Being a good pack leader

This is probably one of the most misunderstood things that amateur trainers,and regular people dont have a good concept of!
I cant stress how important this info is and it will effect everything that you do with your dog.Being a good pack leader does not mean that you are not willing to correct the animal,but also when,how and the method.Some dogs you will never get them to do anything by physical corrections,and some dogs you must use them.
First off let me tell you that there is a thing called the dogs civil drive.Civil drive is the ability and willingness to take a correction and be forgiving also and willing to keep working with the handler.Some dogs have a high amount of civil drive and some dont have any at all.The dog with no civil drive is not going to be very forgiving and willing to keep working if you constantly correct this type of dog too hard.In the same measure,the dog with a high civil drive is going to take corrections much better and be willing to forgive you even if the correction was a little too hard,or you make a mistake.
I dont recommend giving any puppy ANY PHYSICAL corrections at all(especially working dogs,service,SAR,or any other working type).What I do with my dogs is I first imprint the dog with crate training,and most times this puppy gets out of his crate is to do a few training exercises and to go potty outside.I want this puppy to learn right away that We are a TEAM, and WE are going to work when the dog is out of the crate.Now dont get me wrong here,I wil also play tug of war and fetch and such also,but as a reward when the dog has listened and tried,and performed and done what I commanded.

I must make one thing very clear,ONLY correct your puppy when the puppy knows the command!There are different phases to learning,first the command is learned,this may take up to 30 or 40 times before the dog knows it.Then there is the distraction and correction phase,and then the proofing phase.
There are some great books out there,and videos on this subject that can give you a very good picture of what this involves.I personally respect and admire Ed Leerburg,of Leerburg.com with some of the most detailed and correct training advice and information availible today.Thats not to say there are also some other great training info out there also.

If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me and I will be glad to help you anytime.

Getting back to this posts topic I would like to stress something very important that I have mentioned in previous posts.Some people start crate training and think everytome the dog does something wrong to put the dog in the crate and this is a mistake.When the puppy thinks of his or her crate as a place where the master sends me when I'm bad,this can be very detrimental to what we are trying to accomplish.I want my dogs to feel safe and know that no one will bother them when they are in the crate.At the same time the crate can be used in conjunction with other methods to correct a behavior but I dont want the puppy to relate the crate early on with corrections!This is a fine line in beginning development of a working dog.
Some puppies are going to resent you putting them in the crate at first,but you can do a few things to make this transition go a little easier.First thing I would tell you is to put the crate in a room where the puppy can see you and always praise the puppy when put in the crate(thats a fine dog,Good boy crate).I want the puppy to know Im right there and everything is fine.You can read about this in previous posts.

When training a working dog,I dont do much correcting at all,just the imprinting of certain behaviors I want the dog to use all through his or her life.

Imprinting the first commands.

Now I've talked somewhat on the first commands in previous posts.Crate is one of the first commands that I teach my dog.I also want to teach the puppy the Sit command.I want the puppy to learn to sit when i put his food down,when coming to a door or gate,and also when I'm talking to someone in public.

I can give you some valuble info on how to make this easy.First what I do with my puppies is to teach them the "Place" command.What I mean by this is that I teach my dogs that when I give the Place command,the dog should go lay down in a place that I have gave him to lay down that is not the dogs crate!

What I do with my dogs is place a sheepskin dog bed in a spot where my dog can lay and still be in the room with me.This is great when people come over and I just want the dog to lay down,and not be under peoples feet.The dog feels like he or she is still part of the crowd but is still under my control.This is very important when going to the vets office and you have to wait in waiting room with alot of other people and animals.

