Top 10 Reasons Why You Need To Train Your Dog

1) When you take your dog with you in the car

Does your dog escape (or try to escape) when you get out of your
vehicle? Do you have to get out of your vehicle by squeezing
through a door that is open just wide enough for you to squeeze
through? Are you afraid of shutting the door behind you in case
your dog’s little black nose is sticking out? Does your dog try
to climb on your lap when driving? Do you have your car window
open for your dog while driving? Does your dog try to escape out
the window? My golden did exactly that once. She was in the back
of my jeep, and she had NEVER given any clue that she could, or
would jump out the window. Here I am pulling into my driveway
and my golden is sitting at the gate waiting for me. I
freaked…she must have jumped out the back window as I was
turning into my driveway. I never even realized she had jumped
out. 2) Does your dog think that your visitors are coming just
to play with him? Can your visitors actually get into your home
without being jumped on cornered or tackled? Can your visitors
come up the stairs without being pounced on by your waiting dog?
Is your dog ready to wash your visitors face as soon as they are
eye level on the stairs? 3) Does your dog think that visiting
children are just big stuffed toys for him to play with? Kids
will often lie down on the floor to play with a dog. And this is
just what the dog is waiting for. Surely this is just a
wonderful wiggling and noisy stuffed toy. It’s time to lick the
face, paw the hands, and tackle the little body. Again, I have a
personal experience with this. One of my puppies was playing
with a child on the floor. A playing dog loves to “paw” it’s
playing partner. My puppy pawed the child, in the eye.
Fortunately, no harm done, again, I learned from this.

4) Is feeding time battle time in your household? Has your dog
already eaten his food before you have a chance to put his bowl
down? Are you being jumped on or bumped and pushed when feeding
your dog? Has your dog inhaled his food before you even let go
of the bowl? 5) When walking your dog, do you find yourself
saying the word “heel” at least a hundred times? The following
is a very common scene. Someone is walking their dog, and you
hear these strange sounds, over and over again, heel, heeeeeel,
HEEL. Of course the dog thinks heel means pull harder, pull in
the opposite direction. Or could it mean chase that squirrel? 6)
When walking your dog and meeting a friend, does your dog let
you stand and have a conversation? 7) When someone knocks on
your door, does your dog instantly explode into barking and
anxiously wait to embrace your visitor? 8) Are people allowed to
walk up and down your street without your dog alerting you about
this? I know some dogs believe it is their duty to notify their
owners of any movement outside. After all, they are protectors
of their property. Any movement could spell danger, right? 9)
Can you walk with food in your hand or is this a sign for your
dog to grab a snack? Does your dog think that if food is within
his reach it belongs to him? Does your dog believe that fingers
are part of the food, like doggie “finger food”? If you
accidentally drop food, like a chicken or steak or pork chop
does your dog temporarily think he is a piranha? Are you afraid
of losing your hand if you reach it before he does? 10) If for
any reason your dog gets lose, will he come back when called; or
is this a sign for him to go gallivanting? A trained dog is not
only a pleasure, it is a necessity. Dogs are so much a part of
our socializing these days. We take our dogs walking,
shopping…to Tim Horton’s drive through. Memories! I remember
once I had a black lab in the back of my jeep on a hot summer’s
night. I had the back window rolled down half way. I drove
through Tim Horton’s drive through. One coffee for me, and a tim
bit for my lab. The nice lady at the take out window reached out
to give me the tim bit, and my lab lunges for it out the back
window…good thing the nice lady loved dogs and understood the
combination of labs and food.

Our dogs need to be trained. They need to behave. When you call
your dog he must obey and come to you. This is imperative for
safety reasons.

Your dog should never reach, grab or race anyone for food. A dog
should only take food once you give him permission.

I remember many years ago, when I did not know what I know
today. I took my puppy to visit an elderly lady. This gentle
lady gave my puppy a cookie. Well, my puppy grabbed for it and I
thought this lady’s fingers were going to get eaten along with
the cookie. Boy, did it teach me something. Train my dog!

A dog should sit, stay and walk nice. A well behaved dog is
welcome by most people and places. A well behaved dog is a happy
dog and a safe dog. Take the time to train your dog.