Dog Training Lesson 1 : Feeding your dog the right food

I would like to emphasis to each and every of you dog owner, that for a dog to achieve optimum health and growth requires 9 important elements and one of them is a high quality diet. While it is important for us to get a balance and good diet to stay healthy, the same rule apply to the dog whereby a proper meal means a healthy and fit dog. Well, when your dog is healthy, then it would make him easier and faster to learn new things as well as to listen to your commands.

And, here come the question. WHAT IS THE BEST FOOD FOR MY DOG? Well, I would strongly suggest HOMEMADE FOOD made of organic ingredients, along with quality supplements. This means meats and other ingredients that are free of pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones. Below are the diets which are important to your dog's health (Sometimes your dog might appear to be more fond of one particular food, but make sure that you feed him enough nutrients) :

1. Grain - Use cooked brown rice, oats (usually in the form of oat-meal) or corn.
2. Protein - Use boiled or broiled lean hamburger, chicken, or lamb. Fish is good but it sometimes it makes your dog smell bad. Beef should be avoided.
3. Vegetable - Experiment to find the vegetables your dog likes best. Try carrot, lightly steamed broccoli, corn, or peas. Avoid onions and cabbage because they can cause digestive upsets.
   
4. Oil - Choose any high-quality vegetable oil such as sunflower oil or corn oil. You could also try to buy oil supplement for pets from a natural pet food company.
5. Vitamin and mineral supplements - Choose vitamin and mineral supplement formulated for dogs from a natural pet food company.
6. Enzyme supplement for dogs.
7. Antioxidant supplements for dogs.

However, I must remind you that DO NOT OVER-FEED your dog because it would cause obesity and when this happens, it is likely that your dog would be affected by diseases such as lung disease, heart disease, liver disease, diabetic etc.

For the next lesson we would take an in sight of the dog training.

Finding the right dog

Before starting your dog training, do look at your dog and ask yourself “Do I love him/her?” Occasionally, people just bring back a dog for the sake of guarding their house and no proper training is given to the dog. When the dog does something which is not right, the owner would beat the dog thinking that this is the best way of dog training. That is totally wrong because dog training could be divided into two ways – with physical force and coercion, which is often aversive, or with rewards which personifies kindness.

On the other hand, for those who has yet to have a pet dog and is thinking of adopting one, do check with the local authorities what types of dog are prohibited or restricted in your country. As for Malaysia, the local authorities have a list of dog breeds which are banned and restricted.

BANNED
Dogo Argentino
Tosa Inu
Owtcharka
American Bull Dog
Akita
Perro De Pastor Mallorquin
American Pit Bull Terrier
Canary Dog
Kai Dog
Fila Brasileiro
Russo European Laika
Tibetan Mastiff

RESTRICTED
Dogue De Bordeaux
Tervuren
Neapolitan Mastiff
Groenendael
Alaskan Malamute
Rottweiler
Miniature Bull Terrier
Rafeiro Alentejo
American Staffordshire Terrier
German Shepard Dog
Malinois
Estrela Mountain Dog

The list of dog breeds which are restricted means that the dogs should be put under tight supervision from the owner and this could be made easier if the dog has undergone proper training. Hence, dog training is indeed very important to dog owners who wish to keep their pet out of trouble and at the same time providing good help to the owners.

Besides that, it is always important which type of dog breed is suitable to you, because different people would be comfortable with different types of dog. So, make sure that you get one which is suitable to yourself and your family.

Before starting your FUN and NON-VIOLENCE dog training

For dog lovers especially those who are new to dog training, do bare in mind that taking of a dog always need a lot of energy and patience. This animal literally the best friend of human needs not only love and care, but also proper training because just imagine it being a little baby who has zero knowledge about manners, hence it needs training after training along the journey to adulthood, before it would grow up to be a well-mannered and properly trained companion. Always keep in mind that dogs are just like us in the sense that:

• They too have FEELINGS of angry, happy, and sad. Dogs are very sensitive animal which could be affected by the mood of their owner.
• If you treat your dog with 10 TIMES OF LOVE, it would repay you with 100 TIMES OF LOVE.
• Dog training should be started at a YOUNG AGE because dogs are just like human, as they grow older, the bad habits stick on.