No Sweeping Breed Statements in Dog Obedience Training

In your dog training travels, you've likely stumbled upon breed specific training programs, for training German shepherd, terrier training, and Labrador training. These dog training programs effectively play into the predicted traits of all of these breeds; however, it's important to understand that these programs are purely supplemental, and that falling into breed generalizations can lead to dog training blunders.

It's commonly known that beagles are barkers, that Australian shepherds are super intelligent, and that Chihuahuas can be suspicious of large dogs and strangers.

Though we have come to believe these things as truths, and they generally are, it's important to understand that it can be detrimental to dog obedience training to assume that every member of a specific breed will possess identical character traits. Too many times, well meaning dog owners assume that they can skip steps for intelligent breeds, or only concentrate on changing the undesirable traits of other breeds.

Much more goes into determining a dog's personality than pedigree. Here are a few other contributing factors:

An upstanding puppy breeder or a top dog trainer knows that 8 to 12 weeks is the ideal age for a puppy to be transferred from her canine family to her human family. Earlier than 8 weeks, and she will not have learned how to control her biting, or how to interact with fellow dogs. This means she could come to you with a nipping or dog aggression problem. If she remains with her littermates and her mother for more than 12 weeks, she could fall into a pecking order habit of being submissive or dominant, and bring that into her dog human relationship with you.

Maybe a dog was frozen with fear over a happening of the past. If a child pulled her ears hard enough to cause pain, she might feel uneasy around your children. If she had been accidentally closed into a closet, and forgotten about, she might fear the doors and closets in your house. Obviously, you cannot change the events of the past, but you can, with a solid dog obedience training program, change her attitude toward the things that she fears, so that she will react with less volatility toward them.

Dogs are bred for appearance, endurance, chase, protection, and size factors. They're also bred so that their temperaments match the job they were bred to do. These temperaments generally run through most veins of a particular breed, but as with every rule, there are always exceptions. If possible, make it a point to meet the parents of a puppy you're planning to adopt. Her mother and father's personalities will be indicative of her future personality.

You can't be sure how your dog was trained before she came to live with you. If she was permitted to soil the interior of the house, or if her aggressive behavior toward people and animals was not corrected, you'll need dog training, crate training, housetraining, clicker training, and puppy potty training to prevent those ingrained habits from further developing.

Avoid skipping dog obedience training steps because you deem them unnecessary for your dog's breed. If her breed predicts that she'll be friendly, don't skip the socialization. If her breed predicts that she'll bark, don't concentrate solely on dog barking and ignore other dog training techniques.

Training German shepherd, terrier training, and Labrador training programs are designed to enhance standard, positive dog obedience training. Skipping the basics would be like trying to learning to divide without first learning to add, subtract, and multiply.

Your dog's character is unique among dogs, and among members of her own breed. Without travel through every portion of a dog obedience training program, you might never truly uncover every aspect of her multifaceted temperament. So use dog training to get to know her, to help her to grow to be a well rounded companion, and to slide seamlessly into the dog human relationship you're dreaming of.

Dr. Nortey Omaboe is a practicing veterinarian with over 27 years of experience. He created Fast and Easy Dog Training with a professional dog Trainer. Please visit http://fastandeasydogtraining.com to learn more.

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