Getting Ready for Training:

There are loads of obedience games you can play with your canine companion, and many of them incorporate visual and audible cues. Here are a couple great classics that are tried and proven to be useful. This collection of great games offers a wonderful chance to train at the same time your dog is doing its favorite activity, having fun with their owners and learning without realizing it.

Hide and seek is a fun game from our childhood, but what you might not realize is your dog will absolutely love it. Not to mention the dog needs to use its senses to find you. Your animal has a natural instinct to hunt and search so finding you is a very rewarding experience for it as well. To ensure your dog gets a challenge in this activity its best to play in a large yard or fenced in area so it wont run off and loose focus.

You will first need to ask your dog to stay, and then hide in a nearby place to make it easy at first. Say whatever word you use to get your dog to come over to you after telling it to stay. Your dog should have no problem finding you since you didn’t hide in a difficult place. Now here is where treats can come in handy if your dog has a favorite one I would use it to reward them. You should make sure you increase the difficulty of the game so your dog gets the most out of it.

Now, this game teaches your dog tremendous self-control and patience. Most of you should be familiar with the old street corner game three-card Monte? Well this is oddly reminiscent of that game. To play it, you need your dog’s favorite treats and three cups. As far as indoor games go, this one offers great entertainment. Be careful however, that your dog doesn’t try and chew on the plastic cups.

I do recommend before you play this game with your dog you set it up ahead of time and have the cups on the table. Then, show your dog the treat so it’s clear what they’re playing to get. If you want to be cute you can tell them not to look while you place it under the cup. It likely doesn’t matter if they see where you put it though. Lastly, move the cups around and try and confuse your dog. Then watch as they use their senses to locate the treat under the correct. As always make sure you let them know they did a great job when they find it, that positive reinforcement is what they thrive on, use it to your advantage.

There are my couple suggestions for games to play. Always play in a safe area, not out in the street where cars can come flying past. Always keep a bottle of water handy, if your not home playing in the yard, and you’re in a park for example they will thank you for it.

Besides the obvious guarding, growling and biting many dogs display a variety of dominant behaviors that commonly go unrecognized by their owners. Very rarely will a dog display his highest level of dominance overnight. There are usually signs leading up to it over course of a few years. Dominant alpha dogs won’t always growl and bite. If you the owner are giving the dog what he wants, there sometimes is no reason for the dog to growl or bite unless they feel challenged.

Dogs generally understand that they exist in a human world. After all, who feeds them and opens the door for them to go outside to potty? When humans perform these tasks on demand from the dog though, why wouldn’t the dog think they’re the leader? It is easy for dogs to get the impression they are alpha in their pack. There are many alpha dog behaviors that are not acceptable in human society, such as biting, which is a communication tactic that a dog may use. It is very important for humans to remain the leaders over their dogs.

Just looking at a dog and the way he presents himself can be a sign for what frame of mind the dog is in. A more dominant dog will walk high and proud, puffing themselves out as much as they can. He carries himself with what looks like dignity to the untrained eye.

Submissive dogs on the other hand carry themselves in very much the opposite way. They hold their heads low with shoulders and tail down, in a sense making them smaller. Generally, it will appear that a submissive dog is a sad dog. Not so, the posture of these submissive dogs is telling all around them that they do not wish to challenge any other dog or that they come in peace. Dogs are animals that will fight amongst each other naturally. This means their natural defense is to fight when they feel threatened. That is why they make it as obvious as possible when they do not wish to have an altercation of any kind.

Since dominant dogs look so proud and submissive dogs look sad since they hold their heads low, it’s no wonder so many people have dominant dogs. When their dog acts submissive they mistake that for a sad dog. When their dog acts dominant they mistake it for a happy proud dog.