Many people think that dog training is only used in special situations for guard dogs or service animals. However this activity has become very popular over the years because of its effectiveness in teaching household dogs how to behave in ways which are more desirable in the world of humans. Dog training teaches the animal to obey simple commands such as sit, down, and heel. Sometimes a handler is used to help with the training but many times the owner can teach these simple commands.
Dog training schools are used to teach dogs a number of things from basic obedience training and "potty training" to more advanced options for dogs that are used in law enforcement or other services. For the latter there are specialized schools available. It is best to find a dog training school or method that uses non-aggressive, reward-based means to motivate the animals, making them more receptive towards your training methods.
One of the options available at the larger dog training schools is residential training which teaches the animal how to walk on a leash without distraction, how to behave around visitors, how to sit and remain quiet whist the owner is otherwise occupied and how to respond to other commands that can be specifically tailored to the owner’s liking. A good residential training system would typically involve approximately four steps:
Dog training: this is where the dog is trained based on the course content, it is perfect for dogs that are easily distracted and need proper socialization. It is also ideal for owners who do not have control over their dogs and wish to have the animal trained while they are away.
Owner training is employed after the dog has been trained in obedience. The owners will then be taught to use the commands and response techniques which have been taught to the dog. Questionnaires are used to find out information about the dogs history as well as specific behavioral issues.
Home training. The good dog training facility would provide owners with something like a three week home training plan and a complete aftercare service for customers who chose the ‘complete package’ option.
In any dog training school worth its salt there should be individual training based on the breed of the animal. Unsurprizingly, the most popular breeds for training tend to be German shepherds, Boxers, Golden retrievers, Japanese Akita and Labradors. All these breeds are eager to train and keen to learn: they have strong instincts which should be kept in check and trained towards more positive outlets than chewing, barking or excessive guarding.
Options would also typically include regular boarding, boarding plus and boarding with training. Regular boarding is suitable for dogs that have a low to medium activity level and the service should offer an exercise area, cosy kennels, 24 hours per day attention and at least a 20 minute walk each day.
Boarding plus should offer a lot of human interaction and dogs should be given one hour of scheduled activities each day. Ideally, it ought to offer all the services of the regular boarding as well as an hour long road walk, 30 minute walks in a local park, three group play sessions and 20 minute ‘free run’ sessions daily. The boarding with training option teaches the animal new obedience skills. Trainers should work with the dogs on behaviour management and specific areas of obedience. It goes without saying that any institution advertising such services would have professional trainers, carers and behaviorists available 7 days a week and 24 hours per day, and that the level of training would be customized to suit the specific requirements of the dog.
