How to Teach My Dog to Focus on Me

Voice tone is often considered more important that the actual words you use.

Getting your dog to focus on you is an essential component of the relationship you have with your dog. If your dog can't or won't turn its attention to you when you want, it will be difficult for the dog to respect and obey your wishes. Some think that force and fear will motivate a dog to focus its attention on its master, but methods that incorporate such techniques do not produce a loving, respectful, and loyal relationship between master and dog.

How to Keep My Puppy Out of the Garbage

Keep your dog out of the garbage by following a few tips.

Puppies are curious animals and you'll often find them exploring places they shouldn't be, such as your garbage can. Keep your puppy out of the garbage to avoid unnecessary messes, keep him from hurting himself by ingesting something poisonous and avoid injuries from items such as broken glass. It's also a good idea to keep your puppy out of the garbage, simply so he learns good behavior and how to listen to you. Consider why your puppy may be behaving this way; it could be his age, boredom or hunger.

Learning how to speak to your dog ensures better communication.

Doctor Doolittle can talk to the animals and, with a few helpful pointers, so can you. Whether you're training a new puppy or spending time with a beloved, old family canine, learning how to speak and effectively communicate with dogs is an important skill for any dog owner.

How to Teach a Dog to Be Housebroken Using a Bell

Your dog's bell should be on a cord or cloth strip long enough for it to reach easily using a paw or its nose.

Dogs are essentially clean animals that do not like soiling their dens. Given the opportunity to eliminate outside, they will readily do so. Unfortunately, dogs lack the ability to ask to be let outside when they need to "go." When they signals by whining, barking or scratching at the door, they are often told that they are "bad." The bell is a simple tool that offers your dog a dedicated cue that means one thing: going outside to go to the bathroom. It is a simple task to add ringing the bell to the housebreaking task.

How to Teach Your Dog to Fetch the TV Remote

Dogs are intelligent animals and learn useful tricks surprisingly fast.

Teaching your dog to fetch the TV remote is little different from training him to do any sort of more complex activity. The basic process involves repetition of a desired action, rewarding good performance and failing to reward bad performance. You'll also need to show a lot of patience with your dog and with yourself. The steps you need to take in order to teach your dog how to fetch the TV remote are just a bit different from the process of teaching him to fetch a stick. In this case, you have to teach him how to bring you something that you haven't first thrown for him.

Teaching Dogs to Chase Balls

Use a frisbee or a stick if you don't have a ball for your dog.

Playing fetch allows dogs to enact their natural instincts of pursuing and retrieving prey. Calm energetic dogs and give your pet some healthy exercise by playing a game of fetch. Training your dog to chase balls makes playing fetch less frustrating, as you eliminate behaviors such as refusing to return the ball or disobeying your commands. Start with simple games and teach your dog to respect your authority and retrieve and release the ball, and soon you will have developed a life-long skill you can use together.

Teaching Your Dog to Look When Heeling

A dog must focus on its handler when heeling.

When teaching your dog to look when heeling, it's important to build the exercise in steps. When a dog “heels,” its position is up against your leg, moving in concert with you. To do this, the dog needs to concentrate on your body language for commands, and when it heels, it will take commands from your left hand. You can teach the dog to look at your hand for its signals. This is a gradual process, but if you work in short training sessions using repetition, your dog will learn quickly.

How to Teach Your Dog to Do "Peek a Boo"

Most dogs are eager to learn new games and tricks.

One of the joys of dog ownership is teaching your pet new tricks. Not only does this help create interaction and bonding between the dog and his owner, but it also keeps the dog entertained and helps develop his intellectual capacities. One of the most entertaining tricks to teach your dog is "peek-a-boo," with the dog holding his paws over his eyes. It takes time for the dog to master this trick, but it helps if he already knows the basic "sit" and "down" commands.