You might be tempted to think of dog training as merely a necessary step between acquiring your dog and enjoying your pet’s company. This would be a mistake, though. If you take the time to educate yourself on the process, you can make dog training just as enjoyable and rewarding as the dog-owning years that follow it. Read on to pick up some helpful tips to improve your dog-training skills.
Any dog owner should consider their pet’s diet when looking to correct behavioral problems. As with humans, dogs are what they eat. If their diet is not nutritionally sound, internal and external problems can develop. Make sure your dog is eating his best, and improved behavior will often follow.
Negative methods of training your dog don’t work. Just as with humans, positive reinforcement of behaviors is much more effective. Use praise, treats and play time to show your dog that you are pleased with their performance. If he cannot do what you are asking him, do not punish him or yell at him. He will associate trying to do the task with negativity and will avoid the task even harder the next time.
Throwing out your dog’s food bowl can assist you with your training program. Studies have shown that animals respond well to working for their meals. Incorporate food as a reward in your training and also, use it for entertainment purposes. You can do this by putting the food in a toy or a puzzle.
It is important to understand that training your dog will require a lot of patience and repetition. It often takes a dog between 25 and 50 repetitions before they are able to learn a new command. Getting frustrated will only delay your results and may hurt your relationship with your pet.
When training your dog, use the dog’s name when you want their attention. This ensures that you will have good verbal control when you go outside your home, and good verbal control is absolutely vital to responsible pet ownership. Never call your dog to you in order to dish out punishment, as this will create a negative connection.
If your dog barks and growls at strangers in your home, do this: leash your dog, make him sit, wait until his attention is on you, and hand the leash, in full view of the dog, to your guest. Then wait until the dog is calm again, with the guest giving commands as needed. This teaches the dog that your guest ranks above him in “the pack” and he must accept them. When the dog starts to react again, repeat the exercise.
Do not train your dog when you are angry or stressed. Not only will you have less patience, but dogs are incredibly receptive to their owner’s moods. By skipping training when you are not at your best, you can be sure when you do train, it will be much more effective.
When your dog does not do what you want, tell him “No!” then redirect him. Be patient and calm. Your dog wants to please you, but sometimes dogs just don’t understand what is expected of them. Never hit or yell at your dog. If you yell and hit, your dog will just think you are out of control. You want your dog to trust you and respect you as the pack leader, so stay calm and consistent.
Be mindful of exactly what behavior you are reinforcing, so stand your ground and don’t give into your pet’s persistence. A dog will generally repeat whatever action has previously earned him a reward. Thus, if you give a dog food so that it will stop begging at the table one night, you’re only making the dog more inclined to beg for food again, the next night.
To train your dog to stop begging for human food, you should completely ignore him when you are eating. If you pay attention to him, he will think he has a chance of getting your food, and therefore he will never stop begging. If you ignore him during your mealtime, he will soon learn that begging is pointless and stop.
To teach a young dog to behave while walking on a leash, start by initiating some good-natured playing. As you play, you can then place the collar on his neck. Leashes are important for control and identification if you lose your pet.
For enforcing proper behavior when dog training, keep in mind your dog must be praised. Talk in a positive voice, smile and offer your dog some treats when it does something right. Just be sure you never reward your dog after a bad behavior.
Training a dog will be not only a challenge, but also a test in patience. You are going to want to start small and make sure that you reward the dog for his good behavior, so be sure you have plenty of snacks on hand! Whenever your dog does a good job or minds the rules you’ve set for him, reward him by giving him a small snack, so that he can associate the food with his good behavior.
These tips are just a few of the ways you can make dog training more enjoyable and fulfilling for you and your pooch. You should not consider the training process as a separate phase from your overall dog-owning experience; when you do it well, training can be just as rewarding as any other time spent with your dog.
