Top 10 Dog Training Tips

Top 10 Training Tips

Socialization

Have your dog meet as many new people as possible. Socialization is vital to the healthy development of your dog. Introduce your puppy to at least 21 new people a week. Have new people give your dog treats for a positive association. These meetings should always be positive and in as many locations as possible to help your dog generalize. Your puppy should meet people of all different sizes, shapes, colors, with facial hair, hats, umbrellas, etc.

Immunizations & Regular Exams

This is a crucially important part of your dog’s health care. Discuss with your veterinarian the best ways to prevent disease. Many behavior problems stem from a physiological problem. A dog of any age can learn as long as they are healthy.

Leadership

You must establish yourself and all human family members as leaders. There are some very passive ways to achieve this; such as having your dog work for all life rewards, and have your dog wait at doorways for humans to pass first, don’t walk around your dog – make them move. Simple commands such as sit and down are leadership exercises. Every time you ask your dog to do something and he does it, he is submitting to you. If you have children in your human pack help them to do these exercises. Having your child hold your dog’s dinner dish while the dog sits for it is a very powerful leadership exercise – use it.

Behavior Problems

If your dog shows some undesirable behaviors, remember to find the cause and then make a change. Lack of sufficient exercise, boredom, outside irritants/stimulus, physical or health problems as well as unintentional training can all cause unwanted behaviors to occur. Always teach what you want. Don’t focus on the negative behavior; focus on a positive one. Remember to train – not complain.

Consistency

Pay close attention to the words and hand signs you use. Say the correct word one time. If you say “sit, sit, sit” that is the command not “sit”. 30 minutes a day (broken up throughout the day) is your goal to work with your dog. The more you work with your dog the faster they will progress. The more consistent you are with your dog the more consistently he will respond. The less you work with your dog, the less he will respond to you.

Tone of Voice

How you say something is as important as what you say. The 3 tones of voice are; command, reprimand, and praise. Make sure there is a distinct difference in these 3 types when you use them.

Focus On Rewards

Don’t take the good behavior for granted. Always praise good behavior. Positive reinforcement is much more effective than punishment.

Variety of Rewards

Use a variety of rewards in your training. Anything your dog likes is a reward. Food, toys, attention are all great rewards – use them as such.

Have Fun

Use game training to turn teaching your dog new behaviors fun. Teach tricks and have relay races with friends’ dogs.

Dog Behaviors

Dogs dig, dogs chew, dogs bark dogs urinate and defecate. These are all normal canine behaviors. They are only inappropriate when they live with us. We are the ones that made the rules; it is only fair we take time to teach the dog the rules.