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Dog training - Puptown Dog Training Houston - Page 3

Category: Dog training

The Basics of Protection Dog Training

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Personal protection is very important, especially given today’s social climate, though in truth, protection has always been critical. The one thing that tends to differ from person to person is how they provide themselves with that protection, and in our experience many people rush out to the nearest store to buy a can of mace, a gun, or perhaps a stun gun. These are all outstanding methods of protection, but have you ever considered protection dog training?

The expense might be a bit more elevated with Woodlands dog training specialists, but the rewards are outstanding. You get a dog that is well trained, you get the protection you need, and you get a companion that will be with you for many years. There is nothing better than having a sentient being at your side ready to defend you in the event of an attack and there are so many different spots that will require this type of protection.

Woodlands Protection Dog Training – Where you Need It

sniper_belgian_malinois_protection_dog_2At Home – The risk of burglary is elevated in urban areas and while an alarm system is certainly beneficial to you, you will find that having a weapon on hand, or some other form of protection is even better.

Outside – You might be out for an early morning jog or you may simply be walking around the neighborhood. Maybe you’re even going to the store – it doesn’t matter too much, as you’re going to find out eventually. Having protection on your walks both during the daytime and at night is essential and a well trained dog can definitely do the trick for you.

Shopping – Whether you’re at a mall or at the store, there is always going to be a chance of danger and you already know what we’re going to say: make sure you’re properly protected.

Above we’ve listed just a few of the occasions in which you might need that extra layer of protection, but it goes far deeper than you think.

The Ultimate Crime Deterrent

A dog is not always necessary when it comes to stopping a crime against you or your property, in most cases the very presence of a protection dog can stop crime from occurring in the first place. Most would be attackers, robbers, or other unscrupulous individuals are warded off easily when they sense that the dog in question is capable of defending you. In other words, your beloved companion can stop the crime before it even begins, and that’s very beneficial to you, especially if you are the type that likes to avoid confrontation.

Beyond Protection

You don’t need to buy a brand new dog specifically trained for protection. As a matter of fact, we can train your existing family dog, ensuring that you have one that is already familiar with your family, and already one that you love. The most important thing to remember is that your dog will be trained to defend you and your family rather than engaging, which reduces the chance of unprovoked attacks significantly.

Most importantly, while your dog will have a critical skill set that helps both you and your family, they will also be capable of having fun with you. It’s a mutual relationship that is highly beneficial and definitely something you will want to start investing in.

Help from the Professionals

Our trainers are industry leaders and capable of bringing out the best possible potential in your dog. It won’t be long before you have exactly what you need in a canine companion and the ability to keep your world protected. If you’re ready to change the way your dog functions within your family, and if you’re ready to bring about a complete change for your household, then maybe it’s time for you to give us a call and see what we have to offer you. We are without a doubt some of the best dog trainers in the country and we place your protection at the forefront in this comprehensive program.

 

Basic Therapy Dog Requirements and How to Meet Them

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Therapy dogs are not service animals but instead dogs who accompany their owners to settings such as schools, hospitals, and nursing homes.  Service dogs are specifically trained to perform specific tasks to help a person with a disability.  For example, a service dog might be a blind owner’s “eyes” or assist a person with a physical disability.  Therapy dogs bring comfort, affection, and happiness to people in confined situations such as hospitals and/or nursing homes.  They are also brought into schools after a crisis, as demonstrated by a fleet of Golden Retrievers being brought to Sandy Hook Elementary after the devastating shooting which took place there.

Roles of a Therapy Dog

Service Dog TrainingOne of the key roles of a therapy dog is to bring comfort to people recovering from a crisis.  They also assist those with learning disabilities, assist medical professionals in their practice, and serve as a calming element to those with mental disorders.  Therapy dogs are especially known for comforting those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.  In fact, there are several therapy dog programs which train and donate these exceptional animals to veterans.

Dog Power

These pups improve people’s physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being.  Visits from therapy dogs can reduce anxiety without medication and have even generated positive responses and reminiscing from those with dementia.  Cancer patients have had their blood pressure brought down to an acceptable level to receive chemotherapy thanks to visits with service dogs.  Other healing affects associated with these amazing animals are decreases in stress, decreases in depression, decreased aggression, increased socialization, a greater sense of happiness and well-being, increased mental stimulation, and increased self-esteem.

