You consider yourself a responsible dog owner and understand that every dog needs some form of training in their life. Nevertheless for whatever reasons, you actually do not know how to go about training your dog. While searching for dog training tools online, you came across this highly recommended tool known as electronic dog collar. What is it exactly and how can it help you train your dog more efficiently and effectively.

There are several types of electronic dog collars available in the market, and they are primary used for two purposes. Firstly, it is to help keep your dog within a boundaries set by you outside of the house. The second purpose is to help house train your dog to understand the house rules and the desired behaviors expected of him in the family.

For an electronic dog collar that is use to keep a dog within a confine area to work, you will first need to have an electronic fence installed in your own yard. Currently there are DIY systems in the market that allows you to do it yourself, nevertheless the installation process can be complicated, and unless you have the technical skills or have some form of experience and help, it is advisable to get the professionals to install the system for you.

These electronic fences are invisible fences and are usually bury underground. They have the benefit of being invisible for those people that don’t like the look of fences around the house. It works by having your dog to wear an electronic dog collar, and when your dog goes near the outside perimeters of the electronic fence, he is met by an electric shock that will remind him to keep away.

For the electronic dog training collars use to train dog behaviors. They operate by sending shock waves to the dog telling him that a certain behavior is unacceptable. They either send the shock on their own, or by a remote that is control by the owner. Electronic collars are useful in aiding dog behavior training, on the other hand, users must also think of the humane aspects while using and not abuse it. Although the electric shock they receive is not immense, there are still alternative ways to teach a dog not to misbehave. Squirting vinegar water mixture solution with a spray bottle at your dog while he is misbehaving is also a good way.

Those collars that send the shock waves by itself are usually electronic barking collars design to help stop dog barking problems. The primary purpose of this collar is to stop a dog from barking when it is not suppose to. The collar works by having sensors incorporated into the dog collar. These sensors can tell when the dog is barking. Whenever the dog starts to bark, the electronic dog collar either emits a high pitched noise, or releases a squirt of citronella fragrance under the animal’s nose, both actions are very irritating to the dog and will make it stop barking.

These electronic dog collars are surely useful when use in the right way. It is perfectly alright to use them to aid your dog behavioral training. You can also stop using them as long as the dog has been house trained. If you would like to purchase an electronic dog collar, make sure you learn how to use it properly first.

Moses Wright is the webmaster of dogsobediencetraining.com/collar/ Dog Collar. You can find more useful information on dogsobediencetraining.com/collar/fancy/index.htm Fancy Dog Collar and dogsobediencetraining.com/collar/electronic/index.htm Electronic Dog Collar on his site. You can reprint this article if you keep the content and live link intact.

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What is the difference between “pro-active” and “reactive” dog training? When we make pro-active training choices we don’t say “stop doing that”, we say “this is what I want you to do instead”.

Imagine you draw a circle or pie-chart of 24 hours of your dog’s typical day. You fill in pieces with every separate activity or behaviour your dog does in a typical day. You’ve got a large chunk filled up with sleeping, another chunk with drinking, another chunk with eating, another with ear scratching, going to the toilet, barking, running, walking, getting patted, chewing up your shoes, scratching at the door, jumping on your guests etc etc

Then you decide you want to take out all the unwanted stuff. So you take out the chewing up shoes, scratching at the door and jumping on guests.

You still have 24 hours in a day. So what fills in those missing pieces?

Think about it. How does your dog know what to do instead? How do you know it’s going to be something beneficial to your relationship and your lifestyle? You don’t. In fact, it might make matters worse…

Let’s say he has some sort of emotional or physical need for exercise which is not being met. So he goes out into the yard and digs.

You catch him digging and give him a telling off. Then you put chicken wire over the parts of the garden that he likes to dig.

So what does he do instead? Maybe he starts escaping the yard and wandering about the neighbourhood.

You build a higher fence.

Then what does he do instead?

Another scenario… Puppy is teething and needs to chew for relief, it might be from boredom or from the pain of teething.

Pup looks around the room and finds a pair of your shoes, they look chewable! You decide to squirt him with water to punish the chewing. What does he chew instead? How does puppy’s need to chew for relief get fulfilled?

The answer, in part, is to become pro-active. Put your shoes away and give pup legal things to chew. It’s ok to say ‘no’ in a neutral tone of voice when pup is chewing the shoe you foolishly left on the floor, but then you need to follow up by swapping your shoe for a pig’s ear or chew toy instead.

For the dog who is digging, maybe he needs a longer walk each day? Or maybe you could sign up at a local agility class for some fun activity, socialisation and training all in one?

You see, dogs do what works for them. The trick is to make what works for them work for you too. By being proactive we can channel their needs into activities and behaviours which complement our lifestyle and our needs.

