National Train Your Dog Month

Did you think you were off the hook for not following through on your New Year’s resolution with your dog?  Well, we aren’t giving up on you yet; so to help you stick with it the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) officially made January ‘National Train Your Dog Month’.  This means it’s time to stop making excuses and start making changes.  If you set realistic goals and be consistent in your training, by the end of the month you will not believe you are working with the same dog you started with.

The APDT says, “We selected January as the perfect month because so many dogs and puppies are adopted or purchased from breeders and brought home during the winter holidays.  Our desire is to help these new parents start off the New Year right with their newest family member.”  And it doesn’t hurt that it coincides with New Year’s resolutions as well (for those not so new pet parents that need to take a different approach on training).   

Training a dog is a very important part of responsible dog ownership.  And while we all think it’s a no brainer not many owners realize that they have replaced training with extra love and treats.  Then, when the dog does something bad, he gets screamed at and possibly punished, but the bad behavior is never corrected and he never understands what he did wrong, so the bad behavior continues.  To avoid these incidents, a dog should begin his training as soon as he comes home with you, puppies included. 

Just like children, puppies are like sponges.  They can begin learning commands and tricks as young as eight weeks old.  Cesar Millan discusses this in his book, Cesar’s Rules, and says “the socialization period – from about three weeks old to twelve weeks old – is a crucial window for learning.  During this time, social play with littermates and guidance and discipline from the mother (or human pack leader) help to shape the proper behavior of a well-behaved adult dog.”  

Renowned veterinarian and behaviorist Dr. Ian Dunbar is no stranger to California living and our love for our dogs.  In addition to his extensive education, he received his doctorate in animal behavior from the University of California in Berkley, where he spent ten years researching olfactory communication, the development of hierarchical social behavior, and aggression in domestic dogs.  He also happens to be the founder of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT).  When Dr. Dunbar was looking for a training class for his puppy, Sirius, he was told by several trainers that they did not train puppies under the age of 6 months.  Dr. Dunbar knew that was absurd and believes it is very important for puppies to start training and interacting with other dogs at a young age to help them learn dog-to-dog socialization, human socialization (being handled by different people), and more reliable off-leash obedience.  As a result, Dr. Dunbar started his own off-leash behavior class for puppies called, SIRIUS® Puppy Training.  His training classes incorporate unstructured puppy play with regular interruptions of short training sessions.  Once play is interrupted with a command, the puppy is rewarded for good behavior (carrying out the command) with “go play”.  Overall, the goal of any puppy training is (and should be) prevention. “Prevent the problem when your dog is a puppy,” says Dr. Dunbar.  

While we can all agree, teaching a dog when it’s young will make your life (and his) much easier in the long run, what about all those adopted dogs that weren’t trained as puppies?  Well, not to worry, because those old dogs can learn new tricks.  Check back this week for more.