My dogs learn that they are to sit and stay when in these situations.I dont know how many times I see people in vets office and they cant control their animals.Now there is exceptions to this rule(Some guard dogs and such will need you to call the vets office in advance and make arrangments so the vet knows what to expect),and with a little planning and courtesy you can make this go smoothly.
I have personally had many dogs that I had to call vet in advance and let them know I was bringing this dog in and would like to come when the vet is not that busy or could get me in and out.These kind of dogs should never be handled by anyone but very experienced handlers,and handlers that specialize in handling these very driven dogs.I have personally specialized in training and handling very aggressive and dominant dogs all my life,and I cant stress this advice enough,If you have a very dominant or aggressive dog there are plenty of experienced handlers and trainers that can help you without getting someone hurt!

I've seen so many people get bitten and all because they thought that getting aggressive with the dog would make the dog listen.Dont ever think you know everything about your dog either because every dog is different,and with out experience you have no way of telling what the dog could do or is capable of doing.We must remember dogs are pack animals,and we must take this in consideration when training them.I've personally taken,bought,or was given these type of dogs all my life.I can honestly tell you that most of these dogs previous owners said that the dogs would never amount to anything(but in the right hands anything is possible),and some of these dogs where the smartest dogs I ever owned.Just goes to show you what might work with one dog,might not work on another.

Now getting back to first simple commands:SIT , STAY , PLACE , CRATE , DOWN , HERE are all great commands to start with,but just remember only a couple times a day for a few minutes is all that is needed.We must remember that most puppies sleep more than anything at first.Another tip I can give is to get down on the floor with your puppy every couple of days for a few minutes and play with the puppy,this will help to increase the pack bond with your puppy and teach the dog that you really like having the puppy around and like to spend time with your dog.DOGS CAN REALLY TELL WHEN YOU WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its a bird,a plane,its Super K9

Accidents dont happen!

In this post I'm going to give you a very important tool in raising your new puppy.I've metioned this in a previous post,but I'm going to clarify and reclarify how important this knowledge and concept really is.

First of all let me get one thing straight,their are no accidents when it comes to handling animals,period.Animals especially dogs(this includes the less driven toys and pet dogs are not at fault when they are being handled by incompetant handlers.What I mean by this is I'm constantly hearing people say that their dog just accidently got out the door, and the owner often even states this,saying oh I'm sorry so and so just ran out of the yard or out of the house and I couldn't stop him or her.

Then I'm reminded of the many cases of dogs that are put down and put to sleep everyday in this world.The animal welfare agencies are full of these animals.It my professional opinion that most times(99.99%),its the owners that should be put to sleep, and not the animals.The reason I say this is that I'm reminded once again,people are so uneducated and illresponsible for the care and handling of their animals these days.how often we hear about the dog that gets out of his yard and chases someone and injures or even kills someone because of outright totat neglect on the part of the owner.This past week,I was reminded again of this problem when a 4 year old little innocent girl was killed by dogs that were not being supervised probably at all,and killed an innocent person.Then the media and the neighbors call to put the animal to sleep for the so called accident.Wake up people the animal didnt do anything wrong,and the owner alone should be held responsible,not the animal.

I will repeat this once again, Accidents dont happen when handling animals.People are the cause of these so called accidents.Most the time these so called accidents could have been avoided had their owners just practiced what is called supervision.Some people are so damn stupid,and then want to blame it on the poor animal.I see this just about every day,someone that says they cant get their dog to learn something,when the the owners should be held for sychiatric evaluation,and should never be able to own any kind of animal at all.

First I must give my opinion,which I think should be made LAW!!!!.People should not be able to own animals that are capable of inflicting harm to someone, when these people have no business even owning an animal of this kind.What I'm talking aboput is people that have no experience handling these kind of animals,should not even be able to own one,unless they are willing to take some handler course and learn the proper way to handle and control an animal(especially dogs that are working breeds).I am reminded daily of this when I see these damn dummies thinking they know what the hell they are doing,when in reality they can't even responsibly handle their damn own asses(excuse my french),and have no business even ownind such animals.

People get mad when their dogs misbehave,and all the while wont get off their dead asses and learn from people that have experience with this.I consistantly see the owner of dogs that sit or just stand calling their dog when it misbehaves,expecting the animal to know what the hell they are talking about or wanting.You can't expect a dog to know anything that it hasn't been trained to perform.People are so ignorant these days when it comes to this , and this is why these so called acccidents happen.


