Introducing your puppy to the crate should be an easy and fun process. First, start by putting the crate somewhere the puppy enjoys being. Try the family room or wherever everyone “hangs out”. Open the door and just let your puppy explore at his own pace. Reward him for going near it by tossing a cheerio or some other small treat.

To teach the words “kennel” (I use go to bed) Just toss in a treat and say the word. Don’t shut the door everytime.

Never shove your dog in a crate. Your dog will quickly learn that kennel means get in your crate.

If your dog doesn’t go in after the cookie, then toss it closer and closer until your dog does go in. Then let him come out on his own.

You dont want your puppy to learn that everytime you say it you mean you are going to be leaving him. Otherwise he might avoid getting in!

You can also feed your dog in their kennel. If everytime you reward them for going in, they will begin to enjoy it and have a positive association to the crate.

Finally, when you do leave your dog leave a stuffed kong to keep your puppy busy. If they do whine or bark, never let them out. Wait until they are quiet. Teach your dog to sit patiently while waiting to leave the crate. Starting manners early will eliminate common problems.

Amy Dunphy
The Dog Trainer Search
Find everything you need to train your dog or puppy.

The West Highland Terrier is a friendly dog, and is considered easier to handle and train than other terriers, such as the Scottish Terrier. Still, it possesses the bold, dynamic terrier temperament, and has to be trained in a manner appropriate for the breed.

Your West Highland Terrier training begins from the moment you bring your terrier home. Westies are stubborn and clever, and considered a bit naughty. They will become demanding and ill tempered if they do not get their way, so you must teach them from the start that you are in charge. From the beginning, treat your terrier in a firm, consistent way.

Terrier puppies, like all very young dogs, should be trained in short sessions of five minutes or less. Make the training session play for both you and your terrier. Generously reward your dog with praise. They are also known to react well to food training.

Your Westie will become confused if you lash out at its misbehavior, particularly if you continue to be angry after the behavior has stopped. Your little terrier wants to please you, and by consistently rewarding the behavior you wish to promote, you will encourage it to become part of the dog’s personality.

Like the Scottish Terrier, and other terrier breeds, Westies are barkers. Barking is a dog’s natural way to communicate a variety of feelings from happiness, to anxiety, to boredom. The terrier breeds, though, are quicker to bark than other dogs.

The most natural reaction by dog owners is to yell at your terrier to stop barking. This is exactly the WRONG thing to do. Your dog hears the loud voice as a sort of human bark, and it only reinforces the behavior. The key is to remain calm, verbally and physically, and diffuse the terrier’s excited emotional state. Say ‘no bark’ in a calm but firm tone. Never forget to reward the dog when the barking stops.

West Highland Terriers are clever, active dogs, and they will sometimes bark out of boredom. Be sure to provide your dog with walks and appropriate play to stimulate their minds and bodies. You can divert their attention with a chew toy that can be stuffed with a food treat.

Other concerns common to West Highland Terrier training, as well as Scotties and other terrier breeds, are digging, chasing, and aggressive behavior. These little dogs were never bred to be pets, but rather to hunt down and kill vermin.

Never encourage your terrier’s natural behavior by engaging in aggressive play. It is difficult for your Westie to distinguish that gnawing and nipping are all right during play, but not at other times.

(Disclaimer: Any information contained in this site relating to various medical, health and fitness conditions of Westies or other animals and their treatments is for informational purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own veterinarian. You should not use the information contained herein for diagnosing the health of any animal. You should always consult and check with your own vet or veterinarian.)

I do hope that you have found the article of use to you.

Good health and happiness

Jeff Cuckson
webmaster@madaboutwesties.com
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Imagine that you are scolding your cat for scratching at your new furniture, and Kitty is sitting staring at you. Suddenly you realize how silly you look and how futile your scolding is. So how do you train your cat to respect your home?

