Does your dog pee everywhere, chew your shoes or slippers, steal food from you, or being jumpy to get attention? Such behavioural issues do not signify that you have a bad dog. In most cases, misbehaving dogs are only confused. Dog obedience training helps to improve the relationship and communication between human and canine.
Obedience training requires a stretch of patience. An interview with The Kennel Club about experiences in Obedience judging tackled about the tips they can give to beginners in dog obedience training. Four veteran judges—Kim Innes, Stella Henstridge, Nigel Slate, and Krysia Wilenczyc—revealed a common answer, which is to enjoy the process of training with your dogs.
When should you take your puppy to obedience training? How do I teach my dog obedience? A young puppy about 7 to 8 weeks of age can already be taught simple obedience commands including ‘sit’ and ‘stay.’ This article presents basic dog training tips, which you can perform at home or with a trainer (if you wish).
1. Learn your dog’s capability.
When training, it is important to recognise the limits of your dog. There may be some skills that your young pooch will have a hard time learning compared to the adult ones. As for senior dogs, they may have slower comprehension than the young ones.
Furthermore, the breed’s unique personality is also an important key to consider. Kim Innes’ tip is to find a puppy that will be fit for the job. However, do not think that your pooch is untrainable. In fact, all breeds are trainable but there are some that are easier to teach because of their eager-to-please personality.
Generally speaking, all dogs can be trained easily when motivated to win treats or praises. On the other hand, remember to be sensitive in training canines that have unpleasant experiences in the past such as mistreatment or abuse.
2. Be consistent at all times.
Keep in mind that when you decide to have your dog undergo training, you are also committing yourself to another responsibility. You hold a huge part of your dog’s obedience training. Be consistent with your approach regardless of what mood you are in.
Be consistent in using the same commands all the time within training or in your daily interaction. Any form of change would merely confuse your dog. In addition, the whole family should strictly follow the same set of rules.
3. Give rewards accordingly.
As previously stated, dogs are easily motivated by praise and rewards. Use such strategic approach to create a positive association for your canine when he follows each of your commands during training.
Give rewards at the right moment. Does your furry friend deserve a treat when he looks at you with puppy eyes whilst you are eating? The challenge is to resist such a temptation. He might interpret that begging will get him a reward. Make sure the whole family firmly follows this rule. Encouraging bad behaviour can put all your training efforts in vain. Apart from training, this also prevents him from the risk of obesity.
Furthermore, ensure to give treats that do not exceed 10 per cent of his caloric intake a day.
4. Keep everything short.
Keep training short. Dogs, especially puppies, have short attention spans. Focus on introducing one command at a time and only move on once mastered.
Keep keyword commands short. Use a short word as a cue to be easily understood. It should also be easy to pronounce, most especially when unfortunate circumstances arise wherein you need to give commands.
5. Consider taking professional dog obedience training.
There are different types of dog obedience classes in pet establishments.
- Group obedience classes
A typical scenario in group classes consists of a teacher training obedience in a group of dog owners with their dogs. Owners are introduced with obedience commands and ways on how to encourage their dogs to obey.Aside from training, your pooch will be socialised and exposed to other people and pets during the session, not to mention that these group classes are much more affordable.
- Group obedience classes
- One-to-one obedience training
This training is more expensive than the group obedience class but for good reasons:- Your canine gets the entire trainer’s attention.
- It can take place anywhere you desire, which could be at home or any other location.
- This allows you to have more time to practise on obedience commands under the trainer’s observation.
- One-to-one obedience training
- Boot camp obedience training
Boot camp arrangements will have a trainer take your dog to their home or to a training facility. The trainer will work with your pooch for a particular period of time until the training ends. There are some boot camps that allow daily visits to practise commands. This is the best course of action for owners who have dog behavioural problems caused by aggression or fear and anxiety.
In the end, the key to dog obedience training is patience. Have you got more questions on dog behaviour training? Click here to read more articles.
