Whether you’re interested in puppy training or looking for adult dog training tips, there are a few techniques that work well for dogs of all ages. No matter the dog breed you’re training, here are a few general rules of thumb that will have your pup “sitting pretty” in no time.
Before we get started, let’s look at a few reasons why obedience training your dog is so helpful.
Dogs learn best when rewarded for good behavior. Rewarding dogs with foods, favorite toys, or attention is a great way to create positive associations in the mind of your dog between good behavior and a pleasant experience.
Clicker training is another great way to harness the power of associations and is often used in service dog training.
Clicker training combines a unique clicking sound with a dog treat provided, each used to stimulate a dog after successfully executing a behavior. The clicker sound and treat create an association within the dog’s mind between these stimuli and the command spoken by the trainer.
Eventually the clicker sound and treat are phased out, so the dog simply executes the behavior after only hearing the command.
Be patient with your pup. Dog training must, by it's intended purpose, be a long process that builds on a solid foundation. By solid foundation I mean the genetics behind a dog and the training it received during that The goal of all training is to allow a but even old dogs can learn new tricks when taught correctly. Give your dog time and plenty of love as it learns new commands.
Keep distractions to a minimum. When using a technique like clicker training, you want the clicking sound and reward given to be your dog’s main focus. Keep other stimuli to a minimum to maximize your time spent training.
Use Bite-Sized Training Sessions. Just like the treats you give a dog, bite-sized training sessions are perfect for teaching commands. Keep your training sessions short and sweet in order to keep your dog’s attention focused on the tasks at hand. Just be sure that training is repeated regularly to compound learning and associations.
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