Читать книгу Training Your Shih Tzu - J. Walker - Страница 8

Many pet owners, predominantly those who own breeds recognized for their good nature, often fail to invest much time or effort into working with their dogs. Generally speaking, these owners are under the misconception that a “good” dog doesn’t need training. Unfortunately, this isn’t quite right. A good dog is a trained dog. A congenial breed may be much easier to train than a more willful, dominant one but all dogs need training. There is no other way they can learn human rules.

For most pet owners, training a dog for the show ring or to compete in agility or obedience trials is not first and foremost in their thoughts. (Once they discover how much fun it can be to train a Shih Tzu however, many change their minds.) The goals of training a puppy or dog tend to be much simpler. Usually, pet owners want to ensure that the dog understands a few basic commands, can be taken on walks without barking at other dogs or making crazy, zig-zag patterns underfoot, and knows and respects the house rules (no jumping on guests, eating from someone’s plate at the dinner table, using the living room as a personal bathroom).

In the process of training a dog to adapt his behaviors to your human lifestyle, a few amazing things happen along the way. There are more benefits to a trained Shih Tzu than first meet the eye.

Benefit 1: A calmer household. A well-trained Shih Tzu has great house manners. He’s up for fun whenever you are, but easily settled when you need him to be calm.

Benefit 2: Less destruction. A trained dog is usually not a bored dog. Training provides the owner interaction and mental stimulation that Shih Tzu crave. Training also requires a certain amount of physical activity—and the old adage, “a tired dog is a good dog,” rings true.

A well-behaved Shi Tzu is a joy to be around.

Benefit 3: Easy leadership. How do you suppose owners of large, guardian breeds establish leadership in a non-confrontational way? They require their dogs to work for attention and food. And how do they do this? You already guessed it: they perform a series of training exercises every day. Asking your Shih Tzu to perform a behavior, getting a positive response from him, and rewarding that response generally go a long way to establish and keep a good leader/follower relationship between you and your dog.

Benefit 4: A more social dog. When you own a dog as adorable as the Shih Tzu, you want to be able to take him places and show him off. You can only do this if he’s well-behaved and socialized. Training helps achieve these goals.

Benefit 5: A stronger bond. The more you work with your Shih Tzu and the more involved you are with him on a daily basis, the more amazed you will be with his mental and athletic potential and, more importantly, his capacity to love you.

Benefit 6: Improved senior years. Recent studies have shown not only that old dogs can learn new tricks, but that the process of learning helps maintain an older dog’s cognitive abilities and helps to improve the quality of his life. With healthy Shih Tzu living well up into their teens, training at all ages can keep your dog feeling younger and live a more enriched life.

Simply put, enough good things can not be said about the benefits that training offers—not only for the owner but for the puppy, adolescent, adult, or senior Shih Tzu. You don’t have to train beyond a handful of commands to reap a lifetime of benefits.