Forgive me being on my soapbox here... but having just come from a three-day agility trial where I enjoyed watching and interacting with some of the best behaved and well trained dogs I've ever been around....I've thought a lot about the advantages of a well-trained dog.  I simply cannot emphasize too much the importance of obedience training for your dog. It is very substantial to the well being of your dog and your own contentment in owning a dog.

Dog training is SUCH an important aspect of owning and raising a dog. However many people do not fully understand the importance of dog training. It is not meant to turn your dog into some kind of robot who follows commands accurately and mindlessly. It is also not aimed to make your puppy into a show dog that can do tricks to amuse your friends. Dog training is all about making the bond between you and your dog stronger. It is about teaching your dog the basic rules to make him a safer pet as well as a pleasant companion.

Dog training is NOT about subduing your dog to follow your every whim; it is about communication. Regardless of your purpose for owning a dog, whether it is for companionship or for protection... or because you want a watch dog... you should train your dog so that you will not have any behavioral problems with it in the future. Dog training will turn your frisky puppy to a more docile dog that will obey your command and stay away from trouble.

Dog training is highly recommended regardless of your lifestyle or the breed of your dog. It is also recommended to start training your dog while still a puppy. This is because older dogs are more difficult to train. Sometimes, different dog breeds may require different dog training techniques. For instance, you can't use the same technique to train a large Great Dane and tiny Chihuahua...you simply can't.  You will find your rat terrier to be VERY intelligent, VERY trainable because of his/her willingness to learn and willingness to please.  Take advantage of these breed characteristics and build on them.  MAKE the time to spend with this little critter you have so willingly and lovingly brought into your home to become a part of your life.

Simple dog training starts with obedience training.  First, your puppy must recognize his name and be responding to it every time you call it out. You can then start to train him to come to you whenever you call him. Use the verbal commands "come" or "here" when you are calling him, and always call the dog's name before the command.  (Example: "Bailey... COME!"). Then you can start introducing some other techniques such as the sit command. You should start with the simple commands first and gradually advance to more complicated commands.  I always teach the "come" command first because I feel it's the most important command.. and may well save your dog's life at some point.  Many individuals don't focus on the "come" command if they have a fenced in yard.. or an invisible fence... because it's not so much an issue for those individuals as people who live in an "open" area (like I do).   So often these individuals don't spend time on the "come" command because it's simply isn't important... UNTIL they decide to take their dog somewhere where there is no fence...no boundaries... and people let their dog off lead and then are surprised when the dog doesn't come when called. 

Also, a goal of dog training is to make your dog safer, not only to you and your family, but also to everyone in your neighborhood. This is especially important if you have a large dog that can be capable of damage or injury. A trained dog will simply not run off to chase a cat or a squirrel, and will not be aggressive to other pets, children and adults.

Dog training is not easy. You have to have patience and perseverance to be always consistent in your commands so that your dog will learn faster and more effectively. You should also respect your dog. Remember that you chose him.  He didn't choose you. You should treat him right in the first place, because if you don't you will end up with an unhappy dog who will likely run away from you and be quite difficult to train.

If you are truly determined to train your dog personally, you can find a lot of resource material on dog training in many books, manuals, pamphlets and others. It may be helpful to get some information about dog training even before you get a puppy.  We all know that  pet shops will offer dog obedience training either for free or for a fee. Just make sure that it is attuned to the requirements of your dogs breed. You can also hire a professional dog trainer to assist you in training your dog if the dog has specific behavior issues... such as showing signs of agression.  This behavior needs to be corrected and corrected CORRECTLY by an individual trainer who has experience in that area.  Don't try to correct the behavior yourself if you don't know how.... you could easily make it worse.

Just wanted to take the time to post this.  I'm SO VERY PROUD of several of you who I know have recently made the commitment towards training your rat terrier.   Although I don't respond to every single post, I do try to read them all in this training forum and offer advice when I think it's needed.  Also, we have other people on the forum who offer wonderful training advice... so I hope people feel free to ask questions and feel comfortable with the responses they receive.

Nora, I can give an example of how important the "come" command is.  Luckily Skipper is VERY good at that.  Yesterday he found a hole in our fence (apparently a cat/raccoon or something had pushed it's way through under the wire the night before and it was slight raised).  Right before my eyes he skittered under that fence and was free!  Adding to the problem was the dilemma:  do I go around the yard and catch Skipper or patch the fence first so the others don't get out?! 

What I did was calmly say "Skipper, come" and he just skittered back under the fence and came to me!!  Needless to say I was quite relieved.

PS Nora,

May I have permission to quote you from this training post? I am planning on offering a story (at least a letter to the editor) and would love to use many of your words.  If it is okay, just send me an email with how you would like to be noted as the author.

Thanks!!

Cheryl

We just got a 6 week old "baby".  I was just wondering if anyone has any tips or any good books that I can read that will help me out on potty-training and all around training.  It has been a while since I have had to do this.   I have heard from many people that they are very good dogs to have and very easy to train.  If anyone has suggestions I would greatly appreciate it!  My boys are so excited to have this experience and so am I (I think)!

Hi Tracy, congrates on your baby!

Well something that helped me train Spudz with pottying was if he would go pee inside I would take him and put his nose in it and hit him on the nose. Then take him outside and tell him to go "pee". I know this seems a bit harsh, BUT he learned in two days! I also recommend to use the dog liners and have a Spot in the house for them, this might help I never used them because I found Spudz around the age of 4 months.

Nora - I just got around to reading your post and I wish I had read it when I first found the site.  Everything you said is something I've come to the same conclusion on.  I just took the long way around.  Thanks for the great advice... hopefully other noobs will NOT do as I did.