If you want to know what is the best way of caring for Cocker Spaniels you may be surprised to learn that most important thing you can do is to train them well.

If you want to get the most enjoyment out of owning your dog you must start training from the very first day you bring it home. You must reinforce and continue this training for all of your dogs life. You will find if you do this your dog will know exactly what you want him to do in all situations and so will be much more relaxed and happy.

Of course diet, health, grooming and exercise are also important things to consider when it comes to caring for your Cocker Spaniels. These you will find are somewhat easier to achieve than good training.

Training is definitely not about getting your dog to “do tricks”. You see dogs are pack animals by nature and pack animals exist in a hierarchy. Their security and safety comes from knowing where in the pack hierarchy they belong.

Right from the day you first bring your Cocker Spaniel home it will be assessing who is the leader of this new pack it finds itself in. You need to establish by your actions and training that you are the top of the hierarchy. ‘the pack leader”.

If you don’t establish yourself as the “pack leader” your dog will feel he has to be. This leads to all sorts of difficult behaviors and a lot of stress for the dog. Many dogs with behavior problems are just stressed dogs who think they have to be in charge.

So how do you establish yourself as the leader?

The first step is to be prepared before you get your puppy or dog home. Make decisions about where the puppy will be allowed both inside and outside of your house. You will need to establish “no go” areas. Outside it may be the vegetable garden and inside there will be furniture you don’t want jumped on or objects in certain rooms you don’t want chewed.

Make enforcing “no go” areas easy for both the dog and you by shutting doors, building fences or in someway confining the dog so he can’t get to these areas.

Once you have decided on rules always enforce them. Cocker Spaniels are fast learners and their strong desire to please you makes this part of training easy.

Another important area of decisions to make is the command language you are going to use. Dogs don’t speak our language and tone of voice using simple one and two syllable words works best. Don’t speak in sentences when giving commands. “Come on Charlie come here” isn’t nearly as effective as “come”.

It also helps to choose a short one or two syllable word as name for your dog. The shorter and clearer the easier it is to call your dog quickly in an emergency situation or when it is at a distance from you.

From simple beginnings, such as getting your puppy to run to you by clapping your hands and using his name, formal training starts to grow. This soon becomes learning to come to you when called.

One of the secrets of dog training is making sure the puppy or dog associates that only good things happen when you call it or ask anything of it. Don’t make the huge mistake of calling the puppy to you to tell it off for something it’s just done wrong.

The real reward of good training is that you can relax in the knowledge that will always have complete control of your dog. When you have this control both you and your dog will be much happier and you will both feel safe and secure.

If you want to be always proud to take your Cocker Spaniels anywhere. Then find out more about about training at this website now.