You and your puppy will be so much happier if it is fully trained. You both understand what is expected out of each other. Once trained, you will no longer need to worry when he is left alone, when you have visitors, or when he is out in public. Training isn’t always easy, but it is well worth the effort. Follow these ideas to help get you started.
Give your puppy his own toys that he can chew to remove pain due to teething, and keep him away from chewing other items. Replace the item immediately with one of the dog’s own chew toys. Try a frozen washcloth to alleviate the pain of teething for your puppy.
Dogs have a tendency to zone in on one particular thing until something else grabs their attention. With enough training, you will have your dog focusing solely on your signals.
Don’t waste your money on cruel, ineffective gadgets such as shock collars. These devices are expensive and do not always work as well as you would expect them to. This is also a negative way to train your dog and might cause them to be aggressive. Trying things akin to this will only cause harm to your relationship with your dog.
Make sure your dog’s training is consistent. If more than one family member is training your pet, make sure they all you the same commands, rewards and discipline. Your puppy will learn quickly if you only use a few different words and always expect the same behavior.
To keep your training sessions positive and effective, you should also keep them short. Spend about 15 minutes on a certain task with your dog. After each session, you should play with your dog, reward and praise it.
While it might be hard, make sure to be patient with your dog. Your dog doesn’t understand your language and is not a human being. The dog can only understand simple gestures and vocal tones but won’t understand your meaning. Try to stay calm and use breaks if you feel overcome with frustration.
Giving lots of treats for good behavior is important to do with your puppy. Once they understand the process, start using treats more selectively until they are relatively rare.
Scold your puppy for chewing your belongings right away. This will teach him what is appropriate to chew, so that he’ll be less likely to chew on your belongings when you’re not around.
Here is a simple technique to train your dog sitting: hold a treat up high and have the dog standing up. Pass the treat directly above his head, moving your hand behind him. This will shift their eyes up during the process. In most cases, the dog will naturally move into a sitting position.
An older dog can learn new things, but you need to be aware of health issues that might cause his ability to be somewhat limited with certain things. For example, if your dog has arthritis, asking him to crawl long distances may not be very practical. Training your dog keeps his mind going, and older dogs benefit from this. But do not overdo it and make them work to hard!
Make rewards something truly special, by using his favorite treats. Cheese, hot dogs or other normally taboo treats can be used as a reward for a job well done.
When training your dog against improper chewing, be sure to set them up for success. If a dog chews the wrong things make sure he is kept away from things that can hurt him. Items like hairbrushes can cause a dog to choke or could block their airway.
Bad Behavior
When you are training your dog, bad behavior needs to be discouraged. Make sure your correction is spoken firmly, and with authority. Don’t shout, and avoid hitting at all. This will teach your dog more bad behavior. Dogs can’t remember much for very long. Delays will do little more than confuse the dog.
Like people, different type of dogs may respond to different types of training. Easygoing dogs respond well to positive reinforcement, while more aggressive breeds need a stronger hand. If your chosen training method is not working, then it may be time to consider another approach.
If your dog suffers from separation anxiety when you’re away, encourage him to bond with other members of the household. The dog needs to learn that there are other people in the world besides you.
You should never use ‘puppy pads’ if you are trying to teach your dog how to go outside. These pads leak and the urine and feces enzymes designate “potty areas”. The pads may also confuse the dog because of their shape. It could cause the dog to think that a bathroom mat or welcome mat is a place to go potty. You will have better results overall if you teach your dog to use the outdoors to relieve himself.
Everyone in the family should follow the same rules when addressing your dog. It’s confusing to the dog when one person uses the phrase “get off” and someone else says “down boy” to mean the same thing. Consistency in the command phrases will make training easier on everyone in the family, including your dog.
Break complex behaviors or tricks down into simple steps. For example, you can get your dog to bring in your newspaper. He will first need to learn how to hold onto something. Next, the puppy needs to learn how to find the object on command. After that, you should teach him how to take the object in his mouth. Finally, he should learn how to bring it over to you. By breaking the task down into understandable steps, the dog will better understand what is expected of it.
Training your dog will establish rules for them and for you. It will help you to be able to have a leadership position over your dog and help you both to have a fulfilled relationship together. The most important thing is to use positive reinforcement to remind your dog what he has learned. Provide refresher courses when needed and continue to correct bad behavior. Once the basic puppy training skills are mastered, the world is your oyster when it comes to working with your dog.
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