The A B Cs Of Dog Training

 

Basic dog training is a great method to invest time with your dog, bond with them, and get a well behaved pup out of the activity. Your pet needs to know who in charge is in your house, and proper training will help you achieve that goal. Many people are intimidated by the idea of training their own dog but it can be done with some research, some patience and some consistency. If you are serious about training your dog it may help to think a bit like your dog during the training period. You may have a clear goal that you want to achieve with the training but your puppy won’t have any idea about what is going on. That’s where research, patience and consistency come into play.

The Basic Rules Of Dog Training

Start off with a basic rule of dog training, never reward bad behavior. You pet is going to figure out what good behavior is because you will be rewarding them for that behavior. It may be in the form of petting and playing with them, it may be in the form of a food treat or it may be a combination of both. Be rewarding only good behavior your dog will soon figure out what they need to do to be rewarded.

Basic rule number two is consistency on your part. This can be tough at times because, let’s face it, dogs are fun to be with. There will be times when you are trying to correct bad behavior that your dog will be so adorable that it’s almost impossible to correct it. That’s where you have to be consistent and always correct bad behavior. The flip side of that is the need to always be consistent when the dog shows good behavior. Your beloved pet won’t know what is right or wrong until you teach them. Basic dog training rule number three is patience. Dogs are no different than children when it comes to behavior, they will be good on day and annoying awful the next. No matter how many times your pet fails to act the way you want them to, you need to be patient and go over the rules of good behavior. Don’t reward your dog one day for a type of behavior and then scold them for the same behavior the next day. You may find that after a week of training your dog is still not reacting to commands that you have been working on, just take a deep breath and start over.

Potty Training Your Dog

Potty training is usually the first type of dog training that most people are faced with. Puppies, like children, have to learn what proper bathroom habits are and it will take time and patience. Begin by finding a place where it is okay for your dog to go to the bathroom and spend time with your pet making that spot a familiar place. Your dog is going to have accidents at the start and you must never hit them when that happens. Instead, talk to them in a stern voice (but not yelling) and take them outside to their spot. Once your pet makes the connection between the spot and going to the bathroom you can start to give them a treat when the go outside. Eventually it will be second nature to your pet and they will make sure that they let you know when they need to go outside.

Don't Let Puppies Bite

The next area of training that most puppy owners will face is the issue of biting. All dogs use their mouth to explore and by nature they chew things. Older dogs generally have figured out that there is no benefit in chewing on furniture, it tastes bad and they get yelled at. Puppies, however, instinctively chew on everything and bite everything. One of the most effective ways to stop your puppy from nipping is to make a loud noise and walk away. After repeatedly being left alone when they really wanted to play, your puppy will figure out that nipping at you brought on the nasty sound and led to your leaving. Using the same loud noise is a good way to stop your puppy from chewing on the furniture. Have plenty of chew toys for puppies as they teeth, the toys will help them figure out what is acceptable to chew and what isn’t.

Using Treats During Dog Training

Many professional dog trainers recommend that you keep your pet’s food dish hidden while you are training. Using food as a reward for good behavior is an excellent way to teach your dog how to act and you can use small doggy treats to reward them. By keeping their regular food dish out of sight you can make the doggy treats more important and more effective. Don’t hide their water bowl, you never want to use water as a reward. Pay attention to what treats your dog gets most excited about. While they will probably eat any treat that you give them, you will soon find out what their favorite snack is. 

 

Your patience will be tested more than once during training. You may think that your pet has finally figured out a few commands only to find them looking blankly at you the next day. That’s normal, just go back a few steps in your training schedule and start again. It may be a simple case of the dog being tired or it may be a situation where you have tried to do too many commands and your pet is confused.

A Good Dog Trainer Is Consistent

It’s critical that you are consistent with certain aspects of your behavior during the training period. Use the same voice for rewarding behavior, your dog will begin to recognize the tone of your voice as being a positive. The same applies for your voice when you are correcting bad behavior. Don’t use the same voice for rewarding that you use for correcting.

Try and use the same physical techniques all during the training sessions. When you have to nudge your dog you need to use the same amount of force each and every time. It’s effective also to hold the training sessions in the same area each time and make sure that you have eliminated all of the possible distractions. Your puppy will want to play with their toys if the toys are nearby. There is never a reason to hit a dog and you should never use any type of physical punishment when training your pet. You can correct them with a sharp voice and you can physically move them to show them proper behavior, but you can never smack your dog.

A Last Bit Of Dog Training Advice

One last training recommendation is to do a lot of research before you start training your dog. You should probably ignore most of the suggestions you get from friends and family. Unless they have actually trained a dog and know your dog, the advice you get will be worthless. You can find a lot of advice at your local vet office or at most pet stores. There is a lot of advice online but you will need to filter out the chaff that occurs with almost any online search. All of the professional resources you find will stress patience, consistency and rewarding of good behavior, the difference will be in how you apply those ideas.