After welcoming a baby in to the world you are probably concerned about how your dog is going to react.

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Many people surrender their pets to shelters because of exhibited jealousy from their dog after a new baby’s arrival and fear of the infant being harmed by the animal. Yet many families have been successful in introducing their dogs to the new baby.

Introducing your dog to your baby is a process that needs time and the utmost of care to ensure a happy and safe welcoming process!

The steps to ensuring your dog acts appropriately around the baby when he or she is finally taken back to your home are twofold usually – preparing your dog for the infants arrival and introducing your dog to your infant.

Preparing your dog…

Preparing your dog for the baby’s arrival in advance is one of the best ways to help avoid friction and jealousy between your baby and your dog.

Your dog is used to your attention and pampering, some jealousy will naturally surface when your new baby becomes the center of attention. Taking some precautions, a few minutes of quality time and some extra treats can go a long way!

Dog and New Baby Introduction Checklist:

• Take your dog to your local Veterinarian for a complete checkup a few months before the baby arrives.
• Worms and parasites can be harmful to your baby so be sure to worm your dog before the baby arrives and at the normal intervals to keep on top of this problem. If your dog is not spayed or neutered, this is also the time to get it done.
• Encourage friends with infants to visit your home to accustom your pet to babies. Supervise all pet and infant interactions.
• Allow your dog to explore the baby’s sleeping, diaper changing areas, and related items such as baby powder, lotions, and diapers to become familiar with the new smells and objects. Apply baby lotion or powder to your hands, for example, and allow your dog to sniff the new smell. Dogs rely on their sense of smell, so familiarity with the new baby smells will help him or her recognize the baby as a part of the family. If possible, allow your dog to smell clothing that your baby has used before you bring the baby home.
• Accustom your pet to baby-related noises months before the baby is expected. For example, play recordings of a baby crying (there are CDs out now for this exact training purpose – (see www.soundtherapy4pets.com/ for CDs with baby noises), turn on the mechanical infant swing, and use the rocking chair. Make these positive experiences for your pet by offering a treat or playtime.
• Do not allow your dog to sleep on the baby’s furniture or play with the baby’s toys. Your dog should know that the furniture is not for him or her and should treat it as such. Provide toys for the dog that do not resemble baby toys. A dog may take the toy from the baby’s hand and unintentionally injure the infant.
• If the baby’s room will be off-limits to your pet, install a sturdy barrier such as a removable gate (available at pet or baby supply stores) or, for jumpers, even a screen door. Because these barriers still allow your dog to see and hear what’s happening in the room, your dog will feel less isolated from the family and more comfortable with the new baby noises.
• Use a baby doll to help your pet get used to the real thing. Carry around a swaddled baby doll, take the doll in the stroller when you walk your dog, and use the doll to get your pet used to routine baby activities, such as bathing and diaper changing.
• Finally and very importantly, be sure that your dog knows that you and your family are alpha over him or her – this is crucial to ensure you can reprimand your dog should any jealous signs show when the baby is brought home.

Introducing your dog to your infant.

The actual introduction of your dog to your newborn baby is of utmost importance and the first few meetings can often dictate how your dog responds to your baby in an ongoing basis. For this reason, it is crucial to undertake the introduction process slowly and properly.

Tips for the first meeting include:

• When the baby comes home, another person should hold the baby while you greet your dog. Your dog has missed you and it is important to pay attention to him or her when you first get home.
• Greet your dog happily and bring him or her a new toy as a gift to associate the baby with something positive. After your dog’s excitement about your homecoming has dissipated you should start introducing your baby to the dog.
• If you are unsure of your dog’s behavior, leash or restrain him or her during the introduction. Talk to your dog, pet and encourage him or her to get a good look and sniff the baby’s hands and feet.

Do not force a reluctant dog by pushing the infant in front of the pet. Allow the pet to explore the new smells at their own pace. Never leave your baby unsupervised with your pet. An infant is incapable of pushing the animal away and your dog may inadvertently smother the child. The actions of a baby may scare your dog and cause it to bite in self-defense. If your dog reacts aggressively, put him or her in another room until it is calm and try the introduction again.

After the initial greeting, you can bring your pet with you to sit next to the baby; reward your pet with treats for appropriate behavior. Remember, you want your pet to view associating with the baby as a positive experience. Again, to prevent anxiety or injury, never force your pet to get near the baby, and always supervise any interaction.

Life will no doubt be hectic caring for your new baby, but try to maintain regular routines as much as possible to help your pet adjust. And be sure to spend one-on-one quality time with your pet each day—it may help relax you, too. With proper training, supervision, and adjustments, you, your new baby, and your pet should be able to live together safely and happily as one (now larger) family. For more information on dog training techniques and how to deal with problem dog behavior (like accustoming your dog to children), check out Secrets to Dog Training. It’s the complete manual for dog ownership and is designed to fast-track your dog’s learning. You can visit the Secrets to Dog Training site.

