Having a trained dog is a great thing for you and your dog’s happiness. A dog that is well-trained assures that your dog knows exactly what he can expect. After proper training there will be less to worry about and you will be able to live him or her home alone with confidence. While the process takes considerable time and effort, training your dog to respect commands, do tricks, and behave properly will make it all worthwhile.
Consistency is critical for crate training to succeed. When your puppy gets out of its crate he will need to relieve himself. Doing so helps him learn when it is okay to go to the bathroom.
Be patient when teaching your dog, it will take some time. Repetition is key in training your dog. Some estimate that your pet must hear a command as many as 50 times to learn it. Keep trying the same commands until your dog remembers it for good.
With the right encouragement, most dogs can learn to roll over pretty quickly. The first step is a simple “lay” command. Afterward, bring the treat above the dogs head and follow over to their other side. Your dog is probably going to follow the treat in your hand with his nose, which means he will rollover his whole body. When they roll over, yell “roll over.” Keep doing this until they do it just with the command. This may take time, so don’t become frustrated.
Stay away from training devices such as shock collars. They often do not function properly and their cost is rarely justified. They can also discourage good behaviors as they inhibit your dog’s behavior too much. Generally speaking, these techniques often produce undesirable results.
Make sure to give your dog a good hour of exercise each and every day. Being sure they have enough exercise time can ease training efforts and encourage proper behavior from them. An exercised dog leads to having a responsive and happy dog.
To prevent your dog from barking, try to desensitize them to the cause of their barking. It may be as simple as a sound or being in close proximity to other animals. They’ll learn quickly barking isn’t their best option.
When implementing discipline with your dog, monitor your tone of voice. Dogs are very empathic to their trainer’s emotions. Using a stern tone will help reinforce discipline if used appropriately.
When you are training your dog, try to keep your training sessions on the short side. Spend about 15 minutes on a certain task with your dog. After every training session, be sure to play with them and praise them a lot.
You need to teach your dog what is right and what is wrong. You will need help from everyone in the family to teach this. Anytime someone else deviates from what you are teaching, your efforts are less effective.
Be consistent when training a dog. Consistency means not only consistent word choice, but voice tone and the rewards provided for a particular behavior.
You should not let your dog drag you when you are walking him or her. You are the one in charge. Get a decent training collar with a shorter leash to start obedience training, and make them heel when they go through gates, doors and walk with you. You’re the leader after all!
When teaching your dog how to fetch, show him that you’re the leader by teaching him to bring you the ball at all times. If your dog just lays the ball down, they will think they are in control. By making it clear that you expect your dog to return the ball, you are showing that you are the natural leader and that you have clear expectations for him.
Make sure to keep your dog’s check ups, up to date. If your dog suddenly regresses in training, take him to the vet to make sure there isn’t a health issue. Dogs tend to be good at masking their pain. Behavioral changes may be the only way you will know if there is an issue with your dog’s health. For instance, aggression can signal pain, and a sudden house training regression may indicate an infection in the urinary tract.
Take a slow and considered approach to introducing animals to new environments. Before deciding to adopt a new pet, consider how it will affect the pets you already have. Try to find a new pet with a similar personality to the one you already own. This will speed up the bonding process.
Dogs who have separation anxiety should always also have ties with other people. If your dog develops relationships with other people, it will help to reduce its dependence on just one person.
Ground Rules
Every relationship has ground rules, and the act of training your dog establishes those ground rules with your dog. This makes it less likely that you and your dog will have issues later. Do not forget to remind your dog of what he has learned. Keep his knowledge sharp and stay on top of any deviations in his behavior. Once your dog gets the training basics under his collar, you will not be limited in what you can achieve together.