Training Tips: Trent Consultants Dog Care
It would be wonderful to have a dog that is willing to work just to please us and get a pat and a scratch. Most of us will not be so lucky to have this type of dog. Lets face it, if your dog has the choice of chasing squirrels or doing a 10 minute "down/stay" at the park, which do you think your dog will choose? If your dog is motivated to work for any of the reinforcements listed above you have a good starting point for training your dog.
Dog training can be a complex process or a rather simple one depending on a number of different factors. This is because some dogs are simply much easier to train than others. For these easy to train dogs the training process may be rather simple and straightforward. However, for more difficult to train dogs, the training process may be more complex and may require significantly more time, energy and patience on behalf of the trainer, the dog owner and even the dog, to a certain extent. There are some basic tips which can be useful in any dog training situation as well as some tips which can be useful in specific training situations. This article will outline some of the basic dog training tips which can be useful in any situation as well as a few tips which might be useful in specific scenarios.
Being consistent is one of the simplest but also the most useful tip for training a dog. Consistency is critical during the process of training a dog because a lack of consistency can not only delay the training process but can also be detrimental to the process because it can result in the dog becoming confused. Consider a situation in which a dog owner is attempting to teach a dog not to jump up on people when saying hello. In this specific training scenario, it must never be acceptable for a dog to jump up on either the owner or a visitor. For example, the dog owner should not allow the dog to jump up on him and then expect the dog to understand he is not allowed to jump up on other visitors to the home. This is far too confusing and can derail any of the training the owner is doing to teach the dog that it is not appropriate to jump up on people to say hello. This is also often a problem when dog owners allow puppies to jump up on people and as the puppy matures and grows in size, they no longer think it is cute to have the puppy jumping up on guests. Unfortunately in this situation the owner may have to retrain the dog to not jump up. This type of problem can be avoided by deciding early on whether or not this type of behavior will be accepted and taking a consistent training standpoint from early on in the puppy’s life.
Tips...
Understand your puppy
Establish dominance
Set boundaries
Teach your puppies commands you want him to know
A few words about practice and punishments…Practice, practice, practice. Reinforced(rewarded) repetitions are how dogs learn what behaviors work to get what they want. This is true for both the behaviors you like and the ones you don't. The original opportunist, a dog will stick with what has worked in the past. So, in order for you to instill good habits in your dog, you have to spend time teaching him what you want- its not going to happen just because you want it to.
TIPS#1 Trent Consultants
Chew toys and other time-bombs.
Chew-toys are the number one cause of destructive chewing. Of all the dogs with destructive chewing problems I've worked with, at least nine out of ten were actually trained into the behavior by well meaning owners who provided them with all kinds of chew-toys
TIPS#2
The light line
Also known to many trainers as a check-cord, the light line is an invaluable aid to training. It allows the handler to control the dog at a greater distance than is possible using the training leash.
TIPS#3
Eye contact is critical.
Your dog can't learn if he isn't paying attention! Make sure any stimulus is strong enough to get him to give you eye contact. Working with signals only is a good way to teach your dog to keep one eye on you at all times.