Training Technique - The Umbilical
Establishes Pack Order and helps the dog realize you are Pack Leader

A technique call the umbilical makes problem dogs, good dogs and makes good dogs better. Put him/her on leash and hook the leash around your waist and make him/her walk behind you as you do your every day chores (do the dishes, vacuum, etc) do this indoors and in you backyard as well. As you do this never let him/her go in front of you, never let him/her enter a doorway in front of you, never let him/her go up the stairs a head of you. (The pack leader always goes first. When you first do this watch to see if he/she tries to take the lead. If he/she does you will know he/she thinks he/she is the boss.)

Don't talk to the dog too much.
Every member of the family should take turns doing this as well as feeding him/her.

These techniques help dominant or difficult dogs and make good dogs even better.

A dominant dog is happy with those he feels he is dominant over (like children and women). In the dogs eyes he sees you all as his pack members and he wants to be the dominant male, and all others under him. He is aggressive with any one (males) he thinks may dethrone him.

Other dogs that are submissive toward him he would be ok with and other male dogs or dominant dogs (not always male) he will have a problem with.

This behavior will worsen over time if let go.
(eg. the dog will snap if lower members of his pack touch things that he has claimed as his (food, toys, or treats), Instead of just getting grumpy or growling in an attempt to discipline and bring order to his pack he will turn to snapping.)

To fix this behavior:
- don't let him on furniture (he will think he is an equal)
- control the food (don't leave food down all the time. Make him sit and lay down and wait until you tell him he can eat)
- do a technique call the umbilical, put him on leash and hook the leash around your waist and make him walk behind you as you do your every day chores (do the dishes, vacuum, etc) do this indoors and in you backyard as well. As you do this never let him go in front of you, never let him enter a doorway in front of you, never let him go up the stairs a head of you. (The pack leader always goes first. When you first do this watch to see if he tries to take the lead. If he does you will know he thinks he is the boss.)

Don't talk to the dog too much, let the dog learn to read your body language.
Every member of the family should take turns doing this as well as feeding him as described above.

The dog will soon realize he is not the boss. You are re-organizing the pecking order in the dogs head. He will realize he is last and the last member in the pecking order has no say they simply follow and if you have no problem with the vet or any other dominant figure he will say in his head "ok your the boss."

Put a leash on her in the house & work on calling her and when she comes & sits in front of you reward her with praise & a treat.
Do this through out the day so she wants to come when you call her because it means good things.
If you chase a dog, it will think it is a game. Once you have worked on the recall in your yard & in the house, you can do it at the park.
Once the dog is good at it, if it should run away from you, just stop and call him/her and the dog should come back just as you have taught, because he/she things it is going to get good stuff, praise & a treat.

How to teach your puppy not to bite hands & pull on clothes

Never pull your hands away. By pulling your hands away it make the dog want them more, partly because he can't have them & partly because the pulling away action triggers his instinct to go after it, it's kind of like teasing even though that is not your intent.

Lifting your hands high doesn't teach the dog anything, except maybe to jump. As soon as your hands are down again he will want them again.

I teach soft mouth first, so the pup learns how hard is too hard.
Than it is the perfect time to start to teach "leave it", when you give the command and the dog takes it's mouth off your hand himself, (it will be just because you broke his attention for a moment) reward him with a small treat.
He will get the clue quickly, if he takes his mouth off your hand, he gets good things.

Original Author: KeyStoneK9

House Training Your New Pup/Dog
Puppy pads and newspaper teach a puppy to pee in one designated spot. That spot happens to be in your house.
This is not what you want to teach. Many dogs after you think they are trained and you take the paper or pad away, will still pee in that spot.
That spot is in the house!! The puppy never learned to to outside to do it's business.

Puppy Pads & Newspaper
The whole point is to make the dog want to pee in that designated spot and you take the signal of the pup going to the pad and take him/her out before he/she ever does any business in the house.
(I still do not recommend this method, puppies are hard to predict, they could just want to check the pad out or rip it up, but didn't get that far before you took him out. The puppy pad or newspaper is still sending the wrong message to the pup.)

House Training
- Feed and water on a schedule (dogs have to do their business a short time after eating & drinking)
- Do not leave food down all the time. (feed 2 or 3 times a day and then drop it down as the pup gets older. Some adult dogs prefer to only eat once a day)
- Take the puppy out after eating and drinking and play with him until he does his business.
- When he does it outside give him praise and a high value treat (meat or cheese) reserve this treat only for training. This is the only time he gets to taste it.
- If he has accidents in the house, do not say anything to him, ignore him and clean it up. You do not want to give negative attention.
- Crate him if you are not directly watching him or playing with him. This might seem harsh but it is for a short time.
Every accident he has in the house will be a set back in training, because dogs are habit forming animals.

My pups use to look for the treat every time they went out side and would stop peeing half way just to get the treat and then pee again and want another treat.
Little stinkers will try to work it to their advantage. I started to withhold the treat until they were completely done.

Original Author: KeyStoneK9/Keys