Reinforcing the pecking order.

Reinforcing the pecking order:

Even from a young age your dog will try and establish dominance over their surroundings and the people in it, even little things like letting the dog up on the sofa will become a problem over time as dogs use height to their advantage. If your dog try's to climb higher than you on the sofa this is another sign he is trying to assert his or her dominance.  Little things can be done from an early age to address this problem and prevent it from getting any worse.  One trick is to keep your dog waiting for his dinner, leaving it on the side of the counter and letting them wait for 5 minutes, reinforces the fact that your in charge, you set the rules.  This might seem mean to some but its just another tool to help you achieve a more balanced relationship with your dog.  The younger you do this kind of training the better, if you are part of a family make sure that everybody knows what to do, and that they are all on the same page, mostly because mixed messages can be very confusing for a young dog.  Even little things like making your dog wait for you to enter your home first lets them know who's boss.

I will be doing another page on pecking orders soon, so if their are any questions you want to ask then feel free to email me at eraym2010@gmail.com

Socialising your dog.

Socialisation:

No1 thing that should be done when you get a dog, apart from the usual toilet training but try and stroke your dog as much as possible, this gets him used to human touch from a young age and can make a dog more tolerant in later life.  When your puppy has finally been cleared to go out,  be mindful of who you let your dog socialise with but the more socialisation a dog gets in the first six months of its life is one of the most important aspects of training your dog. Try not to pass on your fears re: the dog. Dogs have there own language and generally sort things out with a snarl or a bark.  Dogs have a certain hierarchy based on age and if this is not respected by your dog then trouble will more than likely occur, a growl or a gnash of the teeth.  Most puppies are quite submissive at an early age but more and more socialisation will help hem develop his/her confidence around other dogs.  This will make it easier for you in the long wrong, as dogs socialised at an early age are generally more tolerant of other dogs. and make better pets.


Eray.

eray_m@hotmail.co.uk

Sharing my views on how to avoid your dog from becoming a menace.

DOGS: You gotta love em.

His Nibs.

The purpose to this Blog is to help with my writing skills and have pondered for quite some time what exactly I feel very passionate about, so basically I want to share my views with people living with dogs, people who love dogs but are scared maybe? or those people that are thinking about getting a dog, and think its going to be like Lassie (a famous film dog for the younger readers), well trained and ready to do exactly what you say. To the latter, I implore to think hard and long about whether or not you can handle and care for what is basically either a friend for life, or in the wrong hands, a ticking time bomb.

I was brought up from a young age with dogs of various shapes and sizes, From Chihuahuas to Great Danes, Jack Russell's to King Charles Spaniels.  All of these dogs had their own little personalities and traits that made them special.  Apart, that is, of the attack dogs.  My stepfather was a so called independent security guard and dog breeder, who would also buy and sell dogs from places like brick lane in the 1970's.  He specialised in Attack dogs, mostly German or Belgian Shepherds.  These dogs were kept away from the rest of the family, they were not what you would call, lap dogs.  They had been trained to attack people, sometimes with a sleeve (mostly on me) so that any intruder to a yard or a house would be deterred from their objective as a direct result from the ferocity of the dogs.  This was in the late 70's, early 80's and Staffie's hadn't become as popular as they have these days.  The point I'm trying to make is that these dogs, when trained to become attack-guard dogs then what you basically have at the end of a lead is a trained killer.  So why are the British Government dragging their heels when it comes to doing something about this issue.   What is it going to take to make the government understand how dangerous these dogs are and licence or force some kind of registration system for any kind of dog that could be lethal.  What is the attraction of having a dog that you could never let off the lead in fear that he or she would run off and attack and kill someone Else's dog?  I will focus my next blog on socialisation and how important it is, for any breed.   This is one of the most important aspects of a dogs early development.