All cats can be trained and should have some training from their owners. You will need to train your cat to use her litter box, sharpen her claws on the scratching post instead of your couch, and to stop negative behavior when you say “no.” Cats can also learn to do “tricks,” and the mental stimulation of learning is good for them.

Cats learn the same way dogs and people learn; they repeat behaviors that have a pleasurable result. The best way to train your cat is to reward her when she does something right. The reward might be a small piece of a special food, or lots of praise from you in a happy, high-pitched voice.

Training to change negative behaviors requires you to catch your cat “in the act.” For example, if your cat uses your stereo speakers as a scratching post, wait until she is about to put claw to fabric, then firmly say “NO.” The moment she freezes and turns towards you, switch to the happy voice and praise her. Move towards her to distract her away from the inappropriate object. If she makes any movement towards you praise her even more. Timing and repetition are the keys to success here. You must catch her as she moves to act inappropriately, and praise her the exact moment she stops.

Things to remember if your cat scratches your furniture

* Understand your cat’s need to scratch.

* Forget punishment - it doesn’t work.

* Provide a suitable place for your cat to scratch such as a scratching post

* Make the scratching post attractive to Kitty

* Make the place she’s been scratching unattractive - physical or scent related deterrents will work

* Whenever possible, start cats young.

* You may want to trim your cat’s claws.

Training simple tricks can be incorporated into daily playtime. Always keep some cat treats in a pocket during training time. To teach your cat to “shake hands,” begin by saying “shake,” then touching your hand to the underside of one of her front paws. Praise her for letting you touch there, and give her a treat. Repeat this over and over again. Eventually, you can lay your hand flat on the floor just in front of her paw. Say “shake” and wait. If she even moves her paw towards you praise her and give her a treat. Little by little, she’ll catch on that every time she touches your hand with her paw she can get you to give her a treat. Once she willingly touches your hand, you can start to raise your hand off of the floor a little bit at a time. Keep training fun. Stop the session before she loses interest, and always end on a positive note with a reward.

You can use the same one-small-step-at-a-time technique to teach your cat to walk on a leash. This allows you to take your cat outside for fresh air and sensory stimulation without having to worry about her running off. Purchase a cat harness from a pet supply store. Before you even try putting it on your cat, simply leave it lying by her bed for a day or two. When she is used to seeing and smelling it, loosely put it on her just before her normal mealtime. Hand-feed her food to distract her from the harness and to make wearing it a pleasurable experience. Remove it when the food is gone. After a few days, you can let her wear the harness around the house. Let the leash drag behind, but watch to make sure it doesn’t become tangled around furniture. When she seems comfortable with the harness and leash, pick up your end and walk with her, letting her lead the way. Eventually she will walk willingly beside you, and you can both venture outdoors.

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All positive commands should be spoken sharply and distinctly during training. Make sure you also use a positive tone. Your dog will recognize your moods and associate them to their behavior by your tone of voice.

The first word the puppy should learn is their name. They actually learn the sound of their name and associate that as a directive towards them for their attention. This will come naturally over time since the family will be calling the pup by its name the day it arrives in your home.

I suggest that before you start training verbal commands that you understand your puppy’s personality. Ask yourself if they are timid, aggressive, quiet, sensitive, playful, etc? These traits will affect the type and speed of the training with your dog. Understanding the dog that is being trained is a vitally important talent of a good trainer.

As soon as you are able to touch and feel the puppy, call them by their name. Constantly give them affection and praise with the tone of your voice. Keep repeating their name over and over and over until the pup understands that when they hear their name, it is addressing them. When you prepare meals for them, call them by name and then distinctly say the word “come.” This is probably the simplest and easiest commands to teach because it is associated with something the puppy wants or gets excited when they hear that command. This theory and type of training is used in all the generic commands. Remember to always keep praising them when they obey a command and make sure they feel rewarded.

