Dog training - introduction

Dog training is important for dogs like we need our basic education and school primary school. We take a dog away from its mother, that mother will provide the pups with rules, lessons and other things important in life (from a dog perspective). Now we don't only take that dog out of a dog life and take away that education, but we bring the dog in human life, where are other rules, so we are responsible for offering this education.

Photo by 9mm, source http://kumuya.blogspot.de/2010/11/gorgeous-one.html

Note: This does not mean you have to try to transform a dog into a human, the dog still needs contact with other dogs, needs to have social interaction with other dogs, it is important for a healthy development of the pup or dog.

What recommends me to give "advice" or to talk on this subject? Please read all before you decide.
I am not a former police dog trainer that retired and has now his own school, nor I have some weekend classes that ended with a trainer certificate or my own school ... BUT I have a dog that was very difficult to train and I made it alone. I will tell you a bit about the history of the dog, how it behaved, the current state and what is still in plan ... and I will admit my mistakes while I will talk on various subjects.

This dog was taken very early from the mother, earlier than is recommended for a dog to have a good development, and then was for the next five months in a bikers pub, without someone to be or act as a owner. I know her, is a female, since the first day she was brought there, a very small stinky german shepherd puppy, the first night found a way into my lap and stayed there while I was sipping my beer. During those 5 months she was mainly staying outside alone during the night and to revenge when she was allowed inside she was taking a dump and pee ... resulting in being hit by the bar personnel. At least she got some attention from someone, because she was doing this daily no matter that she was kicked daily.
She got on the street and got hit by two cars.
Had  parvovirus which is deadly in 80% of the cases but she made it after two weeks of hospitalization on antibiotics and transfusion.
Got kicked by some nice clients, got beer to drink and other nice human treatments ... I love our species.
Between the age of 5 months and 6 months she landed in my house because my ex decided is nice to take her to ... I don't know, and because every day I was there with my bike or without, this dog was near me from the entrance until I was leaving. But I was not very happy with this idea, I liked her (the dog) but not so much to keep me tied to house, I was a free spirit, this was a constraint for me, in the end landed in my apartment.

How it was:

• scared - hard to convince her to get out of the apartment, I solved the problem and then she was attacked by some stray dogs so she became very scared - I had to carry her in my arms outside the apartment building;
• not wanting to get near cars or cross the street without trying to make the run of her life, problem solved and after few days two cars crashed just few meters in front of us - go back to lesson one;
• afraid to swim - some smart brained dog breeder thought it would be a good lesson to throw her in the water in the middle of a lake, from the boat, while I was swimming around, and another smart guy (me) thought that he knows what he is doing - the result is she loves the water only up to the chest;
• attacking people - yes, a very scared dog mixed with aggressiveness is what every owner dreams to have;
• territorial - after 5 minutes that green spot where she was became her own property, no man was allowed and dog only based on "check user face";
• playing with the trashcan in the middle of the night and bringing the garbage near my bed - checked;
• reshaping her basket and eating the remote control - checked;
• staying in bed while I was away - checked;
• afraid of fireworks- big time;
• afraid of trucks and garbage car;
• dominating attitude towards me - yep, or at least trying to be the boss of the house;  

Current state:

• walks free on the street;
• knows basic commands - stay, sit, wait, heel, free (meaning she is allowed to do and walk how she wants);
• tricks - not so special but just to give the paw on command, to bring the toy back, jump over;
• not aggressive with people;
• does not have problems with other dogs, small or big, as long as is not attacked;
• no more territory issues;
• bed is a forbidden area;
• no more house trashing;
• returns on command if she starts chasing other dog / cat / fox;
• does not go to other people calling her, except very good friends;
• does not eat from the street - this one is a continuous training;
• does not eat from strangers;
• I can safely go out with her on leash with my inline skates or bicycle;

In progress:

• not be afraid of water;
• bringing her harness before we go out;
• riding with the tram / train - still she is afraid of / not comfortable with many people in one place;
• not to run when are fireworks - this is a hard one;

In plan:

• swimming in the lake - this summer;
• being relaxed in crowded places;

Looking at the evolution of a dog that can bring difficulties even to a certified trainer, you can decide if you can read further or not, if I am "allowed" to talk on this subject and I have the experience for this.
What else? Where I stay now, sometimes I have a second dog while the owners are in holidays, if my dog is german shepherd, this dog is golden retriever and to make things worse, has less than basic training and "speaks" another language than me, so I don't really know what commands he knows but we get along well, I walk with him free in the forest, I established the eating rules to avoid plate swapping or food fights. And as extra my dog had to share the house with two unknown cats for one week, her luck was that was not room sharing but still the paths were crossed and sometimes was supposed to stay in the same room with the cats (not alone though).

Now, as you can see training a dog is not the easiest thing to do, and requires a lot of time and patience, repetition is also important because a dog needs to exercise what was learned otherwise in time needs to be trained again for that thing.

How can we communicate with a dog? This is not so simple and you will need patience, and it is a learning process on the both sides. The dog needs to learn your words and your body language, at the same time you need to learn its behavior and body language, only then you can communicate with your dog properly.

In order to have a balanced dog it needs to be socialized with both humans and dogs, a dog needs to know that is a dog and to play with its kind, I have seen many times owners that do not allow their dogs to interact with other dogs and this is bad especially when they are young. I have seen owners that when a game gets a bit more tense but will not end in a fight, decide to step in. Why is bad? Because in a "normal" dog family some behaviors are not permitted, and a hierarchy is established and maintained. Dogs living with humans don't know this laws and they can mistake a dog willing to play with an aggressive dog, or the other way around. They need to learn from other dogs what is permitted and not, when  one is aggressive and when not, shortly said the body language. I am not saying to let your dog to be bitten, but when is a puppy and learns those things usually is not hurt, is more the complaining of the pup than the aggression. The same goes for people, to make a distinction between friends and enemies.

In the last 7 years I have seen thousands of dogs and dog owners, good and bad. I let my female to play with another pit-bull female until the point of something will happen if I don't stop the game, as young dog she had as play partners pit-bulls and rottweilers and some huskies but I never let her be aggressive with small dogs, even if they are usually the big mouthed ones, or if her play showed signs of aggression I always stepped in. I have seen owners that let their dogs be aggressive to the point of starting a fight and if your dog reacts then is your fault and they are eager to sue you. I have seen human junk owning dogs and real humans.

I have let my dog respond to aggression with aggression just because it was not right to make her feel guilty because she was attacked, I let her dominate the aggressive dogs as long as was no sign of getting bloody. I have made mistakes and I learned from them but all of these just because I learned how to read her body language and I know when is serious and when is just show-off. I learned how to read other dogs and when is the case to keep my dog away. And everything starts from the basic training, you have to keep in mind that you are a team, not only the dog learns from you. As owner you should be the trainer of your dog and every failure in your dog is your failure as owner / trainer is not just dog's fault, it is yours too.