As we mentioned in our basic dog commands article, basic dog training commands aren’t just for tricks. They can be life savers when you or your dog encounters a dangerous situation. Your dog's ability to obey the sit or stay command for example, could prevent it from running out into a dangerous street or getting wrangled up in a dangerous fight with a strange aggressive dog. Obedience training also creates an amicable living environment. Here's a basic list of dog commands your dog need to learn - and learn now.  read more »

Basic dog commands aren’t just for tricks. They can be life savers when you or your dog encounters a dangerous situation. Your dog's ability to obey the sit or stay command for example, could prevent it from running out into a dangerous street or getting wrangled up in a dangerous fight with a strange aggressive dog. Obedience training also creates an amicable living environment. Here's a quick list of convincing reasons why you need to train your dog - and train it now.  read more »

Dogs jump when they’re excited. They’ll jump all over another dominant dog out of respect and they’ll jump all over you out of glee. But while dog jumping on people is generally a clear message of affection, it isn’t always appropriate. A large jumping dog can overwhelm and scare small children for instance, or it can make bringing in the groceries an even harder chore than what it already is. Here’s how to stop your dog from jumping without hurting its feelings.  read more »

The dog sit command is by far, one of the easiest to teach. It’s also one of the most common and important. Without the sit command, teaching the stay and down command would be more difficult than what it already is. Here are two ways you can teach your dog to sit on command:  read more »

To teach your dog or puppy the "leave it" command is to teach it boundaries. A dog that can differentiate appropriate property from inappropriate property is a dog that’s safer since many of the things we interact with are just too dangerous for dogs. Here’s how to teach your dog this command.  read more »

Regarding your canine like a member of the family is one thing, but treating it like another human or a human dog is an entirely different thing altogether. Its okay to love your pet, but you must set boundaries and establish yourself as its leader or boss. That’s not cruel, it is instead (believe it or not), what your dog expects from you.  read more »

The dog release command is the start and the end of every other command that you give your dog. If you tell your dog to sit and the dog complies for example, you must release it so that it can go on to do other things. In an effort to please you or convey that it fully understands your command, the poor thing might continue to follow a command when it isn’t appropriate to do so.  read more »

The heel command positions your dog to walk alongside your left leg and it requires that the dog maintain that position no matter if you slow your pace, increase your pace, run, or zigzag. This is an extremely important command whether you’re simply taking your dog on a walk around the neighborhood or walking your dog through an agility course. A dog that freely trots about an undisciplined course for example, opens itself and its handler to any number of accidents – in particular, tripping. Here's how to teach your dog to heel.  read more »

As mentioned in our article about dog obedience training, a dog trainer works with a dog suffering from a specific behavior problem in the environment that it’s most comfortable in: its own home. This article expands on the topic of dog trainers in more detail.

In addition to training dogs, a dog trainer also teaches owners how to handle a problematic pet. But because these lessons take place at the owner’s home, they’re much more expensive than classroom lessons.  read more »

The dog stay command is a lifesaver. Literally. There will be times when a leash just isn’t appropriate for a dog, but the ability to control the dog is. Here’s how to teach your dog to stay, whether you’re out in public, in the backyard, or inside the home.  read more »