How to train an untamed dog

You are definitely in for a long, long process here, with your wild new little buddy. If your dog was born feral and hasn't been around humans, your first step will be getting her used to being indoors and seeing people coming in and out. With much socialization and enormous patience on your part, your untamed dog can become a loving member of the family. <br><br>Be prepared for many months of positive reinforcement and learn to be satisfied by the tiny successes your dog achieves as she comes to trust humans. Once she trusts you, the training of simple obedience commands should be relatively easy.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Clip a leash on your dog and tie her to your belt. Then ignore her. Every time you get up to go somewhere, your dog will be forced to follow you. As she follows you, praise her happily, but don't reach to her or look at her. Eye contact is too scary for an untamed dog and will cause her to cower.<br><br>Try this for a week to a month. When you reach the point that you can pet your dog without her moving away from your touch, you can take her off your belt, but leave her leash on.

2. With the leash still attached, every time you leave the room, call your dog with you without looking directly at her. She should drag the leash as she follows you, but she'll follow you. Drop treats along the way, so she'll associate following you with food.<br><br>Leaving the leash on is important because if she is going the wrong way or trying to escape, you can step on the leash and try again, without having to scare her by grabbing at her collar.

3. Tie your leashed dog in the middle of whatever room you're in, especially busy rooms like the kitchen. An untamed dog will hide under counters or want to run to the corner. Keep her in the middle of the room and basically ignore her until she starts sniffing you when you pass. This is your sign that she's checking you out, getting ready to trust you.<br><br>You can unleash her, and every time she starts heading for a hiding place, call her back in and have her stay out in the open. Feed her out in the open. Treat her the way you want her to end up, as normal as a regular dog would be.

4. When you can call your dog and she comes to you, lets you look her in the eye and pet her without moving her head away, you have achieved a tame dog. Now you can attempt to train her with basic commands like sit, stay and down, the same way you would with a normal dog.<br><br>A big help in training your untamed dog is if you have a confident, social dog already in the house. Your "normal" dog will be a leader that your untamed dog will naturally follow and she will eventually do anything that your normal dog will do.

5. Take your dog with you everywhere you go. The more time she spends out with you in unfamiliar places, meeting people and in lots of different surroundings, the faster she will adapt to becoming a tame pet.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep a journal of your progress. When you get frustrated, look back in the journal and see how far you've come and how much your dog has learned to deal with.
• An untame dog will never totally be a regular pet. She will probably always be a little bit human shy.