Staffordshire Bull Terrier Forum News

Types of Training for Your Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Part two)

Gentle Leader Training/Halti

The gentle leader and halti is a harness-type lead, with a strap that goes over the dogs muzzle and puts pressure around your dogs nose and mouth when the leash is pulled.

The aim of this training device is to enable you to teach your dog who the boss is, and teach him some basic commands such as sitting. It can also help to control lunging and pulling when he is out with you. The ability to close your dogs mouth with a pull on the lead means that it can control barking, snatching of food and other similar problems, as well as reduce the risk of biting and snapping.

Beware of over-correction as this can pull sharply on a dogs head and neck and may result in injury.

It is important to give your dog a positive initial impression of the gentle leader, as many dogs will have a strong dislike of it. You can impart this positive impression by taking your dog for a walk or run straight after you put the halter on for the first time.

This device may not be suitable for all dogs. Some pets will not respond well and therefore should not be forced in to wearing a gentle leader. However, for a responsive dog, the gentle leader can be an effective training tool when used correctly.

Clicker Training

This type of training is a gentle, conditional training method that works through association. The clicker is a plastic box with a clicking metal strip built in to it. It is normally paired with something that your dog really desires such as treats.

Although your dog will initially react to the treat, which is known as the primary re-enforcer, if the giving of the treat is coupled with clicking of the box, this will become a secondary or conditioned re-enforcer. Your dog will soon learn to relate to the clicking, and when he hears the clicks after certain actions he will know he has done something good.

Again, some people are not keen on this type of training because they want their dogs to do as they are told out of respect rather than out of desperation for a treat. Some people see clicker training and similar training methods as akin to bribery or brainwashing.

However, others have found clicker training to be a very useful and effective tool in dog training, and one that does not use punishment or any harsh methods to train dogs.

It is especially suited to heelwork to music.

Whistle Training

A dogs sense of hearing means that he can hear sounds at frequencies that are totally inaudible to humans. This has given rise to a training tool known as the ultrasonic whistle a device used by many professional and novice dog trainers.

The sound is not designed to harm a dog, but simply to get his attention for training purposes. You can also use the whistle for training and getting his attention from a distance.

Whistle training is not always easy, and you may need some training yourself before you get it right. However, once you have the hang of it you may find that it is an effective addition to other dog training tools.

This article was contributed by Ben (Staffinating) from the Staffy forum.

Tags: staffies, Clicker Training, staffordshire bull terrier training, staffy, Whistle Training, Gentle Leader Training

Types of Training for Your Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Part one)

There are many different forms of training that can be used on your dog or puppy. Some people utilize a variety of these methods, whereas others pick out the most effective one and concentrate on that. At the end of this section, we give you our choice as to the most effective training technique.

There are pros and cons to all types of training, and the ones that you use the most will often depend upon which ones your dog is most responsive to as well as which ones you feel most comfortable about using. One thing all dog owners should remember is that training does not happen overnight, and you must exercise patience and understanding throughout. Below you will find some of the forms of training used on puppies and dogs, and an overview of what these training methods entail: However generally, and as long as its kind, If it works use it.

Dog Whispering

This type of training is strongly based around understanding the body language and behaviour of your dog. Dog whispering will enable you to talk to him in a way that he understands.

This training is based upon positive association, and can help owners to really understand their dogs problems. whispering uses calming signals to train animals rather than the traditional shouting of commands, which is far more soothing for both the owner and the dog.

Dog whispering is a relatively new form of training and is fast gaining popularity with those that want to understand their pets, as well as train them effectively.

Reward Training

This is one of the most popular types of dog training at present, and works through rewarding your dog with a tasty treat whenever he does something he is supposed to.

This is usually coupled with praise and fuss, enabling your dog to associate that particular action with goodies and lots of love from his owner.

Reward training will teach your dog to associate something he should do with something good, hence encouraging him to continue to do it. Some people can make this type of training ineffective by giving their pets treats at inappropriate times rather than just throughout training.

This will make your dog think that treats will come his way whatever happens, rather than when he has done something good.

Some people are not too keen on this method of training because the dog is clearly reacting to the prospect of a treat rather than out of respect for his owner. One thing to remember about reward training is that it is just that reward training and not punishment training. You should never smack or shout at your dog for not doing something you want him to do, simply reward him when he does do it

Choke Chain Training

Not one i would recommend myself as in the wrong hands can prove lethal Using a choke chain to train your dog can be very effective, and is particularly suited to more dominant dogs as well as large, strong breeds. You should be careful with chock chain training on smaller, weaker or reserved dogs, as it may prove a little too harsh in these cases.

No matter what dog you are training, the idea of a choke chain is not to in inflict pain. You are using it to get your dogs attention please keep this in mind.

It is important to have a good fitting, quality choke chain and a lead to help train your dog. You should ensure that you are very familiar with how to use a choke chain before you start training with it.

Be very gentle with your corrections, especially when you first start using the choke collar. If unsure and to be safe you should seek professional advice for size, type and fitting

Half Check Collar Training

Using a Half Check to train your dog can also be very effective, and is suited to most breeds. The idea of a half check is to tighten around the neck just to gain attention and the noise of the chain behind the neck is also an attention seeker.

It is important to have a good fitting, quality half check collar and a lead to help train your dog.

As with the choke chain be very gentle with your corrections, especially when you first start using the half check.

The collar consists of a small length of chain attached to a nylon type collar. The collar when fitted should be tight in going over the dogs head and when tight around the neck about 1 inch to 1½ inches of chain showing between the rings When you pull on the leash, you cause the check chain to tighten around the dogs neck.

The idea of a check collar is not to choke the dog; you only want him to feel a sharp pull.

