Since the dawn of time, dogs have always beenย manโs best friend. But a lot of the time, they can be theย kind of friendย who doesnโt listen to or do what you say.
When this happens, you know thatย you need to trainย them to behave better than they currently do. But this isย easierย said than done.
Your dog can do anything fromย making the training processย harder to ignoring you when the time comes.
To make the most of yourย training with your dog,ย you need to have the proper way of dealing with things.
This is why weโre looking at someย helpful tipsย that will make your dogโs training period that much less painful.
1. Call On Your Dog with Proper Conviction
The first thing that mostย dog ownersย do when they bring their dogs home givesย them a name. But frequently, there isnโt aย lot of thoughtย that goes behind naming the dog.
It ends up being something random thatย just happens to stick. Usually, this isnโt that big of a problem.
But when youโre dealing withย dog training, having a well-defined name for yourย dog is essential. Training your dog with a name like a Pumpkin or Sprinkles just doesnโt have theย same levelย of a kick to it.
Ideally, you want toย pick a short name for your dogย with sharp consonants. This will be something thatย your dog can recognizeย immediately and latch on to during the training process.
Changing yourย dogโs nameย if it came from a shelter or a previous home is fine. And in some cases, it can be anย indicator to the dogย that it is now in a different home.
Whichever name youย decide to give your dog, make sure itโs something that you respect and is something that your dog can associate with something positive.
2. Set Some Ground Rules
Yourย dogโs trainingย regimen will never be truly complete if there are no ground rules for the dog to build off of.
Regardless of your endย goals for your training, you need to be able to define them early enough, using rules as aย hard basisย for your dog to follow.
The important thing to consider whenย setting rulesย is consistent with them. Your rules shouldnโt just be there forย your dog to follow, but they should be something you can stand behind.
No matter what rules you set, you need to be able toย enforce themย when the time comes without being lax with your dog.
Rules can start with something as simple as how your dog should beย behaving aroundย the house.
- Are they allowed to sit on the couch?
- Are they allowed to have a piece of your food when eating?
This is something that you need to haveย defined early on. More importantly, make sure that you can consistentlyย have your dog followย the rules.
If you punish them for something they haveย gotten awayย with in the past or been rewarded, this sendsย mixed signalsย to the dog. When this happens, your dog will likelyย not correctly understandย how to follow your rules.
3. Use Proper Hand Gestures and Commands
You canโt expect yourย dog to be able to graspย the entire vocabulary of the human language, but you can expect them toย understand a few words.
When repeated enough times, aย dog will learnย to associate commands with tasks that it needs to perform.
But if you donโt use theย right words, it can end up not working out. Make sure you can set upย proper wordsย for the tasks or actions that you want your dog to do.
They should beย able to understandย words like sit, stand, shake, no, come here, and good boy with enough time.
As long as you stay consistent with the words you use forย your commands, your dog should have no trouble recognizing them.
At the same time, you need to make sure that youย impart proper hand gesturesย to accompany your commands.
Since dogs are prone to usingย nonverbal communicationย with each other, theyโre more likely to understand hand gestures well.
You can use this toย your advantageย by either adding gestures to your existing commands or using them on their own forย specific actions.
4. Reward Good Behavior
A lot of what training can be isย helping your dog understandย whatโs right and wrong for them to do.
Teaching yourย dog what not to doย is only half of the equation and never truly helps yourย dog grasp their training well.
If all you do is punish orย reprimand your dog, they are likely to think of you as harsher than youโre trying to be.
Itโs important to rewardย good behavior nowย and then so your dog knows for sure that what itโs doing is something that will be well received.
Itโs likely to put them in a situation where they will startย following their rewardedย behavior independently without you having to tell them to.
It will also make itย easier to make them obeyย in the future because they will be aware that doing something acceptable leads to a reward.
Rewarding yourย dogโs good behaviorย can be done by simply telling them that theyโre a good boy/girl.
You can even scale your rewards based on the good; theyย followed your actions. A common way is toย give them their favorite toyย to play with or hand them an edible treat that they enjoy.
5. Tailor Your Training Towards Your Dog
Itโs easy to look up aย dog training regimenย and apply it directly without overthinking it. But this is one of theย least ideal thingsย you can do for your dog training.