Someday I hope that they past a law to outlaw these kind of people from ever owning anykind of animal, or even having children(God forsake them if they ever have children).I've never seen the kind of morons that we have running around today.I'm sorry for being so blunt,but I've just come to wits end with these so called people.Maybe we are calling the wrong ones the animals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.There are such things as leases and harnesses, and collars,and many other tools that can be used if people were not so damn ignorant!These people are lucky I'm not in charge of the laws pertaining to this,because I would put an end to these kind of people from ever owning animals, or even thinking about it.Maybe we should start putting electric collars on these so called people and do a little correction training on these pieces of crap that claim they are people!


In all my years of owning and training german shepherds,Ive never had one of my dogs hurt anyone or even try to cause harm to anyone unless the person deserved a good scare for trespassing on my property or such.My dogs are only going to hold you there unless you try to harm or fight them.My dogs will let anyone I say into my house or yard if I say this.At the same time,if someone tries to bring a concealed weapon into my house,and is a stranger,will be stopped dead in his tracks.One of my dogs went thruogh a closed window to protect me from a stranger that was trying to trespass onto my property. I was out back in the dark and the dog alerted me but I didn't respond,and the dog jumped through a closed window(the dog was not injured),and stopped some lowlifes from getting away and held them there until I came out of the darkened back yard.

Now getting back to this important tool.Its acually just a little advice.I can't stress this enough,When you think you know everthing,someone comes along with another method or idea.Dont ever think that you know everthing about anything,because there is allways more to learn.Peace to all and I hope you are not spending your days wasting your time with people that have no brains,just empty spaces between their ears!.

Jasper my dog

Dog saves man's life

This story really shows how valuble German Shepherds can be and you can find a good shepherd at many of the german shepherd rescue centers around the country.

Owner,Joe Stalnaker said he adopted the dog from a shelter at 8 weeks old.Joe the owner says his dog Buddy (what a fitting name),was trained to pick-up the telephone and dial a preprogramed number by pushing the number on phone(amazing).Joe was having a seizure when Buddy did exactly what he was trained to do,saving his masters life.Buddy is 18 months old at time of insident(9/15/2008).Buddy has made 2 other calls to 911 before for his owner also.

Joe's seizures are a result of an accident that happened 10 years ago in a military training exercise.Joe spent 2 days in hospital to recover and then returned home to his beloved companion.Stories like this just instill the fact of how valuble these dogs can be when trained to do certain jobs.Remember that in order for a dog to be trained to do important jobs like these,the dog must be imprinted correctly.This is exactly why I repeat so often in my posts that when training a working dog or any other dogs it is very important to imprint puppies the right way.When done right the dog and handler creat a bond that is undiscribable,and can only be fully understood by experiencing it firsthand.Cudo's to Buddy,his owner, and the people responsible for his training.

My dog that I'm training now can pick-up and get both my phones for me at command.My dog was doing this at about 7 months old,and will bring the appropriate phone to me on command.This is very good especially if you live alone and ever have an accident and cant get to the phone.If my phone keeps ringing and I dont wake up when sleeping,my dog will automatically bring the phone and put it in my hand after waking me.This is not that hard to teach a dog if the dog has no issues with different articles.I will get into the theory of this traing at a later date.

Picking the right puppy

Picking the right puppy is a very important step.Whether its a working dog,family dog,estate dog,or something as simple as a companion for grandmother,picking the right dog for the right job or situation is a very important step.Now considering the right puppy to pick is not an exact science,but you can narrow it down a bit pretty easy.I'm reminded of the new family that takes their daughter to pick out the new puppy.This is really not the best thing to do under most cicumstances.The reason I say this is a young child only knows which puppy is cute and catches her eye.And most children and adults with no experience seem to always pick the puppy that sits in the back when people aproach the dogs,saying "doesn't he look so sad",and they usually pick that dog.These dogs that sit in the background sometimes end up with enviromental problems,and need special training.If you do a little research on the web about this you can get a little better idea about how the professionals pick dogs to train for specific jobs.I will help anyone that calls me about purchasing a dog for specific needs or work,within 50 miles of rockford.I can also recommend some great breeders of working dogs and what to look for in a reputable breeder.Like I said earlier this is not an exact science,but you can narrow it down quit successfully.I would like to add you must like your dog,and be happy with what he looks like.

