We all hope our little fluff ball we bring home at such a tender young age will grow up to be a model citizen, but with dogs, unless you are one of the few lucky ones, this rarely happens, at least not on its own. Dogs living in a human world and with a human lifestyle will make plenty of mistakes that may either be not acceptable to their owners or may be unsafe for either themselves or the people they live with. When that becomes the case, it is important to be sure that you get the dog obedience training your dog needs to live as a part of your world safely and happily. The problem that many people do not realize is that dogs are pack animals, and are born with brains geared toward their canine world. When we try to fit them into our world and do not satisfy their canine needs, they will begin to experience undesirable behaviors that we wish to change. Your puppy may begin to dig in the backyard because he is bored, your big dog may begin to get aggressive with your friends when they visit because he is trying to protect his pack. Left untrained many of these behaviors may become unbearable or even unsafe; this is where obedience training comes in.

Obedience training helps a dog to understand his role in his pack, which is your human family. It gives him boundaries much the same way your give a child boundaries, only in dogs terms. By taking your dog to obedience training he begins to perceive you as the alpha of his pack and looks to you for guidance on what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Obedience training can also help you learn how to redirect his energies so that he goes from boredom to fulfilled. Obedience training with a good trainer will help you to understand your dog much better, and let you get a glimpse into his world.

With that understanding a trainer will help you redirect your dog’s obnoxious behavior into good healthy habits that will help him become a happy and well behaved dog. It is important to look carefully for obedience training from the right trainer. Not all trainers are the same, and each one will approach training from a different perspective. Anyone can teach a dog to sit and stay, but what you really need is to find a trainer that understands dog behavior and can help you work with your dog in a way that will address their behaviors whether it is insecurity and fear, aggression or too much energy, and find solutions that will go beyond basic obedience training. Sadly too many people never find the training their dog needs and they give up on the dog, instead of searching for dog obedience that works. If you have a dog that is in need of dog obedience training check out Dog Kare, they have a database of dog trainers in your state that can help get you started.