A dog owner should set his mind in the right frame if he wants to train his dog. This would prevent him from violating any dog rules, an act that could really detriment the dog's interest on learning.
Following the rules of training will also prevent the owner from doing the things that could harm his relationship with the dog. There are certain rules in training that must be followed including the following:
Stay focused
Incompletion of a task usually leads to confusion. Ensure to it that every time you give the dog a command, both of you will follow through it. Refrain from being distracted every time you give a command.
Say you are asking your dog to sit. Once you give this command, be sure that both of you will see the end of it. Do not tug on the collar of your dog and stop halfway and be distracted. Always finish one command first then move on to the next.
The dog should sit completely and not just bend his rear legs. If you do not make this happen, the dog will think that next time you give the command it would be okay for him not to complete the task or to ignore it completely. Always stay focused, this way, you would eliminate the possibility of confusion and maximize the obedience to a command.
Rewards and punishments
Many owners are anxious to let their dogs hear a string of praises or be rewarded with several cookies instead of one whenever a command is accomplished. On the other hand, a lot of owners give too many punishments on a single wrong thing that the dog did instead of punishing him just once. Both could adversely affect the training of the dog.
Never over do the rewarding or punishing of the dog's behavior. If you are using praises as reward, do not over praise the dog. Single "good boy" praise will do to recognize that you are in favor of what the dog has done. This should be said immediately after the command is accomplished.
In the same way, a single pulling of the check cord will be enough if the dog did not follow your command. This would send him the signal that something is wrong.
Overdosing the dog with either rewards or punishments will distract him from learning. He would only remember the praises or the punishments and not the thing he did or he did not do.
End with a positive note
For every training session, make it a point that the training will end with a positive praise. This would make the dog look forward to the next training since the last session fulfilled her need to please you. Also, ensure to it that the last command was accomplished correctly so that the dog is oriented properly to following commands.
Never lose your patience
Often when trainers don?t get the results they want, they get impatient with the dog. Then they do something really stupid that could spoil the training.
Training should be an enjoyable experience for you and your dog. If it starts to make you lose your temper and your dog a lot more disobedient, you should try to assess your pitfalls.
Dog training is really a difficult business. If you are not prepared for it, you could get help from dog training classes and instructors.
Dog training could be done in a number of effective ways. There are those that require the owner to be committed and patient while others require the use of harmful treatments. However, for a relatively reasonable and safe way of training a canine, professionals recommend the use of dog training using treats.
When using this method, the owner could chose either of the two rewards or punishments using the dog treat. When a behavior is favorable or a command is correctly demonstrated, the owner should give the dog a treat as a reward while punishment in the form of denying the dog the treat should be used only when the dog misbehaved or did not follow the command. The dog should get used to this kind of training until he learns to associate dog treats with pleasing behavior.
Uses
As part of a reward or punishment, dog treats could serve the following purposes:
* Encourage the dog to perform as commanded so that he would receive the reward.
* Encourage active attitude, obedience and interest on the training in expectation of the reward.
* Praises, when used in conjunction with dog treats, will make the training a lot easier.
* This serves as a literal representation that the dog was able to please you.
* When praising does not work well with a specific dog, he might respond to dog treats.
When to use them
The best time to use treat training is immediately after the dog follows a certain command and exhibited a favorable behavior. He should learn to make a connection between good behavior to praises and treats. Over-using treats will usually spoil its uses and will make him dependent on it.
To make the most out of this technique, the dog should only be given treats during the learning phase. If he is not being trained, it is best not to give him the same treats as used for training sessions.
When teaching the dog a certain command, say "down", the treat should be placed right on his nose while moving it slowly down the desired direction in accompaniment of the word "down".
If he performs the command, the treat should be given to him as a reward plus a pat or an encouraging word or phrase, for example "good boy". Repeat this routine until you could see that he already understands the use of the treat.
As you advance with the training though, you could try replacing the use of dog treats with praising or patting. The aim here is to make him follow the directions. You could use dog treats once in awhile but assure to it that he is not seeing the treat before he performs the command.
Types
There are dog treats that are as plain as cookies and used only for the purpose of reward. But there are special treats that could help in improving internal health, for digestion and even for cleaning the teeth of the dog.
Where to buy them
Dog treats could be bought in food stores, groceries, some specialty stores, pet shops and online vendors. These should cost anywhere from $5 to $30. There are very expensive treats though and some discount bulks that are nearly as varied as human snacks.
However, it could also be home prepared with recipes available online or from books.
This website uses cookies that are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the privacy policy. By accepting this OR scrolling this page OR continuing to browse, you agree to our Privacy Policy