Therapy Dog Training

Believe it or not, therapy dog training is fairly simple and easy to seek out.  For those interested in seeking out this certification, the dog must be at least one year old, healthy, the handler must have good character, and service dogs cannot be registered as therapy dogs.  The American Kennel Club (AKC) recommends the best starting points being the AKC STAR Puppy Training Program followed up with the Canine Good Citizen Certification.  Both of these programs teach basic obedience, socialization, good manners, and being adaptive in a wide array of situations.

The therapy dog test itself is fairly simple and consists of two phases and thirteen tasks called tests.  Phase I covers the entry table or “dog reception”, check in and out of sight, walking around people, group sit/stay, group down/stay, recall on a 20-foot leash, and visiting with a patient.  Phase II consists of testing reactions to unusual situations, leave it part 1 and 2, meeting another dog, entering through a facility door, and reaction to children.

How Puptown Fits In

Therapy DogIf you live in or near The Woodlands, TX, you have the good fortune of being able to bring your dog to Puptown Houston to start their training.  We start off by teaching future therapy dogs basic obedience with fundamental commands like sit, stay, come, and leave it.  We also offer private classes, group classes, and “doggy day camp”.  With your permission, our expert trainers expose your dog to a wide array of environments and other people and animals by taking them for walks, to dog-friendly spots, hiking, outings in the park, and interaction with other dogs to develop socialization.

We understand that this crucial first step means a future therapy dog will be well-prepared for and comfortable in nearly any situation thus focused on preforming its job and taking care of its human.  Puptown’s professional dog trainers use programs that are in direct accordance with AKC obedience recommendations thus offer your pooch a great start if you want to get him or her certified as a therapy dog.

Good canine manners and obedience training are only part of having a future therapy dog.  The third piece of the puzzle is socialization and while this is easiest to teach a puppy of young dog, it can be learned by dogs of any age.  As you can see from the therapy dog tests, socialization is a huge part of the certification process and critical when introducing a dog to different individuals and environments.

Your dog will most likely be facing a multitude of people, places, and situations in their life and needs to be prepared for the outside world.  Once more, entrust your pup to our training specialists to familiarize your dog with a variety of scenarios and distractions.  This also helps our trainers to identify any fears or phobias and help your dog overcome these obstacles.  So if you are interested in training your pooch to be a therapy dog, contact Puptown Houston today to begin your fulfilling journey.

 

Training a Puppy for a New Baby at House

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Training a PuppyIf your household has a new puppy and you are also preparing for a baby, you definitely have a lot of work on your hands.  Or maybe things have gone the opposite direction and you have just brought home a baby and you also got a puppy.  Either way it is crucial for a puppy to receive great training as early as possible but with a baby in the mix, you need to train your puppy to play well with the other little one.  This goes beyond basic obedience training as socialization is also crucial to the mix. Learn more about training a puppy.

If you live in our near The Woodlands, you have the good fortune of being close to the training specialists at Puptown Houston.  The reason we recommend professional dog training beginning as early as six weeks old is due to this being an “imprinting age”.  During this time your puppy will learn things that will stay with him/her for a lifetime.  This is the ideal window for a puppy to learn things like agility, basic obedience commands, house manners, potty training, and most importantly, socialization.  Our “doggy day camp” while being trained with positive reinforcement methods and sharing the company of other dogs.

Obedience and Socialization

Believe it or not, basic obedience can help tremendously when a puppy interacts with a baby.  Commands like sit, stay, come, and leave it could ensure safety if a puppy gets scared or uneasy from unfamiliar sounds, smells, or movements.  After all, human babies can almost be like puppies in their behaviors, which is where socialization comes into the picture as your puppy might very well consider your baby to be another puppy.

Once more, Puptown can help out with this to help teach proper play behavior.  We offer unique classes and training to make sure you will have a well-behaved dog. With your permission, our training includes taking your dog to several different places where they will encounter a variety of people, situations, and other animals.  Socialization cannot be taught in a ring which is why Puptown exposes dogs to real-world situations as part of their training.