(c) Aidan Bindoff 2006

Aidan Bindoff is Editor of PositivePetzine.com PositivePetzine.com, a free ezine for people training their own dogs. Each edition has easy to use training advice based on positive reinforcement methods. Subscribers have access to a large archive of back-issues they can consult for just about any behavior or behavior problem.

bestezines.com/?id=1737 As Featured On Best Ezines

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Description: Often, owners are frightened by their playfully aggressive cats and kittens because they look quite dangerous. Every housecat has a little tiger within it. So, the instinct to hunt is strong in all cats. So, as an owner of a pet cat or kitten, it’s not possible to ignore its basic need to hunt.

Every housecat has a little tiger within it. So, the instinct to hunt is strong in all cats. Though you may have confined your little tiger within four walls and provided it with the finest foods, you can’t take the jungle out of the cat. So, as an owner of a pet cat or kitten, it’s not possible to ignore its basic need to hunt. Fortunately for you, the act of hunting is more important than the actual prey. So, you can easily substitute the live prey with an inanimate toy.

Often, owners are frightened by their playfully aggressive cats and kittens because they look quite dangerous. They are startled by the constant need of the kittens to silently ambush feet and ankles as they pass by, surprising, upsetting, and sometimes, even hurting, the victim. And in some cases, the cat owners inadvertently encourage this trait by playing with the kittens. But as the kitten grows into a cat, bigger and stronger, these playful pounces and bites can puncture the skin.

So, the solution is to direct the cat’s playful but predatory energies toward toys. However, the easiest and best solution is to get another cat or kitten of the same sex and approximately the same age and activity level as a playmate. Though there will be two kittens to take care of, which means more effort and time, you’ll save your home from a lot of wear and tear. However, if it’s impossible to get another pet, then you should provide your feline with scheduled sessions of controlled aerobic exercise, i.e. play therapy.

Interactive Play Sessions
The interactive play sessions should be scheduled for the times of the day when your kitten is at its most rambunctious. Ideally there should be two or three well spaced out sessions during a days. And, the length of each session depends on how athletic the kitten is. So, each session can be between 10 and 20 minutes.

If you don’t really want to exert yourself, you can use a fishing pole-type toy that enables the pet owner to control the cat’s activity level while remaining inactive. And the sessions shouldn’t stop till the cat is exhausted. While, playing, you should build up the kitten’s confidence and enthusiasm by allowing plenty of “captures”. But, once the session is over, the fishing pole toys should be carefully stored out of the cat’s reach, for the kitten may otherwise continue to hunt for it, long after you’ve left the room.

Solo Play Sessions
There might be times, when you’re not around, that your kitten would feel like playing. In such situations, to avoid damage to your furniture, you should leave some toys lying around. However in such circumstances, it’s important to have a variety of safe, interesting toys to keep the kitten occupied. Also, make sure that the toys don’t have any parts that can be torn off and swallowed, or long strings that your cat might get entangled in.

Also, like people, cats can get bored with the same toys. So, be sure to rotate the toys to keep the kitten interested.

Playful Attack Sessions
Playful attacks are not accompanied by any hissing and growling. And the natural human reaction to such attacks is to swat at the cat. However, physical punishment might cause your cat either to fear you or engage in even rougher play. But, if the attack can be anticipated, a blast of air from a compressed air can, a squirt from a water gun, or a sudden sound, like an alarm or a shaker is an effective deterrent. However, timing is everything. If the reaction comes a second or two after the incident, the deterrent will not be connected with the attack, in the cat’s mind.

The best deterrent is one’s voice. So, a loud and shrill “Eek”, followed by a sharp “No!” is quite effective, with some cats. Then you should ignore the cat for the next ten minutes. However, don’t lecture or scold the cat or pick it up. If possible put it in a separate room for some time. This way, the kitten will learn to inhibit its biting.

About the Author:
Mary Majorda of California has lived along with kittens since as long as she can remember. She got her 1st kitten at the age of 2 as a birthday gift from her dad and since then she hasn’t parted from cats and kittens. Besides having a family of a husband, 2 kids and 4 kittens, her love for them has pursued her to become a vet. Her favorite site about kittens is cutelittlekittens.com cutelittlekittens.com

About the Author:
Mary Majorda of California has lived along with kittens since as long as she can remember. She got her 1st kitten at the age of 2 as a birthday gift from her dad and since then she hasn’t parted from cats and kittens. Besides having a family of a husband, 2 kids and 4 kittens, her love for them has pursued her to become a vet. Her favorite site about kittens is cutelittlekittens.com cutelittlekittens.com

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You want a nice, disciplined dog, who doesn’t chew on anything and everything in the sight and doesn’t deafen you with his needless barks. These are one of the most common dog problems and can be really irritating at times. They can, however, be corrected by proper training. Here are a few effective ways of bringing in correction in your dog’s habits:

Barking
Barking come naturally to them, and what use is a dog that doesn’t even bark. However, at time dogs overdo it and keep barking without a reason and sometimes even after their barks have been taken cognizance of and the offending element removed. Then, it is high time he had his lessons in “barking habits.”

