Dog-and-Teacher Relationship   Your Student   The Classroom   Who's to Do the Training?   Training Equipment   Giving Commands   Praise and Reprimand

Your Classroom Deportment   The Basic Commands   Turning   Heeling Without the Leash   Teaching the Puppy Etiquette   Training Hints

THE DOG TRAINING CLASSROOM

If you are an average city dweller, classroom space is at a premium. Apartments are small, the streets and sidewalks are crowded with people and distractions, and the empty lots have no trespassing and no dogs allowed signs. Then where can you work with the dog if these conditions prevail? There are several places in the average apartment house that can be used as classrooms. One of these is the hallway. While not ideal, it can be used as an emergency measure until the pup has enough grasp of the lessons to be taken outdoors. Another area is the basement, providing it does not have too many distractions, such as tenants using community washing machines. An excellent place to school the dog is on the roof. The rooftops of most apartment houses and hotels are the least utilized areas in the buildings. There is plenty of room, usually a wall or parapet, and enough solitude to conduct lessons without distractions. You should, of course, secure the landlord's permission to use the hall, basement or roof for your dog's training.

Once your pup has learned the rudiments of the basic commands, it is imperative that you take him outside the classroom. Otherwise, he'll be a star performer in familiar surroundings and a dunce elsewhere. Since the dog will probably be accompanying you on walks in the city or trips out of town, he should be accustomed to obeying commands under all kinds of conditions. Introduce him to as many as you can and do it early in his training.

The suburban dog owner has less of a problem when it comes to classroom space. Backyards, fields, even patios, will serve as classrooms. Again it must be stressed that the areas selected must be free of distractions. And upon mastering the ABC's of training, the pup should be taken into town, schoolyards, playgrounds and the highway for orientation in these areas.

Out in the open country, classroom space is yours for the taking. But, here again, the pup will have to be taken into unfamiliar areas and put through his lessons. Unless you do take him, the country dog will be like his bucolic master in a big city: he won't know how to behave.