What a Dog!

Training the command "Crate"

In my last post I was talking about getting the dog used to the crate.I want to make a very important point now.When your puppy goes in the crate on command(when you give the command "crate"),you want the puppy to go in the crate,and then use that calm voice that I've spoken about in previous posts.Tell your puppy "good dog crate",and then reward the puppy with a treat or his favorite toy.Now let me clarify something very important,what we want the dog to do is go in the crate on command.First have the puppy stay in the crate for a few minutes,then slowly start giving the crate command and have the puppy stay longer and longer,and finally have the puppy come out on command,rewarding the puppy and using that calm voice telling the puppy "good dog here".

Getting your puppy to come when called is also a very easy thing to teach.What I do with my dogs are to have the dog on the leash,throw a ball,or just let the puppy run around,and then give the puppy the command "here".As soon as the puppy starts coming to you praise the puppy again by saying "good dog here",and give the puppy a reward or a ball and repeat.Remember to only do this a couple of times a day,then as time goes on do this while other people are around you and the puppy.This will start a very important habit with your puppy.The dog will learn to come to you when called,even when there is a lot of distractions going on around the dog.

I would also like to make another point,not all dogs have the calm nerves to work under distractions.There are some dogs that genetically dont have this trait to work under distractions.I dont know how many times I've seen people trying to train a dog for service work or other kinds of work and they have a dog that genetically is not capable of working under distractions.A good example of this is a Police dog that sits still in his partners squad car and does not get distracted by whats going on around him.We have all seen this and can recognize that Police dogs are trained to only pay attention to their partner,and not pay attention to anything else.If you are looking to buy a puppy for this kind of work there are some great trainers and breeders around that can help you pick the right puppy.I will post more info on picking the right dog in my next post.

Another point to make is that teaching the dog to come when called is one of the most important lessons to teach the dog from day one.The reason for this is that we want the dog to allways pay attention to the handler and his commands,not the enviroment around them.This is a very important concept.If you would like a training video showing you these methods,I would suggest that you visit leerburg.com,where you can purchase some of the best training videos that I've ever found on Puppy training.Check out the video"How to raise a working puppy",in the training video section.This video is good to use with non-working dogs also.The amount of imformation in leerburg videos is uncompromised and I've yet to find better videos on the subject anywhere.These videos are filled with the best advice for someone serious about training any kind of dog for just about anykind of work you want to train.These videos are from a very qualified trainer that has the kind of experience that you can trust.

teaching your dog some first simple commands and exercises

In my previous articles on crate training you may have noticed I call this blog "puppys and obedience",which can be kind of confusing.I want to make a couple of points about this.If you are training a working dog or a dog that you are going to use as a protection dog you dont really have to train your puppy much in the form of obedience.What I mean by this is that you should not do much obedience training at first,only imprinting the dog in specific areas.Making the puppy sit at door and wait till you go thru it first is a good example.The reason I train my dogs to do this is they will learn to wait and not go running thru the door.This carries over when the dog is older and you then have control over the dog and he has learned that he must wait for his handler.I have personally experienced a dog that came running out of a house and tried to bite me while I was walking my dog down the sidewalk.These kind of things are not hard to train.The people that owned the dog got defensive and came outside claiming that it was an accident, and their dog came running out of the door when it was opened.Now first let me tell you there is no accidents when handling dogs.These kind of things could be non-existant if people would learn to obedience train their dogs,and not be afraid of correcting their dog.Most people think their dogs respect them,but the truth be told,most of these dogs dont respect their owners.This is a big misconception among dog owners today.This dog and people like this are just waiting for an accident, and probably will have their dog fear bite someone when this behavior could and can be avoided by some simple steps.Most of all paying attention to this behavior at first and then using your head to take the appropriate level of discipline and correcting the dog when it does this.This all goes back to my point of teaching the dog to sit at the door and wait for the handler to go thru first.My dogs sit at door and wont even come out if it is opened,not until commanded to.