Whenย training a dog, you must consider that not all dogs are the same. There are tons of differentย species and breedsย out there that will work differently from each other.
Some dogs will be moreย receptive to your training, while others might be less willing.
You have to be able to work with dogs youโre trying to train if you want them toย absorb everythingย that youโre trying to teach them.
Expecting one dog to uphold the sameย training standardsย as another dog Is less than fair and can lead to frustration for both you and the dog.
Before you start training your dog, you shouldย know the limitsย that it works under. Your training sessions should work toย your dogโs strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and attention span.
The ultimate goal of your training sessions should be toย make your dog learn, not to have it outperform past its capability. This is the only way to expect your dog to learn properly.
6. Make Your Dog Know When Itโs Time to Train
Dogs are naturally wired toย follow conditioning behaviorย techniques. They work off of associations they haveย made with actionsย in the past. You can use this toย subtly hint to your dogย when itโs time to train.
Doing something such as setting up aย specific time for trainingย or putting on a leash will signal your dog to startย paying attentionย and get ready for training.
This is important becauseย you want your dogย to be in the right mindset before you can even begin your training.
7. Correct Bad Behavior Immediately
As humans, weโre made to think aboutย how our actionsย will affect us in the future. Sometimes we may think hours, days, orย even months aheadย when doing anything.
Unfortunately, humans andย dogs donโt workย on the same perception of time. For dogs, everything isย immediate and in the moment. And this is where your training comes in.
When dealing withย bad behavior, you need to be quick in saying that youโre not happy withย what your dog did.
If you delay yourย reaction or take too long, your dog will disassociate the bad acts from the punishment.
It can end up treating theย two separately, which will make it believe that its actions had nothing to do with getting reprimanded.
You have to be able toย correct bad behaviorย as soon as you see it by letting your dog know that it wasnโt the right thing to do.
Sometimes, it takes aย simple, stronglyย worded โNoโ to get your point across. However, you also want to makeย sure that you correctย the behavior and move on. Latching on to it for too long isย never effectiveย and can worsen your dog.
8. Donโt Get Too Shortsighted.
Training yourย dog properly can take some timeย to get properly used to. Some days, it can feel like youโre not doing too much.
But you have to be willing toย manage your expectationsย and look at the kind of progress that you have already achieved.
There will be some days whenย you and your dogย arenโt up to the task as usual. When this happens, youย should approachย with care rather than being harsher towards your dog.
Your dogโs progress will carry overย from day to dayย to a long period. Expecting someย consistency in each sessionย is normal, but expecting the same amount of progress daily is not.
Be willing to haveย some patienceย when dealing with your training sessions. Itโs okay to take a day off from training if you orย your dog arenโt feelingย it.
As long as it doesnโt have a big impact onย your overall progress, then it shouldnโt matter that much.
The important thing is toย keep carryingย on at level headed pace that you and your dog can comfortably stick to.
9. Be Assertive
During some of your training sessions, you canย expect your dogย not to follow your commands or disobey you to aย certain extent.
Having this happen to you isย perfectly normal, but deciding how you want to deal with it will be your ultimate test.
When training your dog, you want to be sure that you can beย assertive with yourย commands. Typically, dogs work in packs, and each pack has itsย designatedย leader that they can follow behind.
If you want yourย dog to follow you, you have to be willing to exhibit the qualities of a pack leader.
Mainly, you want to be able to beย assertive yet remain calm, collected, and confident enough to demand respect.
Instead of having to ask or shout at yourย dog meekly, you want to be able to command them so they can follow without hesitation.
10. Be Positive and Encouraging at the End of the Session
Training regimens can beย hard work for dogs, so itโs essential for them to feel like they have amounted to something.
This is why you want toย make sure that each sessionย ends positively. All you need to do is tell your dog thatย they did an excellent jobย in a positive tone.
This tells them that a hardย session of workย mattered and was worth some praise. It will give them moreย incentive to comeย into the next session more focused to receive the same amount ofย encouragementย in the end.
If your dog did well, you could evenย choose to reward them with playtime or some treats.
Conclusion
Training your dog can be aย long and tiring process, but it can yield great results. The next time you have aย training session with your dog, you should keep the tips above in mind to get the most out of the training sessions.
This will make it aย much smoother processย for both you and your dog.