Dog Training Options

So, you've got your gorgeous little puppy, or your lovely needy rescue dog.  Now what?  Well, once you've made sure you've catered to his or her basic needs such as food and a comfy dog bed, it's time to think about training your dog. 

When you think about dog training there are various roads along which you can go. If you've purchased a small puppy, make sure he's had his inoculations, and take him along to a puppy school or preschool. It will probably be a six to eight-week course aimed at primarily at socialization of your pup. To be a well-balanced adult dog, a puppy has to be introduced to as many different people, situations, and other dogs as possible. This makes him more adaptable in later life. Between the ages of six weeks and five months, he should also be introduced to the basics of dog training, such as sit, down, stay, and recall.

Beyond five months or so you might find a dog training class to advance his abilities in sitting, staying, lying down on command, walking on a leash, walking to heel, etc. All of these things may at first seem irrelevant, but you will invariably find yourself in situations throughout the life of your dog when these skills are at least convenient, and sometimes even life-saving. Imagine if your dog had never been taught to sit on command and he got loose in a dangerous place where there was traffic? If he will sit or down when you say so, you can make him stay still whilst you catch him and save him from danger. That's just one example.

The dog can progress into intermediate and advanced training, where you would build on his basic abilities and teach him really useful things like the remote down-stay, where he will lie down and be still even when you are not within his range of sight. You can train him to use his strong sense of smell to find an object, or go into formal obedience routines or agility.

The Canine Good Citizen Course is the most advanced of the courses available. To pass this a dog should be able to walk along with the owner without a leash, and other very advanced exercises. There are ten criteria the dog has to meet in order to pass this test, and it is quite difficult. Therefore it is obvious that if a dog is to pass this test you need to have done the groundwork with him on the previous courses.

If you are not sure which course is suitable for your dog, or what stage you want or need to get him to, it is easy to pick up the phone and consult with a dog trainer who will give you the appropriate guidance. And remember - much of dog training is about you, not just the dog! The dog is usually willing and able, it's the trainer who needs to be trained to get the best out of her dog, be he pedigree or mutt.