Leash walking is one of the commands that dog owners have difficulty with.

In this video you can learn a simple secret to leash walking.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Dog Barking Problems – Episode 1

This is Episode 1 in a series of videos on how to train your dog not to bark.

This episode focuses on barking at noises.

The next episode will be focusing on barking at visual stimuli- dogs and people etc.

Here’s another dog trainer’s perspective on solving your barking problem.  (Well, not YOURS, but your dog’s) 

Basic Dog Training Tips : How to Train a Dog to Stop Barking

Here’s an easy method that you can use to stop your dog from jumping on friends and family.

If your dog is bothering friends, family, and the mail man with jumping problems, remember it’s just love.  Just too much of it expressed in an unacceptable way.

Don’t get mad, just use this training method to keep your dog from jumping on people…

Noted veterinarian and dog trainer Dr. Ian Dunbar offers a few of the “million different ways” to train a dog, outlining three simple strategies.

With so many dog trainers talking about so many different methods for dog training, it’s nice that a pro can break it down into bite-sized chunks for us so we don’t have to become professional dog trainers just to have a well-behaved dog!

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by Dr. Nicholas Dodman

Dog obedience training is one of the best things you can do for your dog and yourself. Obedience training doesn’t solve all behavior problems, but it is the foundation for solving just about any problem including soiling your house, destroying your belongings, barking excessively, digging holes in your yard, fighting other dogs and even biting you.

For most dog owners, dog obedience training is a daunting task. However, training your dog is about to get much easier, if you follow my advice below.

Here Are My Top 10 Tips For Training Your Dog

1. Dog training should be an enjoyable experience for you and your dog. If you are not in the right mood for training, don’t even start.

2. Keep dog obedience training sessions short (5-10 minutes) to maintain your dog’s motivation. Dogs will learn much more from regular short sessions than from longer, less frequent ones. Once the dog has learned several useful commands on the continuous reward schedule, the schedule should be changed to one of intermittent rewards.

3. Always end training on a positive note. Ask your dog to respond to a command you know he or she will obey. Then reward your dog for a job well done and issue a finish command such as “free” or “release.” Avoid common words such as “okay.” Following a training session, both owner and dog should be left with feelings of accomplishment.

4. Keep in mind that your dog’s motivation to respond to a command decreases as the complexity of the task increases. If your dog doesn’t respond appropriately to a command after several attempts, don’t reward him or her. Resume training a few seconds later using a simpler command. Return to the more complex task later.

5. Remember, the odds of success hinge not only on the degree of sophistication of the task, but also your dog’s motivation to respond. From a dog’s perspective the question is, which is more rewarding: chasing the squirrel or returning to the owner? Understanding this aspect will increase your patience and chances for dog training success.

6. Training should not involve any negative or punishment-based components. There should be no yelling, no hitting, no chain jerking, no hanging, and absolutely no electric shock. Remember that the opposite of reward is not punishment; it is no reward. If you ignore unacceptable responses, your dog will not be rewarded for his or her failed response. Most dogs want to please their owners or, at the very least, to obtain highly valued resources (food, attention and toys).

7. Ensure that your dog’s motivation for reward is highest during a training session. If food is the reward, train before a meal, not after. If praise, petting and other aspects of your attention are to be used as a reward, schedule the training session at a time when your dog hungers for your attention (for example, after you have returned home from work).

For complex tasks, such as the off leash down-stay, your dog will be more motivated to comply if he or she has received moderate exercise before the training session. Asking a dog that is bursting with energy to remain in a prolonged reclining position is asking for failure during the early stages of training.

8. Make sure the reward you offer in training is the most powerful one for your dog. Food-motivated dogs work well for food, but the treats used should be you dog’s favorite food. If praise is used as a reward, deliver it in high singsong tones, which are most pleasing for the dog. Also, enthusiasm in your voice will be much appreciated. If petting is to be used as a reward, it should be in a way that the dog enjoys, such as stroking the dog’s hair on the side of his or her face in the same direction that it grows, or scratching him or her on the chest.

9. After a correct response, reward your dog within 1/2 second of the command. This will ensure your dog makes the connection between the behavior and the reward.

10. Use short commands such as sit, down, leave it, quiet, out, and off. Say the word once. Do not repeat the command. Dogs will remember a command for about two minutes before the notion is lost. Shorter words are better than longer words and words that end in a hard consonant (C, K, T, X) are better than those that end in a vowel because you can “spit” them out.

A Bonus Dog Training Tip:

The “Holy Grail” of training is to have the dog reliably obeying commands off lead, even when other things are going on around him or her. This level of training can be achieved, but only after a lot of hard work and investment of time. It’s something to strive toward.

