Dog Training

Most dogs in America do not have the privilege of living to a ripe old age in their first homes. Most dogs in America  are either dumped at a shelter, given away or tossed out on a road by the time they are eighteen months old.

When these owners asked why they wanted to remove the dog from their home, the reasons were all the same-the dog was difficult to live with day in and day out. Dog owners with little dogs complained of house training problems and dog separation anxiety problems as the main reason why the dog became an unbearable burden. For dogs that were medium to large in size the primary reasons were general bad behavior such as jumping, stealing food, running away, aggression to people, aggression to other dogs and separation anxiety.

When these owners were asked how much dog training their dog had, the answer was the same: none.  Dog owners who get a dog and who do not seek out professional dog experts advice and guidance during the dog’s adolescence tend to be owners who find themselves overwhelmed by the dogs energy, bad habits and misbehavior.

Luckily all of the behavior problems that lead to a dog’s relinquishment and even death can be prevented with dog psychology training and dog obedience.   We have many different types of information that you can access that will show you how to create the dog companion of your dreams-you can have Lassie-not Cujo.

Here are some facts derived from a study that listed the attributes that caused dog owners to relinquish thier dog or to make a commitment to keep it at home.

SCIENCE SUPPORTS TRAINER “TRUTHS”
In the July, 2003 (Vol.223, No. 1) issue of JAVMA, there was published a study entitled, “Evaluation of association between retention in the home and attendance at puppy socialization classes.”

A study was done on 248 adult dogs and puppies that were adopted from a shelter between the years of 1994 and 2001. These dogs were compared across the variables of attending humane society puppy classes, attending puppy classes in the community or not attending any classes at all.

The study looked at retention rates in the adopting home. Other variables were included such as locale, type of dwelling, whether a household was a single parent family, ages of children in the family, gender of the puppy, type of training equipment used, reliability to commands and where the puppies slept at night.  Families with children under the age of 6 have the highest risk of surrender of their puppies, and seniors have the second highest risk of surrender. Female puppies tend to be easier for most households to handle, as they were retained at a rate of 4 times that of male puppies.

Some of the more interesting points of the study that are important to an individual or family who is considering adopting a puppy or adult dog are:

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• Puppies in homes with children under the age of 6 had the lowest retention rate: 54.6% overall.
• Senior citizens [65+] had the second lowest retention rate, 62%.
• Female puppies had much higher retention rates than male puppies.
• Puppies that slept on the bed or in the bedroom had a 92% retention rate.
• Owners that used prong collars, metal training collars or Electronic Training Collars had a retention rate of: 91%.
• City adopters were much more likely to keep their dogs than suburban adopters, 85% v. 77%.
• Puppies that attended the ‘puppy classes’ had higher retention rates than puppies that did not attend puppy classes, 90% v. 75%.
• Owners that reported that their dogs had a high reliability to commands had a much higher retention rate than owners who reported that their dogs had a low reliability to commands.

What this means is  that when you purchase a puppy you must begin training it as soon as possible and put on some sort of dog training equipment that will help you to manage the puppies behavior, even as young as 8 weeks of age!