Hello, welcome to my  Angle Fire web page for Jim Hodges Dog Training. It is my goal to share useful dog training and dog behavior tips along with other important information for you and your dog.

I have been a professional dog trainer for a little over 20 years. I have studied all facets of training from general obedience to shaping behavior to support and therapy dog training.

There is no one method that fits for every single dog available. There is one persistent ideology that would certainly provide a sense of balance to all types of dog training.

Leader of the Pack Dog Training. Dogs are pack animals. They are born in a pack. They enter a new pack when they leave their mom and their litter mates. Your pack. Pack rules exist. This social behavior is very strong in dogs.

Are you going to lead your pack? If not, there is a good chance that there will be a level of stress there (whether you observe it or not) that wouldn't be there if there was a clear leader of the pack.

It is my intention to inspire you to step up and become the leader of your pack. Your dog will be happier. You will be happier. Expectations and boundaries will be the norm. Your dog will know his place in the family and he will love you for it. More so than if you did nothing at all.

How do we develop into the leader of your pack? We accomplish this by producing consistent boundaries, having distinct rules in the family and through obedience training. Praising our puppy when he is doing what we want.

You can not create boundaries and structure without knowing what you need to change and what you believe is fine. What is the relationship with your dog like? What are the positive things he does?

If you have had your dog all of his life, you are accountable for all of the responses to the questions considered in the paragraph above. Yes, you are a trainer and did not even know it! You have basically trained your dog to do everything he does, both good and bad.

Dogs learn through motivation, consistency and timing.

Motivation is the proper balance of Praise and Consequence for the personality and temperament of your dog.

Praise starts with positive physical touch and positive words when our dog does something we desire or he performs an action we asked of him. If your dog is excited by them, we can also use toys and treats as praise (used judiciously). However, we must always use positive physical touch and positive verbal affirmations when he does or obeys something that please you.

Consequence is the proper use of physical touch and a corrective tone of voice when our dog breaks a command or performs a behavior we do not want.

The appropriate inflexion of our voice and tone can symbolize what we are feeling about our dog in a given instant. And, we start to build a strong bond with our dog that will remain for many years as long as we are consistent and in control in our execution.

Why touch? Have you ever observed two dogs together sitting around drinking a glass of tea and discussing politics? Of course not! They are usually running, jumping, biting, barking, posturing and any other physical thing you can describe when together. Do you understand what they are doing? They are communicating with each other and physical contact is an intrinsic role to their communication.

Timing is critical as our dogs need to know they have done bad or good in that precise moment in time. This is how they know what we expect. This is how they know what pleases us and what does not. And, this is how they learn effectively. Our dog may not understand what our motivation is and incorrectly think it is some other action if we delay too long after the moment.

Consistency is expected because our dogs need to see the leadership that is in us. We should praise our dog each time he does something that gratifies us. We also should create a consequence every time our dog does something that displeases us whether it is a disobeyed command or an undesirable behavior. If we are not consistent in our actions, our dogs become unclear or unsure of what we expect. They learn there are situations that we aren't leaders. Based on the dog's personality and temperament, this could lead to them overtaking you in the pack or create inconsistent behaviors in our home.

Praise and consequence is the foundation to learning to be the leader of your pack and real life dog training. Applying the proper motivation, timing and consistency will enhance you and your dog's relationship. You will be readily able to depend on your dog and your dog will be able to depend on you.

This is the initial approach to my dog training belief. It works. My clients will attest to this. I hope you will come back to not only read more; but apply these tips to everyday life with your dog. I would love your feedback. You can ask a question or leave a comment. Once more, welcome to my Jim Hodges Dog Training Angle Fire site.