—
As a PetPlace.com columnist, Dog trainer & behavioral specialist, Dr. Nicholas Dodman has provided thousands of pet owners just like you with valuable insights in keeping their dogs obedient, healthy, and happy. To get your free daily dose of pet crazy stories and access to over 8000 veterinarian approved advice articles guaranteed to help you train your dogs and keep them living longer, stronger lives, go to: http://www.petplace.com/dogs.aspx

Dog obedience training is one of the best things you can do for your dog and yourself. Obedience training doesn’t solve all behavior problems, but it is the foundation for solving just about any problem including soiling your house, destroying your belongings, barking excessively, digging holes in your yard, fighting other dogs and even biting you.

Related articles…

• How to Correct Dog Training Problems (animaltopics.com)
• High-spirited dog is far from hopeless (timesunion.com)
• Crate Training. Some Vital Information. (animaltopics.com)
• Dog Training With a Leash or Collar (animaltopics.com)

Okay, who among us does not love to watch movies with well trained dogs? Dogs like Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Air Bud, and Pongo the Dalmatian? These dogs do cool dog tricks that are far beyond the basic dog training. Is it really possible for your average Tina to learn beyond dog obedience training?

Good news! Even a rescued dog can surely learn these adorable and simple dog tricks. I will show you how to get your dog to wave, play dead, dance, and crawl. These are actually easy tricks to teach dogs.

Before you begin teaching Tina to do dog tricks for entertainment purposes, it is essential for her to have mastered all the basic dog obedience commands. These include sit, down, stay, heel (left and right), come, as well as a long sit, down, or stay, and all commands performed off leash. The dog must also be able to handle distractions.

Let us start with showing Tina how to “shake,” which follows with a wave session next. If Tina likes to use her paws, say “Good shake,” and reward her with affection when she places her paw in your hand. If Tina does not like to use her paws, help her. Place her paw in your hand and tell her shake. Repeat the exercise three to five times in a row to drill it in and reinforce it, always using the same hand and the same paw.

Repeat this entire exercise session four to six times a day, but with no more than five iterations at once. This keeps Tina from getting bored.

Now that Tina has mastered shaking hands, ask her to sit in readiness for the next of her cool dog tricks – waving. Then put your hand out about an inch away from her. When she reaches for your hand, tell her “Good wave.” Increase the distance a little more each time. If Tina gets frustrated, go back to the last time she waved and help her with the increased distance.

Always play with your dog for a few minutes after each training session. Playtimes keep the whole thing relaxed and fun. It is also important bonding time.

Ready for more cool dog tricks? If you want Tina to learn to crawl and play dead, begin with playing dead. Have Tina lie down. Either roll her on her side yourself, or use a favorite toy as an assistant. Tell her to “Stay dead.” Before too long, you will only need the word “dead.”

To teach Tina to crawl, have her lie down, and then tell her to stay a minute. Next, sit on the floor a couple of inches away. Keeping your hand just barely above the floor, motion for her to come. As she crawls, encourage her with calmly saying “Crawl; that-a-girl, crawl!” Reward her with affection, or use a favorite toy if you like.

Dancing is another of the popular tricks to teach dogs. You want your Tina to learn to dance around in a circle, but how? Form an “O” with your hand. Move your hand slowly in a circle, while moving your body around as necessary, to get your dog to follow your hand in a circular fashion. All the while you are saying, “Dance. Let’s dance.” (Or something similar.) If Tina jumps at your hand, make her sit, then get her on a heel and have her follow you with your hand still in the “O” position, your arm slowly moving in a circle. She will start to get the idea.

Next, you might teach Tina to dance standing on her back legs. This is especially easy if your dog likes to jump or stand for affection. Just set it up so that she is doing the motion, then give it a name (e.g., “dance” or “groove”) and reward her for doing the motion. “Good Groove!”

As you see, your dog can learn how to do these simple dog tricks in a step by step process. Be aware, though, that Tina needs a motion first, which is then associated with a word. Otherwise, you give a word command and the dog becomes confused, anxious and frustrated, eager to please but not knowing how. It is easy for her to watch your hand, though. So, induce an action or reward a behavior, then give that behavior a name. Before you know it, your dog will amaze your friends, appearing as a dog movie star with impressive cool dog tricks!

GET HELP from Rena Murray at the Dog Obedience Training website. Proven Dog Behavior Modification Expert-Dog Obedience Trainer-Platinum Expert Author, Rena debunks Dog Training Myths in hands-on Articles, free “Best Ezines” newsletter – PAW PERSUASION POINTERS, and blatant Blog to help you better understand, communicate with, control and enjoy your dogs. Rena boldly addresses all your Dog Training and Dog Rehabilitation needs – whether puppy house training, destructive dog behavior, obsessive dog behavior, dog instinctive behavior, or cool dog tricks. Get your FREE Newsletter Subscription at http://www.PawPersuasion.com/ where you also find Dog Products, Dog Houses and Crates, Dog Lover Gifts, and all things dog-related. Need more help? Contact Rena for Coaching.

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