User:Too Old~enwikibooks/sandbox

Bonding
Dogs are social animals; they live in packs. They will, very soon after you bring them into your home, regard your family as their pack. This trait is what makes it so easy to train a dog.

Instinct makes dogs defer to the leader of the pack. This does not mean that they fear the leader, but that they respect and /or love him/her. And it is so much easier for all concerned if that respect and love is reciprocated.

It is cruel to isolate a dog from the pack. A dog that is tied on a leash (or a chain) in a yard all day long is an abused dog, and he will soon exhibit behavioral problems. The same is true of a dog that is left in an apartment all day, while its master is at work. If you can't provide comapanionship to a dog, how can you get companionship from him? If you must leave the dog during the day you should have one or two other animals to keep him comapany. And they must have adequate space to attend to their needs.

Remember that your dog is a person too, although of a different species.

Training
It is perhaps not too extreme to say that every dog needs a job, and that if you don't give him one he will invent one of his own, and you might not like the job he chooses. So it is essential that your dog must be trained. He will enjoy doing the jobs you give him, no matter how small or large. And you will be proud of him.

You should start with simple things and very gradually progress to more complicated ones.

Dogs, like people, have varying degrees of ability and varying likes and dislikes. Some dogs love to swim all day long, others will not even let their feet get wet, though all dogs can swim if they must. It is almost as cruel to try to have a dog do something he really doesn't like as it is to lock him in a dark room all day. And throwing or pushing a dog into the water (for example), in an effort to teach him to swim, will only make him hate water all the more.

Communication
Most of the effort in training a dog is spent in communication. He and you must learn each other's language to some extent. Shouting at him will not make him understand you any better. It will, however, hurt his feelings until he learns that it just your meaningless way of barking, and learns to ignore it.

He will, however, understand your tone of voice almost immediately, so, if you want to tell him "no", do it in a deep, growl-like way, and if he does the right thing, be happy about it, and tell him so. But his hearing is very keen, and you can almost whisper.

Focus
When you are training your dog, especially if it is something new, you must not allow yourself or him to become distracted. If something comes up that you must deal with it is better to drop the training entirely, and take it up at a later time.

First Lessons
If you have a new puppy, you will want to house-break it as soon as possible. This can be a very easy process. The very best way is to teach the puppy to urinate and/or defecate on command. Don't despair, it is easy.