Small Dog Training
There is a common misconception that small breed dogs do not need training. The truth is no matter how small or big your dog happens to be, training is always a good idea. While breeds like the pit bull and Rottweiler hit the news most often for obedience issues such as biting, small dogs are also prone to this behavior.
Would you be surprised to find out that cocker spaniels actually bite more often than pit bulls? And thanks to indiscriminate breeding practices, cocker rage can cause the dogs to lash out at anyone close to them. What this should say to all dog owners is the better you can control your animal, the lower the potential that you will have issues such as biting.
Even if you are unconcerned about aggression in your dog, it is an accepted reality that a trained dog is a happier, safer and much healthier animal.
First Steps
Unbelievably, the first step to small dog training is going to begin with the humans in the home. Dogs in their very nature seek to please the people in their lives and take cues from those they live with on the correct pack behavior for your household.
When those cues are conflicting, your small dog can become confused and frustrated, which means training is not going to progress very far. For example, if you are working with your dog to stop jumping up and your spouse comes in each day encouraging the behavior, you are most certainly going to have a problem.
Small breed dog training is a game that the whole family must engage in and everyone must play by the same rules. Teaching requires consistency and repetition, both of which can be sabotaged by just one person. If you are a single household and the only care provider, training will be much easier; however if you are a multiple person household, you will need to sit down and discuss the entire training program with everyone.
Small children may present the biggest hurdle to dog training. They often do not understand why Spot must stay off the furniture or why they can’t feed the begging puppy just a little from their dinner plate. You can handle this in one of two ways; either include them in all the training with the new dog or limit contact until the training is well established.
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Training Options
Small breed dog training is much like any other canine training; you can enlist the help of a professional trainer or read up on the subject and forge ahead yourself. Many times dog owners will begin the basics on their own and turn to professional trainers for specialty training or when they run into problems.
The main thing you should remember when going it alone is that you will need copious amounts of patience, especially for the small breeds that are prone to stubbornness or have a reputation for being head strong.
Training should also become a way of life and not merely a quick class to deal with one specific issue. Dogs learn throughout their life and if you want to maintain good obedience, you should be prepared to make training a part of your everyday life.
Involving Children
Children in the household are encouraged to participate with the small breed dog training, how much they can contribute will of course depend on their age. This can be very important to your training efforts as rough play or a child who teases the dog can create aggressiveness in your pet.
A child of any age can be taught to be kind and to learn the proper way to play with the new dog. Some excellent activities that your child and dog can enjoy are fetch, hide and seek, soccer and catch.
Never allow anyone, children or adults, to play more aggressive games like tug of war, chase or keep away. Tugging on a toy or towel may seem like hilarious good fun, but when you dog wins this little game, it tells them they are the alpha dog – which is not a good family position for them or you.
In nature the alpha personality in the pack is the leader and all other members must defer to their leadership. This is the role you want for yourself and the other human members of the household. Chase and keep away both encourage your dog to use their teeth during the game, a behavior you certainly want to discourage. Stick with the safer games and everyone will be the better for it.
If done correctly, children can learn valuable lessons by participating in the training program. Affection, empathy, patience and respect are all things your children will learn when they are actively engaged in the training regimen for your small breed canine.
continued in Part II – Small Dog Obedience Training
