Training Family Watch Dogs

Getting a watchdog and keeping it in the backyard or indoors, is not enough. You need to train it. Since the main reason people get a watchdog is to enhance their security at home, it is essential that good training enables the dog to identify and deal with  approaching danger, for exmaple. If you are thinking how to train your watchdog yourself, then it would be prudent for you to go though the key points discussed below.

Dog Obedience

The first and foremost part of any watchdog training program is dog obedience. This training gives the dog a dose of confidence and security and in fact, it is the best thing you can do for your dog. All this obedience is about training your dog to obey your orders and developing a great understanding between you and your dog. Simple activities like exercise, social interaction and joy of accomplishment can help you give your dog obedience. Overall, dog obedience includes training your dog five main commands including: sit, down, come, drop and stay.

Apart from dog obedience, you need to train your watchdog focusing on other important issues, too, like barking and so on. Have a look at some useful tips that may help you train your watchdog:

* Train to Bark

The basic trick for training your watchdog to bark is to go to him every time he barks. Remember that a dog is a very clever animal and observes from the very first moment you reach it when it barks. Therefore, your dog will be always alert and feel a kind of responsibility to bark and indicate to you when it sees something suspicious.

* Train not to Bark

Now, since you have trained your watchdog to bark, at times you will wonder what to do when it does not stop barking. This may happen, for instance, when you notice it barking as it sees someone passing on the road. All you need to do is be patient and tell him “No” with a finger tap to indicate that it doesn’t have to bark when seeing anyone on road. If your dog understands your tapping and actions, he will stop barking and you can rest assure that it will not bark again in the same situation.

* Train with Speed

Sometimes you wish to speed up the training process of your watchdog and this can be done by simply hiring special dog trainers to keep the dog engaged in some useful training activities. You can also speed up the procedure of your watchdog training yourself. For instance, you can ask your neighbor to sit on the lawn and see how your dog barks. THen if and when it barks, you can pat him so that he feels confident and makes it a habit to bark when sees someone trespassing.

Remember, not all watchdogs are so easy to train; different breeds have different training levels. So, try to buy a watchdog that is already trained or easy to train within a few weeks. For help in choosing, know that the trademark of a good watchdog is that he seldom barks.