Now getting back to some early imprinting(imprinting:basically showing the dog what you expect out of him or her and taking steps in your training to let the dog know what you want and expect),I want to again emphisize that you can take little steps at first to make your dogs behavior controlable.I allready gave you one example of making the puppy sit and wait at door.You can also make your puppy sit when you are going to put his food dish down for the dog to eat.Once the dog understands the sit command,make the puppy sit first with the food setting on floor in front of the dog.Make the puppy sit till you give the command "OK" or some other release command.

I need to explain at this point that there are three steps to training any dog.1.teaching the command 2.the correction 3.the proofing.First you teach the dog the command.This may take up to 30 or more times till the dog knows what you mean when you say that word.Then once the dog knows the command,I go to the distraction and correction part of the training.I take my puppy to as many different places and give him the command under distractions(example-children running,playing,people walking by,kids throwing balls past the dog etc....).Now I must make a very important point here,you are only doing these little exercises a couple of times a day for only a few minutes at a time.Allways let the puppy win in the end by rewarding the dog with a treat or a ball or something showing the puppy that if he or she does what you command they will allways get the reward.Earlier I told you not to do much obedience training when the dog is young.Most service dogs when trained dont strat learning and working on advanced obedience until the dog is 15 months or more old,and some dogs until they are 30 months or more old.The reason we do this is we dont want the dog getting bored with obedience,and it not really the thing were trying to do at first(imprinting certain behaviors),and giving a young dog to much obedience and hard corrections that young is the wrong thing to do.You want your dog to look at you as a leader and not look at you with fear but look at you with respect.This is not accoplished by yelling at a yound dog or giving it hard corrections when it is too young to even understand this.

So lets go over a few things to keep it fresh in yor mind.Dont worry so much about bad behavior,just imprinting some good behaviors at first.Do these exercises a couple of times per day.Making your dog sit at door,sit for food,sit for a ball etc...and allways praise the puppy within 1 to 1 1/2 secounds after the dog does the command,using a calm and relaxed voice,letting him win and saying the command and good dog or thats a good dog(ex.."sit good boy sit").Notice I repeated the command after the praise letting the dog know that he was a good for sitting and ending it on a good note,letting the dog win.Using this method I have trained dogs that I didn't even think were listening and the dogs really know when your being fair.I dont know how many times someone asked me how do they stop there puppy or dog from going potty in house when they are gone.First of all you cant and I repeat cant correct your dog for something that happened an hour ago,and come home yelling at the dog and thinking the dog knows what your mad about.This is like thinking your young son 10 years old knows something you haven't taught him,then getting mad at him because he didn't do what you wanted.Dogs only know what you teach them,and it is not fair to the dog.Puppies are going to have accidents no matter what,you have to expect this.This all ties in to being a good pack leader,and if you want to teach your dog easily,you must learn to be a good pack leader.This takes more work from the handler than the dog.I dont how many times Iv'e heardsomeone say if I just would have took a little more time things may have worked out for the better.

Thanking for reading my blog,come back again as I will be writing new posts almost everyday.

More on crate training

I'm going to continue giving you a little advice about crate training your puppy today.I like to put the puppy's crate in an area that can been seen from most places in the house,or where the most traffic is.The reason for this is it gets the puppy used to traffic by and around him,and shows him its ok that people are coming and going and this is normal.This also is good for the puppy because he can see everything and doesn't feel left alone.

