The Importance of Training Your Dog

Happy Monday, fans! This week's blog post is all about why it is important to make sure your dog receives adequate training. Dog training is the foundation to having a happy, obedient dog and it is important to start teaching your dog good behavior as soon as they are old enough and mature enough to be able to understand and retain the information you are giving them.

It is important to make sure you find a training center that is reputable and ethical. If you're in Western Washington (this is most of you), our favorites are Jan at Sunstar American Bulldogs and Weimaraners and the crew at Family Dog Training Center. Once you choose a path that applies to your lifestyle and your dogs, the first step is basic manners and obedience.

When you take the time to give your dog the basic obedience training he needs, you develop a healthy, nurturing relationship with him which is the foundation for an easier-to-train dog in the future. Once you've gone through basic obedience with your dog, you can choose to continue to more advanced commands or even agility training if you have the time!

Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off-leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles. Agility training is for both dog and handler as the voice commands required can take some time to master. Talk to your dog trainer about if agility training would be right for you and your dog.