needs to exercise, express him self physically, to develop his physical prowess! If not, confusion, lack of values, listlessness, apathy, depression set in and can cause many bad habits, bad behaviors (not just for a dog pack) but very disasterous for a human household. He identifies, has moods, personalities, feeling objects and other animals much more by smell then by sight. Abilities of his Sense of Smell varies allot by breed but basically is millions of times better then ours.His sight is black and white not colour and narrower then ours. But can hear much higher pitches then any human, figures things and gets meanings from life by identifying constant sounds, by tonal patterns (not words)! He sees things as black and white, narrower in scope then a human, but uses sight to assist greatly in figuring personalities, hunting and threats! Group pecking order is extremely important to dogs it is constantly tested, is often changed through daily activities within the group, play and physical aggression. Pecking order is all about physical signs of respect and not love or affection. Pecking order determines the dogs limitations, if he can move, go first, bite or chew and how hard, if he can do what he wants and when! In dog training you are viewed as a team by your dog. There is the handler or pack leader and his dog; and the others (Teams and helpers). The helpers and their dogs are club members that help in training, tracking, serve as distractions, make noise, do agitation/ protection work, and serve as others in group exercises). You can be the leader of two or ten it doesn't matter how many is in your group. But if you are not the leader or a head of in rank of the others of the group your commands and desires will be ignored unless the dog/s want to play with you or feel like doing as you commanded any way. In your families home you may be the leader of you and your dog. But when you leave the dog may believe he is the leader over the other members (wife and children) not to just protect but dominate over and do as he wants around them. Pecking order and establishing it is important and necessary to a dog pack for many reasons, hunting, eating, protection, in a attack meeting, accepting others and many other actions as well. Dogs look to you for direction, if you are weak or unclear, inconsistent, lack of direction leads to confusion, uncertainty in behavior, and displays of rebellion, jealousy, anxiety, narotic behavior, and destructive to get your attention! So take control. Create discipline, order, schedule what he gets and when. Create order, limitations. Give time to squat (bathroom time), check it out time/ roam, exercise, then it's stopped! Discipline - work or training time (maybe twenty minutes), then that time is over. Now after it's exercise/ play time together (example: tug of war, Ball, Frisbee, stick retrieve time), make him tired put him away, then give food and take that away. Create a place mat for him to sleep on in the kennel, use a mat to send him to or stay on till you release him (there by showing him where he is allowed, also where he is not to be,and when)! This is very important! Do not give him free roam of the house and other territory, as he wants all the time. He does not get to sleep on your bed, sit on your couch or in your chair. This is showing the dog you are equals and lessons his fear and respect for you. The dog is allowed only some places you are, but you must still be the boss! He gets to be in this area at certain time of day or night (example: Kennel up at dark). Then he gets to be in a larger area at certain times (example: to roam fenced area at day or night). Then he is shown he has a job to do, a purpose at times. Food is given to him to eat at night or for several hours (example: six PM) then it is taken away and not given back till that certain time again. Certain toys and chew items and treats are given only after performing a task and then he is rewarded by being allowed to play with your toy. It should be seen as yours, (not his) and that he gets to use. Then it is put away not left out freely to be used when ever he wants it. Value of treats and toys are neutralized or lessened if there is free access. Praise, toys and treats are earned, Not Given! A different treat, more of a treat and praise when better more complex behavior is accomplished! Your signals (hand gestures and sounds) must sound the same all the time! One simple distinctive syllable tone is best and should be clearly different from the other commands. Hand, and voice commands are then used all the time together and then a six months to a year later can be separated to where hand signals will work when dog is out of voice signal range. If three tone whistles have been used one with you come-on command, down command and his bark/ speak command you will find this very useful later at distances. Start Obedience training first. Once a series of control commands have been firmly programmed into the dog’s responses you will have also developed a strong bond between the two of you and a learning phase where many other behaviors can be taught or altered! Thus anxiety, narotic and other bad behaviors can be more easily corrected, redirected and altered!

Get Control Click Here

Get Control Click Here

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