Do you own a lethargic dog who barks a lot and doesn’t obey you? If you’re looking for the best dog training tips, read on. There are many dog training methods out there that you can implement depending on your goals or what you want to achieve. If you want to control your dog in public spaces such as parks and streets, then your dog needs to undergo dog leash training. This kind of dog obedience training scheme is highly recommended for all dog trainers.

Here are a few best dog training tips for you:

1. Positive reinforcement matters a lot. It’s easier to train a dog if you do it in a positive manner rather than in a strict and punishment-based way. Reward your dog when necessary.

2. Patience is a virtue in any dog training method. Dogs, like humans, have different learning abilities. You must be able to adapt to your dog’s learning pace. Some dogs tend to pick up commands than the others. If your dog is a slow-learner, you need to allot more time and attention for him to understand everything. Never rush things!

3. Choose a training method that has worked to you before or someone you know. Consider the breed too for it is a also a big factor to consider in training.

4. All dog’s behavior problems are acquired. Start training your dog when he’s just a puppy. Most bad habits such as excessive barking, chewing and jumping can be controlled and stopped with a little foresight and consistent training.

5. The best dog training method must be a fun activity. Make your training session as lively as possible. Allot a schedule everyday for you and your dog to bond and play. Training your dog for 20-30 minutes will be good enough.

6. To further help you in training your dog, you can use training aids such as training collar system, remote trainer and many others. Make sure that every gadget you’re using is proven to be safe and effective and is applicable to the age and size of your dog.

The practice of keeping a parrot as a pet in a cage is a very ancient one, going back hundreds of years, and calls to mind at once the almost legendary figure of the sailor bringing home in its round cage the parrot he has picked up in foreign parts; and this is no doubt how the very first parrots were brought to this country. Where to keep your parrot and what to feed him are the two main factors which are discussed below.

It is a very understandable practice to keep a parrot, for no other birds rival or even approach members of the parrot family in their combination of tameness, beauty, intelligence, and their power to imitate perfectly the human voice. In addition a tame parrot - particularly an African Grey - makes a wonderful and cheerful companion for anyone who has to live alone.

While I myself keep my collection of parrots in pairs in aviaries, I think there can be no doubt that of all birds the larger parrots take most kindly to cage life and, provided they are well cared for and treated with real love and affection by their owner, they seem perfectly happy.

A proof of this is that if such a bird is put out in an aviary, even with another parrot as companion, it is at first liable to mope but will show every sign of joy once it is back in its cage and among its human friends again. I think the reason for this is that parrots are extremely sociable creatures.

The central perch is usually made of some very hard wood, and this is essential as a parrot would soon chew up anything softer. The exercise of its beak is, however, very necessary to its general health, and a considerate owner will not fail to supply a cotton-reel from time to time, or a small bundle of twigs which it can utilize for this purpose.

Parrots enjoy whittling, which in addition to helping to keep their beaks in order gives them something to do. This is very-important for it is partly boredom which leads to feather-plucking in caged parrots. The most important thing of all with a caged parrot is to let it out of its cage for an hour or so at regular intervals - preferably every day. A pet parrot will become extremely attached to its owner provided its affection is returned.

Now as to the feeding of the bird, I give sunflower and a few monkey-nuts, with the addition of a little canary-seed, groats or oats, and hemp. Particular care must be exercised with the latter which, in excess, is over-stimulating and fattening, and can cause heart troubles and feather-plucking.

Given sparingly, however, hemp is one of the most valuable of seeds particularly when birds are rearing young, at which time the amount can be considerably increased. At other times, and particularly in the case of a caged bird, a few grains every day or, better still, every other day, are quite sufficient, and it is better to omit it altogether than to give too much of it.

Far too many parrot owners seem to imagine that a daily supply of seed and water constitutes the sole requirements of their pets. This is quite wrong, for they need other things as well. Chief among these are fruit and green-foods, which can take various forms, but perhaps if the parrot were given its choice it would choose sections of sweet ripe apple and the leaves of spinach beet. These, or other fruits and green-foods, should be given at least twice a week.

As to titbits, this is rather a moot point, and I can perhaps do best here by referring to my own much-loved and very long-lived Senegal Parrot. She was particularly fond of scraps from the table such as new potatoes, boiled white fish and scrambled egg - all of course given only occasionally and in very small quantities. Meat and savouries, etc., should definitely not be given.

With these simple suggestions in mind, you will be able to enjoy your pet for many years to come. No more delightful companion can be found.

Talking parrots are some very interesting and odd animals. Most parrots are not seriously taught to talk - they merely pick up odd words and scraps of conversation they happen to overhear. A few phrases such as “Good morning, Polly” or “Hullo, Polly!” may be clearly enunciated for the simple reason that they were, when said, actually addressed to the bird itself. I am convinced, therefore, that if you have a suitable subject in a young parrot and want it one day to be a brilliant talker you must train it to become one, and this can only be done by patience and kindness.

The best time to teach parrots to talk is in the late evening when they are apt to be in a quiet and contemplative mood, whereas in the morning they are usually at their noisiest and most active. It is essential also to choose a time when the room’s sole occupants can be yourself and your parrot - if other people are talking in the room it is hopeless.

It is a good plan to get the bird used to having the back and two sides of its cage temporarily covered over at lesson time so that it will have its attention distracted as little as possible and be able to concentrate on what you are trying to teach it.

You should then say over very clearly whatever sentence you wish it to learn, and, always. allowing a suitable interval between each, repeat this perhaps a dozen times. It is of the utmost importance that you should then leave the bird alone to think over what it has heard you say.

If you insist upon lingering in the room to lavish endearments on your pet, such as “Polly has been a good boy”, you will merely find that the sentence you have been trying to teach the bird will - if remembered at all - have “Polly has been a good boy” interposed quite irrelevantly in the middle of it - and you will have only yourself to blame!

What I have said applies equally of course to any bird that can be taught to talk, but I thought it worth including this note on teaching a bird to talk instead of letting its sole repertoire consist, as is so often the case, of a hotchpotch of people laughing, dogs barking, disjointed scraps of talk and, that delight of most talking parrots, the one-sided conversation of somebody telephoning in an adjoining room.

Most parrots will pick up anything they hear - and an Amazon of mine imitates to such perfection the rather lost, eerie sound of a train whistle on a frosty night that you almost expect to hear the train itself! Some imitate the barking of dogs of various sizes; others the screaming of babies; and almost the sole sentence of some I have encountered has been “Polly want a cup of tea?” which I suppose does at any rate show that they have come from a typically English household!

What I have said about teaching a parrot to talk applies every bit as much to teaching it to whistle a tune. Whatever the tune may be it must be whistled right through from beginning to end, and, allowing suitable intervals between, this must be done several times over and the bird must then be left in peace and quiet for it to sink in.

Most parrots whistle odd scraps and snatches of tunes, but only properly and patiently trained ones will whistle a tune right through from beginning to end without a mistake; and I do think the training - which involves no hardship for the bird - is very well worth while in the way of results. Let no one suppose that, for the bird’s owner, it has been as easy as falling off a log. It has not, for it required both skill and patience, but most of all - patience. Using these simple skills most parrots can be taught to talk. Have fun!