Dog Training Is For Everyone And Every Dog
A happy dog is a well trained dog and just choosing to make this happen is a step in the right direction! Too many dogs are left untrained and jump on everyone, chew end tables and bark all night! Your dog will be better off once trained and of course, so will you. So read on for some fabulous ideas on how to make the job of training your dog a little less hectic!
To help potty train puppies, consider using a crate. Crate training may sound unpleasant, but it's actually one of the most natural ways to train puppies. A crate is considered their home or den, and puppies have an instinct not to soil in this space. Just be sure to limit the time spent in the crate, so your pup can spend time with you too.
Always remain consistent when crate training any young pups. When you allow the puppy to come out of the crate, you have to immediately and without fail give him the chance to relieve his bladder. Eventually, your dog will wait until you let him out of his crate to relive himself.
When you are first starting out in training your dog, try to schedule the training sessions to take place at about the same time every day. If you are making the training sessions a positive experience and doing them on a schedule, your dog will start to look forward to the sessions and enjoy them more.
Consider moving your voice up or down in a specific manner associated with individual commands, to help your dog remember them better. Dogs are fantastic at understanding pitch differences, even more than understanding the sounds of the words. So if you alter your voice slightly when you say a certain command, the dog will be more likely to remember what to do.
Not all dog training needs to involve food based treats. Some dog breeds respond better to non-edible rewards. These rewards could very well include stuffed toys, rawhide bones, or rope toys. They will also have the added benefit of giving you and your dog a new activity to enjoy together.
To teach your dog to go outside, you should keep a very close supervision on it for a few weeks. Every couple of hours, take your dog outside to the area that you would like to see it use. Wait until your dog is done, and reward it. If your dog does not go, take it back inside the house and try again later.
An often overlooked necessity with dog training is family training. Your dog will be confused and dismayed when multiple members of the family give commands in a variety of ways. Train your spouse, children and anyone else who will have consistent contact with your dog on the proper commands and techniques you employ for training.
When you train your dog it is important to reinforce every example of behavior you want to encourage. Whenever your pet behaves according to your wishes it should be rewarded. This will prevent your dog from becoming confused and establish positive reinforcement associations. Behavior that is rewarded is behavior that will be repeated and eventually become habitual.
The fastest way to train your dog to sit is to utilize positive reinforcement. If you command your dog to sit and he or she sits for a decent amount of time, then you can give the dog a treat. The dog will then recognize that when you say sit, if they succeed they will get a treat so they will eagerly sit longer and longer.
A tip for small dog owners: make treats small to ensure your dog doesn't become full during training sessions. Believe it or not, a dog will work just as hard for a treat the size of a pin-head as he will for a treat the size of your thumbnail. This way, training sessions can last longer and be more interesting.
When training your pooch, patience is a virtue. All dogs learn at their own pace, and getting frustrated with your pet often adds to the dog's confusion. Avoid punishing your dog for misbehavior and offer rewards for good behavior instead. Dogs love treats, but you can also reinforce the desired behavior with love and affection.
If your dogs are big and tough and young and go through beds as if they grow on trees, look for low cost alternatives. Use your imagination to come up with sofa cushions, comforters from the thrift store or garage sales, cast off pillows and other things that you don't mind having destroyed. Your dog will probably outgrow his bed destroying phase, and it's not worth it to get upset about it and spend a fortune on dog beds!
To prevent your dog from digging in your flower beds, set up an area where he can dig. Be sure to have all of his favorite things there - toys, food and water dishes and dog house. Provide soft, tempting soil. When your dog heads for your garden, just redirect him to his. Praise him for being in his area, and tell him NO, when he ventures into your area.
Leaders should always go first, and you should teach that to your dog. If you walk through doors and your dog rushes past you through the opening, it means you do not have control and your dog believes he is leader. Blocking the door so he can't get through first, or teaching him to sit or stay while you walk ahead, helps him understand he needs to stop and follow your lead.
Consider the advice you have read in this article very thoroughly and write it down if necessary. A training manual would be a good aid to working with your dog, and this article would make a great beginning for it. Hopefully you have learned a lot and are now prepared to produce a smarter, well behaved dog you will not only be very proud of, but have a lot more fun with!