Once you get the puppy to get used to being in crate alone,and with the door shut,you can now start giving the puppy the command a couple times a day("crate" and praise the dog with a calming voice "good dog crate". Always reward the dog with at least the calming praise!Now when first starting this training your puppy is not always going to go right in the crate when you give the command "crate",dont worry this is normal.just do this several times a day and before too long your puppy will anticipate the reward and will go into the crate when given the command.

I cant stress how important this is when introducing your new puupy to your house and other animals also.(if your puppy tries to eat the family cat lets say,crate training is a great way to get two strange animals to get used to being around each other without being able to contact the other animal).Now keep in mind that not all dogs are going to be able to resist chasing the other animal,but most times letting them check each other out(supervised of course)will satisfy their curiousity.Some animals that are very driven might not be able to be put together.Now there is a couple of other things that are very important to not do. 1. dont let anyone else handle your puppy(petting by another family member or letting the puppy smell a childs hand can be allright when done properly)2.dont ever let another animal run up to your puppy,especially one that is showing aggression or dominance.What I mean by this is when training a puppy I dont let anyone handle,command, or bring their animal anywhere near the puppy I'm training.The reason for this is a puppy can get a complex from this and mainly I dont want this dog to listen to anyone but me.I also dont want the puppy thinking he has to defend his or her self.I want my dogs to not pay any attention to other animals or even enviroments from day one.I will elaborate on this more later,but basically this is very important because I want this dog to listen and pay attention to me and not his enviroment at all.

When you use this approach in the early stages of your puppy's development,you are going to find later on that you dont have a dog that is allways getting distracted by the enviroment around him or her.This is especially important if you are raising a working dog or just a dog you want to take places and the dog behaves and stays with you at all times.This also carries over into training your dog that he or she is not to listen to anyone but you.

Just a little video of some of my dogs.Enjoy.Let me intpoduce myself,my name is Matthew Law and I specialize in obedience training and imprinting puppies especially.I grew up training my own dogs and soon after that I started training and helping other people with training and instruction training their own dogs.

I cant stress enough if your raising any kind of working dog or a dog that is going to get very big,or a very active dog,you must consider crate training.Crate training is one of the greatest things is so many ways because your dog for one will have a place that is his or her private area,and when done properly it is to a great advantage to the handler.I will elaberate on why a working dog should have one handler at a later date.

Most people if they just did a little planning before bringing that new puppy home they would make it a lot easier.Crate training should start by just letting the dog check it out.let your puppy run in and if he sits down in the crate tell him good dog in a very calming voice.Then maybe once or twice a day throw a treat in the crate if needed.If the puppy goes in on his own,give the dog a treat and tell him good dog in that calming voice,and also say this while using the word "crate".Example:"good dog crate".

After doing this little exercise use this as a command,_(insert dogs name)"Crate,good dog crate.Say this within the first second and a half when the dog goes to the crate.Allways end the little session with a calm praise,even if you shut the door and the puppy starts to bark.Let the puppy know right from the start, especially if the puppy goes in by itself,that its ok if the door is shut you are still right there.I let my puppies set in the crate with door shut and locked a couple of times a day so they get used to it and start to realize it is there bed and place where nobody will bother them.I dont suggest letting anyone near the crate even to stick their fingers thru the crate to say hi.I know this sounds harsh but you want the dog to feel safe in their crate and my dogs dont have anyone else handle them except maybe to feed them or give them water, and thats after the puppy has grown a bit first.Working dogs especially should have 1 and only one handler.Too many people bring a puppy home and three different people start giving it commands.Only one person should be the handler.

There are some great videos you can purchase online that can show you what to expect from your new puppy and things that you can do to start imprinting the dog so it is easier to train and start to figure out what kind of drives your working dog,sport dog has.Even if your just training a good house pet and you want it to go easier,there are certain ways to get this accomplished,and starting out you only need to have training sessions last a few minutes.

I will be talking more about imprinting and proper testing of dogs abilities in my next blog.Thankyou for taking the time to read it.
I will be posting more info on selecting a proper dog for the proper job also in my next posting.