Responsible dog owners understand that a trained dog is a good dog. From basic obedience to advanced techniques, proper socialization and instruction is not only necessary to have your dog be a good canine citizen, but it will help keep your dog safe and happy. Here are some tips to help you train your dog or find a trainer.

To train your dog how to act around people and guests in your home, it is crucial that the dog is socialized with other people. This contact with people, especially people who are new to your dog, will allow you to train the dog on how he should react. This is very useful to the training process.

Once your dog begins to master the commands you are giving him, change locations. Train your dog in a different room of the house, on your driveway, midway on your walk, in the park. Each new location offers new distractions. He might have trouble initially offering the behaviors, but soon he’ll be able to ignore the distractions, and he will be able to focus more on listening to your commands.

A dog with hobbies is a happy dog. Make your dog work on walks. Many large breed dogs enjoy carrying items during walks such as tennis balls, sticks, or even dog-sized backpacks. This gives a dog a sense of purpose and gives him something to concentrate on. This way his attention span will be less likely to stray from your walk.

Be a leader first and a “friend” second. From the moment you bring your dog home or begin to train him, you must constantly be leading. Attitude is your key to successful dominance and alpha behavior. Giving in to the playful side of your pet degrades the role you should be creating for your dog.

Chewing is something that all puppies do when teething, and you need to let them know exactly what they can and can’t chew. Provide your puppy with his own chew toys to alleviate the pain of teething, and try to keep other items out of reach. If you catch your puppy chewing on something unacceptable, firmly say ‘no’, and take the item away from him. Immediately replace it with one of his designated chew toys. If your puppy is in a lot of pain due to teething, a frozen wet washcloth is ideal for him to chew on.

We hope these tips will help you — and other people the two of you encounter — enjoy your dog to the fullest. Proper training makes dog ownership more rewarding and less stressful. Whether you decide to take on the challenge of training your dog yourself or you want to find a pro, training will help you enjoy many happy years with your dog.

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