Dog Owner or Dog Guardian?

8th March 2010

Dog Owner or Dog Guardian - which one are you?

People who have dogs are commonly referred to as owners, masters or pack leaders, which gives people the impression that dogs are property or followers, who should do what we say when we say it without needing to put in the effort to teach them.

So, instead of being a dog owner, why not be a dog guardian? Vow to love, protect and educate your dog! As a dog guardian, it is up to you to make sure that your dog is well educated, feels protected and cared for.

As with all social animals a family requires a guardian or role model, which is not to be feared but trusted and respected. Gain the trust and respect of your dog and their confidence in you will grow. You will have a dog that you can take anywhere, as they know they are always safe with you.

To gain this trust will take time and can be gained through positive reward based training, playing fun games and providing plenty of mental and physical stimulation which will all help to build up your dog’s confidence in both themselves and you.

Learning to read your dog will help you to judge how they may react to a situation – why? So you can make sure it’s a positive experience.
Behavioural problems can develop in dogs due to the dog’s lack of confidence in their owner and / or the owner’s lack of ability to read their dog’s body language appropriately. The owners may have been attempting to communicate with their pet in a way another dog would, which can be very confusing for both parties!

Dogs learn by association, repetition and the consequence of their actions, especially if there is a treat involved. Reward based training is not about bribing your dog. It is about motivating the dog to work for you because they want to - not because they feel they have to. Consistent positive reward based training will help you to bond with your dog. Treats can be slowly phased out, and your affection will be the best reward, however an extra treat here and there wont hurt to help reinforce the command.

If your dog views you as the most amazing thing in the world they will listen to your every command, because they know good things always happen when they listen to you! Dogs usually do something if they find it rewarding. This can be as simple as a ‘sit’ for a piece of chicken, or jumping on the kitchen table, as last time they found something tasty to chew on. This can be difficult for first time dog owners, but with a bit of patience and consistent training, even the most stubborn of dogs and most nervous of owners will enjoy and look forward to spending time with each other.

Once you become a dog guardian and start to view your dog’s problems through a guardian’s eyes, the bond between you and your dog will improve in leaps and barks.

Danielle Beck BSc (Hons)

Provisional Member APBC

http://apbc.org.uk/blog/dog_owner_or_dog_guardian

Tip 1. Know What Your Dog Wants

 It is really important to know the character of your dog in order to achieve the very best from your training. There are many excellent but varied methods of training dogs available today but until you know exactly what is going to turn your dog on..... you will struggle to achieve.

Ask yourself the following questions:
Is my dog really appreciative of his food?
If the answer is “yes” then tit-bit reward training would be a good method.

Does my dog love a game with his toys?

If he does, then try some toy reward based training.

Is my dog so into pleasing me he doesn’t need anything other than a kind word and a hug?

This is the ideal but very few dogs will work for love alone. Humans go to work for payment and most of our dogs appreciate payment as well.

Have you observed any “Clicker” training? Look into different methods and try to put the very best method to your individual dog.

No one method will work for every dog. Do be prepared to give a method a fair chance before changing to another method. Too much changing will result in a very confused dog.

Tip 2. Select The Correct Training Time

Never train your dog when it is tired. Never train your dog when it has recently been fed, especially if you are using food reward training. If your dog is very exuberant, give him a short walk before beginning training.

Tip 3. Tit Bit Reward Training
If you are to use Tit-bit reward training it is vital that you choose high quality tit-bits. Your dog may love a dry biscuit. You may love boiled egg and soldiers. Have you ever gone out to dine and ordered boiled egg and soldiers?

People can be lazy and prefer offering a biscuit rather than really treating their dog to a tasty morsel which it will only get when responding to training.

Tip 4. Treats To Try
Hot Dog Sausages. Open a tin or bottle. Add a little garlic. Chop into pieces and use as rewards.

Liver Cake

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. Self-raising flour.

1 lb. Liver.

2 Eggs.

2 teaspoons of Garlic Powder.

1 cup of milk.Water to mix.

Put the liver, eggs and garlic through a blender until smooth.  Gradually add the flour and milk, and then top up with water until you have a sponge-like consistency.  Put the mixture into a flat baking tray and place in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees.  Cook until no liquid remains when tested with a needle or fork (roughly 30-60 minutes), depending on the depth of the tray.  Cool it off, before cutting into cubes, bagging it up and freezing it in separate packages.  You should have enough tit-bits to last you for weeks.

Or

Tuna Cake Microwave Option

3 eggs
Plain flour
Garlic
Tin tuna with sunflower oil (not brine)
 
Mix tuna, garlic, eggs in a bowl and add flour till you get a paste consistency.
Put in microwave and cook for appox 7 mins.

More Training Tips Soon!