train my dog

He’s really good with the leash now :)
One week! I’m happy and so darn proud of him. He’s the smartest and kindest dog in the world :D

And he isn’t much jumping and dancing in the hallway when people are coming either.

Next I’m going to teach him to shut the door ;)

You are welcome if you would like to join :-)

http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/dog_training

about how to make it clear to the dog that it’s YOU who are the leader of the pack, not the DOG.

http://arar.essortment.com/dogtrainingmet_rdix.htm

I have managed to tell the dog that we, the humans in this family, are the leaders – we go first through the doors, he doesn’t hump against out legs and he doesn’t run against us when we are out and he plays with other dogs.

How did we do that?
Everytime we are going through a door, doorway, hallway, path, portal of any kind, we stop and check if the dog is trying to go first – if he is, he gets a pull on the leash and “HRMPH!” Now he stops when we stop, looks at us and waits – and follows after. He also knows what “Mommy first” means :)
The same thing with running against us – we stand firm and say “HRMPH!”.
He has never even tried to hump, but I just saw a tv-show on that – if he’d ever try, I’d get up, push him to the floor if he didn’t already do that, and say “HRMPH!”
LOL – yes, that is the most useful word you can use ;)

Another thing is that we eat first and he doesn’t get any goodbits from the table. We eat and then he gets something on his own bowl. Also, every time he gets food, we eat first from the bowl. (Not really, but he can’t see the difference.) In a dog pack the leader eats ALWAYS first.

But what I do NOT GET is how to get the dog stop pulling the leash???

My dog is almost two years now, and he is so bright, gentle and happy little dog that it’s a shame that he is so badly trained :-(

He is housetrained, comes when called 4 times of 5, knows what “sit”, “lay down”, “fetch” and “search” means, he knows what “quiet” means, but he gets all wild when he sees other dogs and people, wants to greet everyone and play with everyone, and he cannot walk nicely without dragging off arms, and he cannot stop when asked to, like when he is free and finds a scent of a cat or a squirrel or what ever.

Luckily he is not so big, he’s a springer spaniel (I’m used to rottweilers ;-))

I would like him to walk calmly with me, without dragging
I would like him to come EVERYTIME when I call to him
I would like him to stop being so over-enthusiastic about people and other dogs.
Basic obediance training.

I would like him to be able to stay at home alone, so that my husband and I could go together and do things without him.

And I would very much like him to be able to do some tricks :)He is so smart and loves working, but I am so bad at training :(

Hugs,
Ket