Our expert trainers take puppies and dogs on different “vacations” like to parks, stores, and other dog-friendly areas to teach them how to be polite and well-mannered in a variety of different situations.  We believe that learning should be versatile, realistic, and practical rather than taking place entirely in an isolated training ring.  We strive to familiarize puppies with a variety of environments and distractions, which can also help in identifying and overcoming any fears of phobias in dogs.  This is where one can see the advantage of proper socialization when it comes to a puppy interacting with a baby to prevent a potentially harmful reaction from sudden moves or sounds.

Overcoming Aggression

training specialists at Puptown HoustonAnother behavior we focus on correcting is food aggression.  This is defined as a form of resource guarding in which a dog becomes defensive when eating.  In fact, aggression can go beyond the food bowl and extend to toys and other prized possessions.  And if a puppy loves a bright, bouncy squeaky toy, there is a chance that a baby could adore it just as much.  You can certainly see the potential problem here as a dog defending a prize can elicit anywhere from a mild reaction like a growl to a severe response such as biting.  If you see any such behavior, it is critical that behavior be stopped before a very serious situation arises.  As Puptown is built around positive reinforcement in correcting undesirable behaviors, we are fully prepared to help your puppy overcome aggression and will do so with great success.

While this behavior is easiest to address in puppies during the imprinting age, we can certainly help dogs of any age overcome this behavioral issue.  And we understand the importance of making sure kids are safe around family pooches of all sizes and ages.  And it’s not just kids, dogs need to be well-behaved and good canine citizens around other people and animals in general.

Having your dog attack someone or another dog can have devastating results and our goal is to do everything we can to keep this from happening.  So if you are ready for a beautifully behaved pup contact us at 832-930-0073 or at info@puptownhouston.com.  If you would like a first-hand look at our unique facility drop by 12725 Iouetta Rd., Cypress TX 77449.

 

What Happens in Dog Obedience Classes?

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It doesn’t come as a surprise that the American Kennel Club (AKC) highly recommends obedience training for dogs and puppies.  These canine companions are sources of great joy and can bring their owners years of love and happiness.  Yet a well-behaved dog takes this experience to the next level and sometimes you might even think a person is inside that four-legged body. Continue reading “What Happens in Dog Obedience Classes?”

What You Need to Know About Service Dog Training

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A therapy dog is an entirely different animal (pun intended) and in order to truly perform its job, a therapy or service dog needs to undergo extensive training to be properly registered and ensure it provides the necessary assistance to its owner.  The training is a two-fold phase as it involves good canine citizenship in nearly every scenario possible and being attentive to owner needs. Continue reading “What You Need to Know About Service Dog Training”

What You Need to Know About Service Dog Training

Posted on by WebDev2021

A therapy dog is an entirely different animal (pun intended) and in order to truly perform its job, a therapy or service dog needs to undergo extensive training to be properly registered and ensure it provides the necessary assistance to its owner.  The training is a two-fold phase as it involves good canine citizenship in nearly every scenario possible and being attentive to owner needs.  Service dogs have to stay calm and well-behaved in different environments and around other people/animals.  They also must be ready to do their job at a moment’s notice, no matter where they are or what is going on around them.  There is no doubt that these dogs are heroes and exemplify the indescribable bond between people and animals.

If you live in or near The Woodlands, TX, you have the good fortune of being able to bring your dog to Puptown Houston (https://puptownhouston.com/) to start their training.  We start off by teaching future therapy dogs basic obedience with fundamental commands like sit, stay, come, and leave it.  We also offer private classes, group classes, and “doggy day camp”.  With your permission, our expert trainers expose your dog to a wide array of environments and other people and animals by taking them for walks, to dog-friendly spots, hiking, outings in the park, and interaction with other dogs to develop socialization.  We understand that this crucial first step means a future service dog will be well-prepared for and comfortable in nearly any situation thus focused on preforming its job and taking care of its human.

Puptown’s training philosophy falls directly in line with AKC obedience recommendations.  The AKC (American Kennel Club) recommends obedience training to prevent and correct nuisance behaviors such as jumping on people, digging, excessive barking, and chewing by providing physical and mental activities for your dog.  Training also deepens the bond between a dog and their owner, a crucial part of a service dog’s specialized education.  Finally, obedience training helps to ensure a dog’s safety and happiness while nurturing better companionship.  Not only will Puptown provide this first phase of training, we also offer service dog training.  To learn more about this secondary stage of instructing your service dog, contact us at 832-930-0073 or email us at info@puptownhouston.com.