Tags: Half Check Collar Training, Dog Whispering, staffy, Reward Training, staffordshire bull terrier training, staffies

Secrets to training your Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Part two)
Content posted by forum member Ben(Staffinating)

Session Length

Keep sessions short and enjoyable so that your dog maintains concentration throughout. Quality not quantity is the golden rule. In addition, you should always finish a training session on a positive note if you can.

Attitude

Be reasonable in your expectation of what your dog can achieve. It will take time to get results. You should ensure that you have the dogs full attention and that you are giving your best when performing a training session. You may wish to settle yourself or the dog down by taking a long walk before the session commences.

Praise

Use praise whenever your dog has completed an exercise correctly. Praise should also be delivered to your dog as soon as the desired act has been done (remember the section on timing). When delivering praise look directly into the dogs eyes so that he understands the connection between your voice or touch and his action.

Deliver praise verbally or with the hand by either patting or stroking him. Try not to over praise your dog, as excessive chatter will only serve to confuse him and may disrupt his concentration for the rest of the training session.

Alternating treats with displays of affection can be a useful way of overcoming problems that your dog may have in learning some of the exercises. Some types of dogs, like Beagles, do not often care for displays of affection in which case using food, as a reward, will produce much better and quicker results.

You should remember that when using treats you should deduct the amount of treats used for training from the normal diet. Too many treats = Big Fat unhealthy Dog.

Eye Contact

Using eye contact can be more effective than using the spoken word more so if there is a close bond between dog and owner. If a dog wishes to communicate with you, he will look directly into your eyes trying to read your intent. It is well known that dogs that do not make good eye contact can be difficult to train.

Spend time learning your dogs body language.

Hand Signals

Using a specific hand motion, while at the same time giving a vocal command, can be an effective way of training a dog to respond to different stimuli and is useful for getting your dog to respond at long distances. Eventually you can wean your dog off the vocal command so that he responds to the hand signal alone. Give hand signals in front of and above the dogs head as that is their best field of vision.

Voice Signals

Dogs, while being intelligent animals, will only be able to understand a few words, even this is more of an association between the sound you make and an action the dog has learnt to respond to the sound with. Use one command for one action and pronounce that command with the same tone and inflection. You should gain your dogs attention by saying his name before stating a command.

For example, fido SIT Will attract your dogs attention to the command to follow. Once you have his attention it is unnecessary to keep using the dogs name. It is important to know that your dog will not understand everything that you say and may misunderstand the meaning of what you say. For example if you have trained your dog to respond to the command Down it may perform the same action if you said the word Drown due to the vocal similarities between the words.

Similarly if your dog is lying on the furniture and you say Get Down the dog will probably not move as he has recognized only the Down part of the command.

We hope you enjoyed this training article. Watch out for more great training articles in future Staffy forum news posts.

Tags: staffy forum, staffy training, dog training, staffordshire bull terrier, dog obedience

Secrets to training your Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Part one) Content posted by forum member Ben(Staffinating)

Outlined below are the critical techniques that you MUST use when training your dog, no matter what training method you follow?

Adhering to these techniques will aid the training process immensely and ensure that you get the most out of your relationship with your dog

Bonding

Perhaps the most important aspect of building a successful relationship with your dog will be your rapport with him. If you make your dog into a close friend by doing such things as talking to him, playing with him and taking him for long walks, he will be much more responsive and attentive when you are training him.

Spending QUALITY TIME with your dog is the key.

Consistency

Delivering consistent messages to your dog will help him to view his world as black and white rather than various shades of grey. By consistent messages, I mean the commands that you decide to use to train, praise and reprimand your dog with should always be the same.

It is important that all members of the family are aware of this and use the same commands themselves, as you would not want to undermine the hard work that you have put in to training the dog by having other people confusing him.

For your dogs early training sessions it is worthwhile having one person train him, whether that person is yourself or another family member. The reason for having a sole trainer is that while the commands may be the same the body language can be quite different between different people, which just adds another layer of confusion into your dogs mind.

Timing

By timing I mean the amount of time that passes between your dogs action (or inaction) and corresponding praise. This time should be no more than two to three seconds. If the time is any longer, the chances are your dog will not associate your words with his actions.

Remember that your dog only has the mental capacity of a toddler (maximum 5 year old). In the same vein, it is important that any physical correction to your dogs response to your training command occurs within the same time frame.

For example if your dog is not responding well to the command to sit then reissue the command as you touch his back end or hold a treat over his nose to force the sit. Do not push hard down on the back end any force you use with be met with an equal amount of force from the dog, so your dog will resist.

Do not fall into the trap of calling your dog to you to reprimand him. As mentioned above, by the time he gets to you he has long forgotten what he has done wrong and now thinks that you are telling him of for coming to you!

Always praise your dog when he comes to you.

Never use his name to reprimand him his name should relate to pleasant experiences.

Repetition

Dogs are creatures of habit and learn by repetition. It will take several repetitive training sessions for your dog to get the response you require implanted into his brain and for the action to become automatic.

Dogs do not have an elephants memory and will require refresher sessions throughout their lives so that the conditioned response that you want is not lost.

As part of this, note that you should always praise your dog when he has correctly done what you have asked of him.

It makes sense not to introduce any bad habits into your dog right from the start; otherwise you could be in for a hard time trying to rectify those habits later on.

An example would be that having your puppy on the couch is cute but when he becomes a fully-grown dog, it probably will not be! Remember prevention is far better than having to correct the action at a later stage.

‘Four on the Floor’ is a guide to follow.

Tags: staffordshire bull terrier, dog training secrets, staffordshire bull terrier training, dog training