A Bit of Dog Training

I decided to write this article right now because of something horrible that happened on my street the other day. My neighbor’s beautiful chocolate Lab Clyde, got himself run over when the car he was chasing hit him. Clyde had been a really cool dog and all the dog lovers in the whole neighborhood were saddened by Clyde’s death. If his master had taken a little time to train Clyde, this would never have happened.

Boundary train your dog to make sure he does not run out of his yard. Once you have successfully boundary trained your dog, you can be more relaxed when you have him out in the yard. A dog that runs out into the street is not only at risk of getting injured  or killed by a passing car, but he could also get into a fight with an aggressive dog or bother some people.

Use these  tips to successfully boundary train your dog. Even if your dogs are not yet having run away problems boundary training is always a very good idea-you never know when something tempting may happen across the street. Of course, boundary training your dog is even more important if you don’t have a fence around your yard to keep him running off.

Your dog can learn to be boundary trained, if you use the following tips.

• Start the boundary training by marking the perimeter of the desired area with a marker of string or rope-something visible. Put your dog on the leash, and take a walk around the area. You can walk close to the marker, but not so close that the dog can cross it. If your dog attempts crossing over the line, command him firmly “no” and gently tug his leash to stop him from crossing. When he comes back to you, praise him and give him his rewards-affection and a treat. If he does try to cross the line, remember not to punish him for trying to go past the boundary-just concentrate on rewarding him for not doing so. Frequent repetition of the training is needed daily until your dog gets the right idea. Dogs are smart, and before long he should learn his boundary.

• Use a longer lead, perhaps 20 feet long, so your dog doesn’t feel the same amount of control by you. As you walk him around the yard and  he nears the line, get ready to tug and say no before he actually can cross the line. Keep repeating this exercise several times a day-being sure to give lots of praise and  treat rewards when he resists the urge to cross the line.

• Once he has learned the earlier steps here’s a good check to see how well he has learned his boundary training. At this point, you should place something that will tempt him to cross over the line. A good test is to have a family member or friend that the dog likes, or perhaps another dog, wait on the other side of the boundary line. Take him for his walk using his normal leash and as you near the temptation, be prepared to prevent him from crossing the line in case he can’t resist the temptation. Don’t worry if he still crosses the line, it only means you have to keep at it a while longer-be diligent. Return to the previous lessons and keep practicing till he has it together. If he passes the test, try tossing his favorite toy across the boundary. If he can resist that very strong temptation, he is doing great and is ready for the last step of his boundary training.

• Now it is time to test him off leash. Take him for a walk, keeping him in an off-leash heel position, and walk the inner perimeter of the boundary you’ve marked off being sure to give him lots of praise and rewards for staying with you and not trying to take off like he used to. Keep practicing the boundary training with short 15 minute sessions several times a day. To really reinforce the idea, it is a pretty good idea to boundary train your dog every time you come out to the area you want him to stay inside. Your dog may take advantage of his freedom from the leash to cross the line-this just means you need to work more on the previous steps.~

So if your dog likes to run off the property, take the time, patience and effort required to teach boundary training to your dog. The boundary training greatly reduces the odds of your dog getting lost, hurt or killed by running out of the yard.

For more tips on boundary training and other dog behavior and training issues please click here- www.BehaveDoggy.com.

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