by Dennis Fisher.
This article is one of a great many articles written by Dennis Fisher about a very wide variety of subjects concerning different dogs, such as obedience training, breeding, showing, health matters, training problems and other subjects. All these articles appear on Dennis Fisher's websites. Visit http://www.allaboutgermanshepherddogs.com the site that has been set up specifically for German Shepherd Dog enthusiasts, or http://www.freedogadvice.com if you interested in a breed other than German Shepherd Dogs
The
refusal of food is very much more than a training exercise, it has unfortunately
become a necessity if you live in
an area where is a great deal of
crime.
There are more and more cases of dogs
being poisoned by burglars and
criminals who know your home is guarded by
your dogs.
How do you
go about training your dog never to accept food from strangers?
First of
all make it a rule that no one besides members of your family are allowed to
feed your dogs. Also make a
practice of feeding your dogs in their own dishes.
You can
train your dog to refuse food from anyone by asking a friend to try and feed
your dog a tempting hamburger. As
soon as the dog attempts to reach the tasty food, you tell him NO, very firmly.
Repeat the
process a number of times, especially with a dog that has been trained to
understand what this reprimand represents.
After a
fairly long period of training and the dog understand understands that he must
not accept the food from anyone but you or
members of your family - you
can extend the training by allowing the dog to accept the food as soon as you
give the command OKAY, or some similar sounding command.
This is
very useful training exercise because there may be times when you are away on
holiday and your dog may have to spend time at kennels.
If you
arrange to have someone stay in your home while you are away it is a good idea
for the person to arrive a week earlier than the date of your departure, so that
the dog can be trained to accept the food from the comparative stranger in your
home.
You can
start with the NO-LEAVE IT command. Make the dog wait. Then allow the dog to eat
the food once you have given the OKAY command.
After the
visitor, who is going to stay in
your home while you are away, has been at your home for a few days, you can
allow him feed your dog, first of all in your presence, and then while you are
not present.
It is
unfair to expect a young pup with very little training to accept this
restriction simply by your NO LEAVE IT! command.
But once the dog has been trained to accept that NO means he must
immediately stop doing what you disapprove of, he will respond.
The dog
should also be trained not to accept anything except that which is offered in
his own dish.
Dont
allow him to pick anything off the ground, Be quite definite in your NO command
so that he know exactly what you mean.
If
there is a high wall in front of your house, it is a good idea to arrange
to have someone throw tempting food over the wall while your dog or
dogs are outside.
You can be watching, unobserved,
from a window in a room inside the house. If the dog makes an attempt to
pick up the food from the ground you can act very quickly and reprimand the dog
very firmly.
Do this a
few times and your dog will soon get used to the idea
that he is not allowed to accept any food that is not presented to him in
his own feeding dish, either by you or someone you have given permission to
feed.
Your
action is training your dog to refuse food from strangers could save his life.