That first day with your new puppy is a joyous one to be sure. The joy can slowly shift into frustration in the weeks after that, though! As you mop up yet another puddle or toss a chewed-up shoe, you may find yourself questioning your sanity. However, you can avoid this situation by teaching your dog what you expect from him. This article is packed with practical and proven advice for training your pet pooch.
Make sure that you use control to reward your dog’s good training behavior. You and the dog should both remain calm. If you are overly excited, the dog will become that way too. Stay calm and expect the same from your puppy.
Ensure that your dog gets plenty of exercise and stimulation. Almost all dogs have short attention spans. If your dog is not receiving enough mental stimulation, it may not respond well to training. A happy and well-exercised dog is an easily trained dog. Bring your dog along when you walk or jog.
You must begin your relationship with the dog as the boss for any training to be effective. Otherwise, the dog will think that he is in charge and will not respond to your training tactics. In practice, this means that you should walk ahead when walking your dog, for instance, rather than allowing him or her to take the lead.
It is easy to train a roll with treats. First, have your pet to lay down. Then, put a treat close to the floor near the side of the dog’s head, and gradually raise it over its head to the opposite side. Your dog is probably going to follow the treat in your hand with his nose, which means he will rollover his whole body. As he rolls over say out loud, “roll over.” Repeat this until he rolls over with the command alone. This may take time, so don’t become frustrated.
Always have a treat for rewarding your dog. Giving a treat is how you show your dog that you appreciate the behavior. Rewarding good behavior and not bad behavior will help your dog to learn the difference between the two.
When approaching a strange or unfamiliar dog, approach slowly, while allowing the dog to sniff the back side of your hand. This gives a dog a chance to become familiar with your personal scent, which engenders trust. Dogs are more likely to be friendly and obedient if they recognize you.
To prevent barking, teach your dog simple methods to quit them. Show the dog a treat as incentive, then repeat the command until they obey it. You could give your dog treats. If this is done with sufficient frequency, the dog is sure to associate treats with the command to be silent.
Work on recall with your dog. Your dog has to learn to come to you, regardless of the situation. Always reinforce this behavior and introduce it in all kinds of new environments. This crucial skill can save your pooch’s life, so be willing to commit some time to it.
What do you do if your dog pulls against their leash? This problem is a very common one for dog owners. Thankfully, resolving it is very simple. Buy yourself a dog harness, which will reduce pulling and improve the quality of your walks.
Training is not a time for you to punish your dog. Your training efforts should be to prevent bad behavior. Teach your dog what constitutes inappropriate behavior, and what is an acceptable behavior. You should make training a time to interact with your dog, you want to build a positive relationship with him.
Consider crate training your puppy. Let the dog out frequently and on schedule to effectively crate train them. With some time, dogs that have been crate trained will not have accidents inside.
Consistency is the key in training your dog. Consistency includes tone of voice, trained words, treats, and commands.
When teaching your dog how to sit, hold a treat above him while he’s standing. Throw the treat right above him and then put your hand behind his back. He’ll look up at where your hand is. When a dog does this, it is natural for them to sit.
Older Dogs
Though you actually can teach older dogs some new things, it is important to take note of medical problems or other conditions that could reduce an older dog’s readiness to perform certain tasks. Dogs with arthritis, for example, shouldn’t be asked to crawl all over. Older dogs often find mental stimulation in training, keeping them young at heart. However, you must make sure that you’re not causing it unwarranted pain during exercise sessions.
As you train your dog, make sure to correct bad behaviors right away. Be very firm when you say no to your dog. Never scream and never use an object or your hand to strike your dog. Discourage incorrect behavior in the moment it happens. Dogs do not remember things for too long. If you respond too long after, your dog will not make an association.
Training a dog requires love, patience and lots of treats. You should have found some great hints and tips from this article that showed you how to have a friend in your pet for life. You cannot expect to do this overnight. However, if you’re consistent and remain patient, you can create a better relationship between you and your dog.