House breaking a puppy is probably the most stressful for a new trainer. However, the good news is that most dogs are generally clean in nature and sense that the house is not the place to do their thing. Knowing that canines tend to have their bowel movements in the same place that they or some other dogs have previously defecated, you need to understand that the sent left behind from previous mistakes will signal to the pup that is where they are supposed to be defecating. So when you do catch them doing something in the house that you do not want, scold them in a simple command such as “shame.” The puppy will hear your tone of voice and feel bad. Usher them outside as fast as you can. Praise them when they defecate outside. Do not use the command “no” since that is a command to have the puppy stop the current act. “Shame” is used after you have found the evidence of the unwanted act. This is a common mistake a lot of armature dog trainers have.

If you have a pup that will not heed to the command “come,” do not chance them. This will only make your puppy runaway farther. Instead, when they look at you, call their name and immediately you run away from them. Soon they will be chasing you and will associate the command “come” as intended. They will come to you.

Remember this always, a puppy should only be scolded when they are caught in the act of doing something they should not be doing. Never scold a puppy when you have not caught them in the act. Use the command “shame” when looking at the evidence but do not look at the dog when vocalizing this. Over time, they will associate the command “shame” with your disapproval mood. They may never associate it to their act unless you catch them in it. Leave it at that. No other scolding will help, in fact it will do just the opposite. It will make the puppy loose trust in you rather than want to correct their error because they do not associate the act with your mood and commands.

If you find this article useful, please visit the site http://www.the-german-shepard-dog.com where you can find other useful information on the German Shepherd and all other canines.

Please visit http://www.the-german-shepard-dog.com for more information and other articles written by Robert Kempe.

Who let the dogs out?

Remember this song which gave birth to a rather popular phrase some years back? Perhaps, its fame can be traced to how it struck a cord on our collective subconscious. After all, not a few of us fear the warpath of dogs gone wild. Tattered items, shredded clothes, ruined furniture… unruly dogs spare nothing, it seems.

Those adorable canine creatures may appear as angels before our eyes, what with their wagging tails and hanging tongues, but many of us know what a bundle of bedlam they could really be.

Thankfully, dog house training has been perfected into a science in recent years. Dog house training seeks to instill discipline and good behavior upon our dogs through lessons that are carried out in a variety of ways. A dog owner can even choose between conducting dog house training himself, and enrolling his dog to a dog obedience training school.

In home dog training requires that the owner consider a few factors before proceeding.

1. Temperaments of the dog. In home dog training would still keep the dog confined at home. Hence, his general behavior should be considered. Throughout the various stages of dog house training, your canine friend would have to go through a rather emotional ride. If your dog is the sensitive type, you might want to adjust some of the in home dog training exercises to fit complement his attitude.

2. Size of the house. In home dog training would have to utilize the space available inside the house, or the immediate vicinity. This requirement is often overlooked, resulting in poor optimization of the benefits of a dog house training program. Make sure that there is a space large enough to host the activities involved in dog house training.

3. Available materials. Some recommended paraphernalia are needed in conducting in home dog training. Most of them can be bought, but not all of us have the resources to purchase them. Of course we could always improvise. But would you have the manual dexterity as well as the basic skills to fabricate some of these equipments?

4. Do you have the time? In home dog training will require some substantial investment from you, mostly in terms of time. Will you be able to postpone some of life’s other demands to conduct dog house training for your buddy? If you don’t, in home dog training might just be left abandoned and would be rendered as an exercise in futility.

5. Do you have the patience? Your dog might prove uncooperative with certain activities. Will you have the tolerance level to deal with him then? In home dog training is not for everyone. If you feel you’re not up to it, you cold always seek the help of experts. Remember, dog house training is a more affordable option, but is not necessarily the easier route to take.

With the proper in home dog training, it is guaranteed that you’ll be singing the line “who let the dogs out” with glee rather than fear.

Ewen Chia is the owner of TrainingDog.org,
which specializes in providing 100% free
dog training information and resources for
dog owners and lovers! Go here for more details:
http://www.TrainingDog.org