Cleanliness

A normal puppy learns the basics of cleanliness very quickly if he is trained properly. Keep an eye on your puppy after meals and waking up when he will be on the lookout for somewhere to answer the call of nature. When he starts to look around and sniff at the ground or even squat down inside the house, immediately trigger the MasterPlus collar. He will start and you should take him straight out and put him wherever you want him to defecate and urinate. Give him time to reconcentrate and then enthusiastically congratulate him once he has finished in the right spot.

Heel

Your puppy is discovering the world around him. Any moving object or new smell attracts his attention and sometimes when you call him he ignores you because he finds what he is doing right then and there far more interesting; perhaps he is so absorbed that he does not even hear you. MasterPlus collar can be used to distract him so that he pays attention to you. Immediately after pressing the button, provide something that will attract him: crouch down, call to him cheerfully, open your arms and, most importantly, give him an enthusiastic cuddle to reward him for coming back because, otherwise, he might think that you tricked him. Always remember to let him go quickly so that coming back to heel is a pleasure rather than a trap.

Walking at heel

Training a dog to walk at heel works in the same way as that for coming to heel but requires more concentration on the part of the dog and it is therefore recommended not to undertake it within the first few months. During the training, MasterPlus can be used to reattract the attention of the dog whenever he is distracted by anything e.g. every time he sees a bird. The safest strategy is to start the training with a leather or synthetic leash of about 1 meter in length or an adjustable leash locked in position. Thus your dog will learn that it is easier for him to walk along close to your leg than to go wandering off. Congratulate him verbally or by petting when he walks by your side as he is supposed to. Whenever he goes beyond your knee, give a firm verbal "No" and, at the same time, give the leash a brief twitch. The leash should be slack when the dog is behaving well and should be allowed to slacken immediately following the twitch.
Once the dog has begun to walk at heel, his education can be reinforced with MasterPlus collar. The spray should be set off if the command "No" is not obeyed i.e. if the dog pretends not to have heard it. This affords more flexibility than does using a leash and as soon as you are away from traffic you can let him run around with other dogs.

Barking

• What barking signifies ?
  Barking is a natural form of behaviour which expresses the emotional state of our pets. It is not a language, although this is often claimed. Barking is far from the only means of communication used by dogs. In fact, it is not very significant compared to richness of the rest of the canine repertoire (mimicking, odours, postures). So stopping a dog from barking too much is not equivalent to gagging him.

• How undesirable forms of behaviour get reinforced ?
  Undesirable behaviour cannot always be blamed on poor training. Sometimes particular circumstances may reinforce the behaviour. Think of a puppy, for example. He hears the postman approaching the door to deliver the mail. His fear of this intruder causes him to bark. Then he hears the postman going away again. What has he learned from this experience? "I won! When I bark, people go away!" This experience, repeated daily, teaches him to frighten people by barking. In this way natural barking is reinforced, all unknown to the owner, to the point where it becomes excessive.

  Sometimes the owner himself reinforces the undesirable behaviour by mistake. One example of this is the puppy left alone in a room for the first time. At the first howl of fear, the owner hurries in and picks up the puppy, talking kindly to reassure him. What is the conclusion that the dog will draw? "As soon as I bark, my master comes and he's pleased with me. I'm not alone any more!" This dog barks in order to obtain something (in this case, his master's attention). But it is clear that this behaviour rapidly becomes undesirable if the dog howls as soon as he is left alone.

• Prevention or cure ?
  Most of these problems can be avoided by careful training. But the environment cannot always be ignored.

  First of all, the constraints of modern life are not always appropriate to the way of life of a dog. For instance, a dog that does not get enough exercise or does not have much living space will tend to bark as a way of getting rid of surplus energy. A good walk every day is still a simple solution to many problems.

  Secondly, if punishment is to be effective, it must be administered during the action that is to be interrupted. It is certainly pointless to try to shout louder than the offender: this only encourages him to raise his voice even more. At this little game, the master usually gets tired before the dog does! Furthermore, paying attention to the dog when he is naughty and ignoring him when he is good naturally encourages bad behaviour. As far as the dog is concerned, his master's attention is the supreme reward. In contrast, if his appeals are ignored, he will take this as a punishment. With patience and determination, this attitude may pay dividends, but bad habits take a long time to eradicate. And every time the master makes a mistake, it's back to square one!

  Sometimes a behaviour can even be reinforced in the absence of the master. In such cases it becomes necessary to find solutions which will work in the master's absence. This considerably reduces the margin for manoeuvre. In some cases, the animal is excited by external factors, such as passers-by or other dogs. Solutions such as drawing the curtains or closing off some entrances sometimes work. But can one seriously consider building a wall round the garden just so that Rex can't see the street ?

  Whatever the circumstances, use of an automatic anti-barking collar, such as the Aboistop, will most often be appropriate and remains the most reasonable solution to the problem.

After a few weeks of training with MasterPlus collar, you can fix boundaries for your dog such as the kerb or the borders of the vegetable garden.