Basic Puppy Training Online Dog Training Classes by Dove Creswell.

Finding good homes for rescued and abandoned dogs can be a problem because many people are hesitant to adopt an older dog.

They are apprehensive about the dog having behaviour problems that they may not like and feel it may be difficult to cure.

Contrary to the cliché, you cannot teach an old dog new tricks, training an older dog is not any more difficult than training a few weeks old pup. The most common problems people have when adopting older dogs, are:

• Aggression,
• Barking too much, and/or
• Soiling inside the house.

There is no need to fret or be too worried even if your new older dog has all of the above problems as there are techniques that can be used to train your new pet and make him or her behave properly, learn its place within the family and become a valuable and loved addition to your household.

Unlike a new pup, an older dog has been someone’s pet before and has had been exposed to humans and may have formed certain unacceptable behaviour patterns, may know and respond to certain commands, etcetera, etcetera.

The first thing to do is to try and find out as much as you can about these things, because you cannot correct something you are not aware off.

Try and find out if the dog has any aggression problems, such as aggression towards other dogs, towards people, or aggression over his food. If it has an aggression problem you will need to pay immediate attention to correcting such problems, because this could lead to someone getting bitten.

Check out his disposition, see if he or she responds to basic obedience commands, like ‘Sit’, ‘Down’, ‘Come’ and the like.

The main thing to watch out for is to see whether the dog displays any fear while responding, as it may have been abused while being trained by its pervious owner.

Make sure about the level of house training the dog has ever had and you will know where to
begin in training your older dog. Armed with the knowledge as described above, the next move would be to use any professional step by step program that takes you from basic obedience training exercises right through more advanced training.

Secrets To Dog Training by Daniel Stevens would be an ideal program in this situation.

By doing this you are taking all the guess work out of training your older dog, ensuring at the same time, that you will not be making the same mistakes everyone always makes when trying to train a dog without a good system in place.

Every professional dog trainer emphasizes the use of positive training techniques. Use positive reinforcement, to give praise and rewards for correct behavior, and make the dog know how you want it to behave.

By using a professional program you will also learn how to communicate in a way that your dog understands. The correct use of voice supported by body language goes a long way in training your older dog effectively.

Become the Alpha Dog, and leader to your dog. Gain his respect, confidence and trust as the Alpha dog and he or she will be eager to follow your lead. The dog’s basic nature is to please the superior member of his or her “pack”-which happens to be you and your family.

Get your whole household involved as they should help you in being consistent with the rules you have set down for the dog to obey and follow, avoiding anything that would cause conflict and confusion in the dog’s mind.

Use the right training methods, and your older dog will quickly learn its place in his new “pack”.

Establish yourself as the Alpha leader, you will have good results in correcting and solving behavior problems your dog may have brought with it.

Training an older dog can turn out that you have the best addition to your family and a pet that you can be comfortable with in any social situation.

Basic dog training begins with the successful house breaking of the dog.

How would anyone describe a successfully housebroken dog? There is one simple description.

An housebroken dog will never use the house as his or her toilet. There is still a lot of misconception and misunderstanding about a dog and its toilet habits.

Many people still firmly believe that by sending the dog out into the backyard at regular intervals during the day, they are house training the dog. What they do not realize is by merely taking it outside, or letting it outside, does not mean that the dog knows why it has been taken out or let out.

The root of that problem is communication. A dog by nature, would love top please you, its owner, but it cannot, because it does not know how to communicate with you.

The theory behind house training a puppy is all about devising a means of preventing it from doing its dirty business inside the house, by giving it the opportunity of doing it outside.

This can only be successful if at the same time the dog is taught how to communicate with you and goes outside when it is told to go and or tells you that he has to go outside.

Dogs are creatures of habit and they learn from association. Our training if consistent would help it quickly learn to associate the outdoors with the act of relieving itself.

We must learn to take advantage of the wonderful natural instinct of the dog’s desire to keep its sleeping area clean, and not to mess in it.

This is where the crate enters the picture. Make the crate the dog’s den and its bed. If the crate is the correct size, the dog will never soil it, if it cannot get out. It will restrain itself till let out.

We must also capitalize on the fact that dogs are pack animals by nature, and den animals by instinct. Leave a dog free in a house and you would notice that it would pick its own den, under a desk, behind a couch or in a closet.

A dog crate is the ideal and perfect, natural den for the dog. Make it its bed. It also serves as a safe, place to keep the pet whenever necessary, for its safety your peace of mind.

When first introduced to the crate and locked in, puppies may raise hell, but they would quiet down and accept it eventually without any problem.

If you are one of those humans who think that confining a puppy to a cage is cruelty, please think again. By confining a puppy to a crate we are actually catering to its basic instincts.

Cast your mind to the wild, and ask yourself where would a dog sleep at night, out in the open? Where anything and everything can attack it or harm it? No, it finds a secluded spot, a cave, behind the trunk of a fallen tree where it has a feeling of security and protection.

The proper use of a crate merely satisfies the dog’s basic desire and urge to feel safe, protected and secure.

As mentioned earlier some puppies would scream their living heads off, and carry on at that for quite a few number of days, but that is something you would have to put up with if you want to house train him. You have to get him or her used to the crate, else spend a lot of time scooping up dog crap from your carpet.

Remember that the puppy will get to realize that its screaming is getting it nowhere and soon stop, as long as you ignore it. Whatever you do, please DO NOT LET THEM OUT OF THE CRATE WHEN THEY ARE SCREAMING.

If the screaming bothers you that much place the crate with the puppy in it in the garage or the basement, or leave the house for a few hours, the puppy will get tired and stop yelling.

Like little children small pups will naturally sleep 15 to 18 hours a day. This is normal. They quickly learn that the crate means taking a nap.

You have just completed the first step to house breaking your puppy, You have made it accept the crate. More on crate training later.