While we do love all dogs, there is no doubt that some breeds make exceptional therapy dogs.  Some of the most popular choices are Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Border Collies, Belgian Malinois, Australian Shepherds, and German Shepherds.  Scores of other breeds can be service dogs and we will be happy to make recommendations so you can find your perfect match.  Service dogs need to be highly intelligent, have a low prey drive, and be good with both strange dogs and strange people.  A service dog also needs to be the right size as small dogs can get underfoot and very large dogs are difficult to travel with.  Also note that these optimal therapy dog breeds are already “working dogs” who have performed exceptionally as police dogs, search and rescue dogs, customs and border protection dogs, guide dogs, and even seizure alert dogs.

Therapy dogs are frequently associated with combat vets suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) but are immensely helpful to people with a wide array of other conditions.  Service dogs assist people with physical, neurological, and/or psychological disabilities that result in difficulty performing even the most mundane of tasks.  They help people overcome limitations while increasing a person’s independence and freedom.  Most importantly, a service dog provides an alert before the handler experiences an episode from their disorder or provides assistance if and when necessary.  In addition to those with PTSD, service dogs help blind people walk, deaf people to answer the door or phone, provide reassurance to those who have survived sexual assaults, and some dogs can even alert their owner when that person is about to have a seizure or a dangerous glucose change in the case of diabetics.  For people with severe, even life-threatening allergies, service dogs can be trained to sniff out the dangerous allergen to make sure their owner does not come in contact with it.  There is no doubt these are extraordinary animals that deserve the extraordinary training they will get at Puptown Houston.

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If you are in need of a service dog and live in or near The Woodlands, TX, bring your future therapy companion to Puptown Houston for the best training in the area.

Three Benefits of Puppy Obedience Classes

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There is nothing like a new puppy.  These adorable furbabies are warm, loveable, cuddly, and utterly irresistible.  As cute as your new puppy might be, it won’t be quite that cute when it starts behaving badly.  A dog can bring incomparable joy, but this usually happens when he or she is well behaved.  Remember, even if you think your puppy’s behavior is nothing short of precious, other people might not share your opinion.  Even when you are at home a dog needs to have good manners when it comes to having guests and let’s be honest, your dog christening an indoor potty spot might not be cute at all. Continue reading “Three Benefits of Puppy Obedience Classes”

Let a Dog Training Specialist Socialize Your Puppy

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When it comes to a new puppy, early training is the key to a well-behaved pooch and overall good canine citizen.  Socialization means polite interaction with other dogs and people, which can be a big relief when it comes to having your puppy out in public.  The last thing people want to worry about is their dog hurting or scaring a person or another pooch.  At the same time, you want to make sure your dog is properly acclimated to the elements they will encounter all of their lives.  You also need to get your dog accustomed to being along, i.e. without their human by their side every moment. Continue reading “Let a Dog Training Specialist Socialize Your Puppy”

Three Factors that Might Affect Puppy Behavior

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Here at Puptown Houston in The Woodlands, TX  we understand that various behaviors can provide additional training challenges with your new puppy.  Our Woodlands puppy training specialist actually specialize in behavior-based, positive reinforcement training.  So not only can we help identify these behaviors we can help your pup overcome them.  It’s all about consistency and communication, and not just for the dogs.  We also train a dog’s human to help them work with their canine companion when not at Puptown for optimal results.  Continue reading “Three Factors that Might Affect Puppy Behavior”

Training Your Puppy the Right Way

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Do you live in or near The Woodlands, TX?  If so you are fortunate enough to be close to one of the top-notch puppy and dog training businesses you can hope to find:  Puptown Houston.  For more information have a look at their terrific website.  If you have a new puppy and you want to train this little one correctly from Day One, Puptown is your answer.  Their Woodlands dog training specialists use behavioral and social based training to shape a well-mannered and well-trained pup which will be nothing less than an outstanding canine citizen plus a beautifully behaved companion for some very lucky humans. Continue reading “Training Your Puppy the Right Way”