Five Ways to raise a friendly dog.

Every dog owner’s secret wish is for their puppy to grow up to be one well rounded friendly dog. Those that either have adopted or are planning to adopt a dog can follow the below tips to ensure they have one friendly pet around them.

Teaching your dog commands such as ‘lie down’ and ‘sit’ work on two levels, firstly it will establish your leadership and will help to calm your dog . Image: canineminded.com

1.The puppy you adopt ought to be 8 weeks or older
The little one must get said number of days with its mother and siblings. As the very first training session a pup will get is from its mom and litter mates.  The behavioural training covers learning about sharing, tolerance, dominance and submission. When the pups play with one another they teach each other not to bite too hard. If a puppy has been bitten by its mate, it will end the game and move away to lick the wound. The biter then understands that in order to have a continuous play session, it has to nip/mouth gently and not use its jaws the way it just did. This natural training technique is called bite inhibition.

Play dates are a great learning experience for a dog that will not just learn how to deal with its own kind but will also help it to establish a certain role in the social ladder of its group/species. Image:https://digitaldoggydaily.com

Humans too can train their pup in a similar way. During playtime if the puppy bites you respond with a shriek or an ‘Ouch’ sound to alert the pooch that it has done something uncalled for. Next step should be to leave the game and to ignore the four legged biter for a couple of minutes. To resume the halted play, first ask the dog to sit in order to clarify your position as the one in charge here and proceed with the game.
When you adopt a shelter dog whether it’s a puppy or older canine, remember it may not have been fortunate enough to spend the desired amount of initial weeks with its mother and the rest of the litter. In this case you will have to patiently put in some extra effort to train the pooch. The good thing is no dog is un trainable!

image- frogprincepaperie.com/

2. Let your pet dog/puppy be surrounded by guests
   This is an important step, especially when it comes to early socialization of a puppy. Invite friends who are comfortable around dogs. Let your pooch interact with kids too. It may sound strange but men folk as well as kids can appear intimidating to dogs especially if the pet hasn’t had an opportunity to be around them. Try and include kids in the guest list. Let the children feed and pet your dog. During such socialization sessions you can also familiarize the dog with some very basic commands accompanied with cuddles and rewards. Encourage your guests to offer some kind of a treat/ piece of pellet to the pet for its obedience. This will further strengthen the latter’s belief that human beings are good and trustworthy. This exercise will greatly benefit the dog by evicting all the stress, when it is handled by a groomer or during vet visits.
   

   The first step to rectify your dog’s behavioral problems is to identify the bad behavior and not encourage it in any way. Image-pinxpets

3. Fix a date with another canine companion

The venue can be a dog park or another dog owner’s home. When introducing your pet to a new dog it is best to start with a practice meeting session in the house. In case the venue is a dog park it is better to keep the dogs on the leash during their first few interactions. Play dates are a great learning experience for a dog that will not just learn how to deal with its own kind but will also help it to establish a certain role in the social ladder of its group/species. Image 3: http://pinxpets.com/

4. Distinguishing the bad behavior from good behavior
   The first step to rectify your dog’s behavioral problems is to identify the bad behavior and not encourage it in any way. It is perfectly alright to hire a professional dog trainer who can guide you towards the solutions as well as teach the dog good behavior. Inadvertently though you may be reinforcing negative behavior in your dog. When you scream at your dog for barking incessantly then you are actually conveying that there is nothing wrong in taking out loud sounds and that it is an alright way to deal with any external stimulus. Hugging and petting a dog that is scared or being aggressive will only encourage these negative traits in your pet.

5. Knowing basic commands such as ‘sit’, ‘stay’ and ‘down’ is important

Teaching your dog commands such as ‘lie down’ and ‘sit’ work on two levels, firstly it will establish your leadership and secondly it will help to calm your dog and prevent him from jumping (on visitors) and barking. Similarly the `stay’ command works on stilling the dog. It will halt as well as make the pet wait at a particular point.

Article resource: 
http://dogtime.com/dog-health/dog-behavior/107-raising-people-friendly-dog