It can be frustrating to train a dog, particularly if you are new to the experience. This article will provide you with some valuable advice to make training your dog a little easier.
You should have a specific feeding pattern for your dog. You can set a firm schedule by teaching the dog to anticipate that the food will be removed within 10 to 15 minutes of the start of mealtime. Your dog will learn to eat in a few minutes instead of going back to the food bowl all day long.
Dogs have great focus and can focus on one thing, ignoring everything else, until something breaks their attention. With enough training, your dog should be able to pay more attention to your orders.
Consistency is key when working on crate training with a young dog. When letting your dog out of the crate, be sure to immediately allow your dog to relieve himself. As time passes, your puppy will start to be able to use the restroom at the appropriate times.
It is important to leash-train your dog. This is both for the dog’s safety and your own, as well.
“Leave it” is a command that should be taught and reinforced early on. This basic command is extremely helpful when your dog is chewing on something he shouldn’t and also helps to keep him away from dangerous items.
Do not spend too much time in any one training session with your dog. You will bore your dog if your spend a lot of time on just one thing. Try limiting training sessions to 10 minutes or less.
Use the same hand signal or voice command to get your dog’s attention. Begin commands by using his name. Get his attention with his name and then follow that with what you want him to do. Dogs commonly respond quickly when their names are called, and they realize that you want their attention.
The first step in leash training a young puppy is to get him or her used to the collar during play. It is important that your pup gets used to wearing the collar so that it can use a leash correctly and so that it has proper ID tags in case it gets lost.
If your dog is accompanying you on a trip, be sure to bring along whatever your dog needs for sleeping, eating and eliminating. Include water, food bowls, bathroom bags and paper towels, so you can have a relaxing ride. Take only a small amount of food and purchase more when you arrive at your destination.
Training should be fun for your dog. Training sessions should be kept to 10-15 minutes maximum so your dog enjoys the full benefits of his attention span. Give plenty of rewards. The more you reward your dog the more he will continue the positive behavior. The more enjoyable training is for your dog, the more he will look forward to it!
For every time that you say your dog’s name when correcting behavior, you should say his name several other times using a more positive tone. You have to make the dog know that it shouldn’t be afraid to hear it’s name.
Your dog is relying on you to signal when he is right and wrong. If your dog does something wrong and you laugh at him or pet him, then he is likely to repeat this bad behavior indefinitely in the future. Sending these mixed signals will undo some of the time that you have already invested in training, making things even harder on you. No matter how your pet is when he does something bad, you need to correct him right away.
Agility Training
Research dog breeds if you’re interested in training a dog for agility. Some of the better dogs for agility training include Shetland sheepdogs, Labrador retrievers, border collies, and Australian shepherds; however, most breeds are able to participate in agility training successfully.
Before you correct your dog for barking, find out why he/she is barking in the first place. Knowing what triggers the behavior can help you deal with it constructively. If your pup barks when visitors arrive, enlist the help of a friend.
Scold your puppy for chewing your belongings right away. By doing this your puppy will learn which items he can and cannot chew then, when he is unsupervised, he will be less likely to chew your belongings.
Older Dogs
Keep in mind that older dogs have limitations. Most older dogs will be harder to train since their own personalities have already settled in. They’ll already have habits in place you might not like. You can often alter really bad habits, but some things may just be idiosyncrasies you have to live with.
By using these new tips, you’ll be able to fully enjoy your dog with him being obedient. Apply any of these ideas that you can in the near future and witness the results.