Most often dogs bark to tell the owner what they feel he must know, like an intruder, any unusual moving object, any unusual activity or sound. They feel that it is important for them to inform you at the earliest. This kind of warning bark is perfectly alright, but if your dog keep barking even after having been told not to, he needs to be trained about it.

In such situations take a squirt bottle filled with water, and every time the dog barks unnecessarily squirt the liquid right in his face after telling him not to bark in a loud “No”. The liquid or the squirt wouldn’t harm the creature but he wouldn’t like it and would get the message eventually. This is disciplinary action and must be adopted only when the dog doesn’t respond to your verbal commands. Keep it as a second option and not the first.

Chewing
Chewing is not only destructive but is potentially dangerous to the dog as well, because they might ingest pieces of plastic or wood or any other harmful object that could block their intestines, which could be life threatening. Puppies’ chewing is acceptable because that’s part of teething, but if the habit is retained into adulthood, it needs to be corrected.

It is better to start early. So, you need not wait till the dog grows up to teach him not to chew on things that are not meant for his chewing. The strategy for the pup as well as for the dog remain the same. Get some toys for the dog to chew on, and train him to restrict his chewing to them. Watch him carefully and if he chews on things other than his chew toys, look into his eyes at close quarters and say in a loud voice, “No!” and then offer one of his chew toys. He would get the message as to what has to be chewed on and what not.

Begging for food
Never give the dog to eat from your dinner table or your plate. Make him learn that he gets nothing by begging for food but gets to eat at the proper time. And if, unfortunately you already have a dog who has such a habit lock him up in another room while you eat.

You want dogs to behave well, but good behaviour is not something one is born with. One– be it a human or a dog– has to learn to behave. So, right training is the key.

To get more information on pet dogs, thepetdogs.com/dog-breeds/ dog breeds and thepetdogs.com/dog-training-and-care/ dog training and care visit thepetdogs.com/ www.thepetdogs.com

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Does your dog enjoy sleeping with you at night? Although cuddling with a pet can keep owner and dog warm and snuggly, keep in mind that most animals are not as clean as people, nor do they always follow the same sleep patterns. A dog can track mud, grass, and even nature’s business between your sheets, not to mention fleas and ticks. He might want to go for a walk at 3 a.m. when all you want to do is sleep. These are some of the common reasons why pets deserve a bed of their own. The nesting routine is as old as time, so providing your dog with his own place to sleep can create a sense of security that will help to keep your pet calm and well adjusted, not to mention help you get a good night’s sleep.

But how do you know which type of bed will best suit your canine’s needs? Consider the following criteria before shopping for your dog’s bedroom furniture.

1. Get the right size bed for your animal. How big will he get? If you have a large breed, get a bed with enough size to accommodate his full-grown stature. Ask the vet how tall and heavy your pet is expected to get, especially if he is a mixed breed. Then you can estimate the size of bed that will be needed. One that is too small will make your dog feel cramped, and he’ll probably find another sleeping spot. On the other hand, an overly large bed could let your little Chihuahua feel insecure and unprotected, likewise leading to his hunt for a new location.

2. Train a new puppy where to sleep. Like children, pets need guidance about where to go or what to do. Keep your pet’s bed in the same place to establish a routine. This might be in the laundry room, family room, the deck, or a doghouse. Don’t let a puppy drag its bed all over the place or he will never learn where he’s supposed to stay at night. Get in the habit of putting your dog to bed at the same time each night, and he will soon get used to it.

3. Choose durable materials. A foam mattress can provide solid support for the larger frames of full-grown pets, whereas small piece-type filling will lend more flexibility to a bed, and is better suited to small dogs or puppies. Check to be sure the cover is removable and washable, and launder it every week or two, using hot water and mild detergent to kill fleas and ticks. Teach your puppy not to chew his bedding, which will quickly destroy it and force you to buy another. A smart rap on the nose with a newspaper or a squirt of water from a spray bottle when he is caught in the act ought to do it.

4. Keep the bed out of the way to prevent accidents. Let all family members know where the bed will be kept, and tuck it into a nook or cranny where no one is likely to trip over it when carrying laundry or hurrying past that area. Your dog will be able to sleep better in a quiet, semi-protected environment.

Although buying your dog a bed should not be as time-consuming or costly as buying human furniture, it nevertheless pays to plan ahead and take time in making the best possible choice for all concerned.

For more information on Dog Beds and how Dog Beds can help both you and your precious pooch sleep better, visit Absolutely Dogs at absolutely-dogs.com absolutely-dogs.com

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