Dog Training And You: Simple Ideas To Make It Work
A happy dog is a well trained dog and just choosing to make this happen is 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!
Show your dog what is your territory and that you are leader of that territory. If your dog sits in your spot and you sit elsewhere, or if he lays in the middle of the doorway so that you step over him, your dog thinks he is the leader. Do not be violent, but you should nudge your dog calmly to get up each time so that he understands it is your territory, and you are the leader.
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.
To help you train your dog so it is obedient and well behaved, it is important to show the dog you are the pack leader. This means showing a dominant presence so the dog understands that he is not the leader and he must follow your command. If you follow this key step, you will be on your way to training your dog effectively.
Don't get discouraged. It may seem like it is taking forever to train your dog, but the truth is that you simply get tired out more quickly than your dog does. Even when it's hard, make sure that you keep trying. Stick with it and you'll start to see results.
Understand that a dog's thinking is simple compared to human thinking. If you call your dog and he doesn't come immediately because he's distracted by a squirrel, don't scold him when he does show up. He only knows that he is coming to you, and you are scolding him for doing so. He doesn't understand you're angry about the squirrel, or that he didn't come to you quickly enough.
Stay calm. Your dog gets his cues from you, and when you start acting agitated and upset, his actions will be sure to follow. Dogs can sense when you are uncomfortable. If you act calm and in control, you convey a disposition to your dog that allows him to relax as well.
When you are training your dog, do not blame it for bad behavior if it is sick. You should never force a dog to do obedience training when it is not feeling well. Take your dog to the vet to see what is making it sick, and put off the training until it is doing better.
Research how to show your dog leadership in a way that a dog understands. Dogs are not humans, and do not think as humans do. Not knowing the proper way to teach leadership to a dog, allows him to assume he is your leader. If you confuse the dog, it may stress him and cause him to act out in negative ways such as barking incessantly, biting, or tearing up your property.
Dog Training
A common misconception in dog training is that you should punish bad behavior. If you punish bad behavior, you are actually reinforcing that behavior. You strong reaction will imprint whatever the dog has just done on its mind. Instead, ignore bad behavior, redirect to some good behavior and then reward that.
Remember that your dog training is going on 24 hours a day. Do not make the mistake of thinking that you are only training your dog during your obedience classes and practice sessions. Your dog is watching and learning from you during every interaction you have with it, so be sure you are always reinforcing good behavior.
An important rule of thumb in dog training is that people lead and dogs follow. Never let your dog lead you around while it is on its leash. Make short, sharp, well defined corrections with the dog's lead to bring it back to heel. Your dog must learn that you are the one directing things and it is not.
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!
Dog Training And You: Simple Ideas To Make It Work
Consistency & Persistence Pays Off When Training Your Dog
Consistency & Persistence Pays Off When Training Your Dog
If the rules change from day to day, the dog becomes confused. He needs to
know how to consistently earn reward and avoid punishment or he will give up
responding. The good trainer is consistent and always uses the same command
for the same behavior. Most dog owners teach the dog that the command
"down" means to be in a prone position. Unfortunately, many dog owners use
the same command to mean, lie down, remove thyself from the couch or bed, or
stop jumping on people. When a command has many different meanings, the
word ceases to have an important message.
Give each behavior its own command. The command "off" can be used to mean
paws on the floor, and "down" may remain to define the prone position. After you
decide on consistent commands, the next step is to be persistent in using them.
Dogs are naturally good at persistent behavior, and even better if rewarded for it.
Many a dog owner has given up trying to correct the dog that barks all day or
jumps on people. Dog owners drop out of obedience classes all the time
because they are worn down by their dogs' seemingly persistent behaviors, and
they give up trying to teach their dogs new behaviors. The key is that the owners
gave up, and the dogs learned that persistence pays off. When an owner gives
in, the dog's persistent behavior is strengthened and reinforced. Any determined
dog owner can wear the dog down. Therefore, it is extremely important that you
be more persistent than the dog about continuing the training process until the
dog performs the desired behavior.
The dog must learn that the energy he spends engaging in undesirable behavior
is not worth the effort, because you will persist. If you correct him for jumping up
the first four times and don't correct him for the fifth jump up you simply teach him
to jump up five times for the payoff. Similarly, if you correct the dog for barking at
the moon sometimes and not at other times, you teach him that sometimes
barking is acceptable and sometimes it is not. The dog will continue to bark to
determine when barking is acceptable and when it is not acceptable.
Consequently, correcting barking sometimes actually encourages even more
barking. If you don't correct the dog for barking in the backyard because you are
not at home, he will learn that barking is acceptable when you're away. If you
sneak out of the house so as not to cue him that it is acceptable to bark, he only
needs to bark twice with no correction to figure out that you are not at home. A
behavior will be extinguished or changed only if you persist in correcting the dog
every time he misbehaves.
