What Are the Three Keys to Effective Dog Training?
Dog training is essential to raising a mature, respectable, and obedient companion. As with most training practices, pet parents and trainers must understand the key aspects of dog training and how it affects the results and outcome.
In this article, we go over the three keys to effective dog training as well as why you should invest in dog training.
Timing
Timing is an important aspect of dog training as it can influence how quick and easy it is to train your dog. Pet parents with puppies can consider starting basic dog training at around 8 weeks of age. Although the pup may have a shorter attention span at this age, they’re more likely to pick up new tricks and commands faster. Older dogs may exhibit a significant level of training restraint, especially as you’d need to help them unlearn old behaviors for newer ones.
Another important aspect of timing is how soon you correct mistakes and errors. Trainers and dog owners must correct errors or mistakes instantly – before the dog moves on to other things.
Failing to correct such negative behavior instantly may send the dog a wrong signal of acceptable behavior. Delaying response can also confuse the dog as it may find it harder to relate the correction to its current activity.
Dog trainers and pet parents who wish to get the best results should pay attention to their pets and their behaviors, reinforcing the good behaviors with food, belly rubs, pats, and praises while discouraging bad behavior with acceptable methods.
Consistency
Learning takes time and patience.
Pet parents and dog trainers must understand that imbibing new behavioral patterns can often take some time and a level of consistency from all involved parties.
Inconsistency regarding actions that are praised and frowned upon can send mixed signals and confuse your dog.
For example, scolding your dog for barking or jumping on you in some instances and welcoming the act on other occasions may confuse your dog as to whether it is allowed to do so. Maintaining an all-around consistency in frowning upon bad behavior and praising the right behavior can solidify the dog’s outlook and help it imbibe the right behavior towards you and others.
Motivation
Dogs, like humans, also get demotivated during their learning phase. Understanding the signs of demotivation and addressing such issues quickly is important.
Keeping your dog motivated to learn can further improve their reception and encourage them to imbibe positive attitudes. Some ways to motivate your dog include;
Food: Introducing food or treats in-between training sessions can significantly improve your pet’s response to conditioning training. Some pet food to try include sausages, treats, and biscuits.
When using food as a motivation tool, ensure that:
- You aren’t using one specific treat or food item. Using a particular food item may be associated with good behavior, thus sending wrong signals to your dog.
- You should also avoid giving food treats every time your dog does something fascinating.
- Never let your dog know what the reward is, as they can easily determine whether the reward is worth the good behavior or not.
Affection: Dogs love a physical show of affection. This can keep them motivated to learn more and imbibe more positive characteristics. Affection can be delivered in the form of hugs, head and belly rubs, cuddles, and verbal praises.
Toys: Dog toys are an interesting way to keep your pet busy and happy. Consider introducing their favorite toy to reinforce positive attitudes.
Why Invest in Training Your Dog?
Dog training is an important step to undertake for pet parents and dog owners who want well-behaved, easy-to-communicate pets. Some important reasons for considering dog training include the following;
Improved Behavior
Dog training helps teach your dog how to behave inside and in public. With the proper training, you can avoid common issues like dog bites, incessant and noisy barking, disobedient behaviors, a messy home, and more.
Improves Pet Safety
Dog training imbibes the core knowledge of safety in your dog. With the right training, you can be sure your dog will walk in the right way when in public to avoid danger.
Improves Confidence
Dog training helps to improve your and your dog’s confidence. With the right training, your dog is better able to understand the intimidating chaos of the outside world and how best to navigate it with you around.
It also improves your pet’s confidence to trust your commands, whether you’ve asked it to sit, heel, roll over, or lay flat.
Improves Communication
Dog training helps improve communication between pet owners and their dogs. This can lead to a better relationship, deeper understanding, and better companionship between the dog and its owner.
Are you looking to add a new pup to the family? With all the tips and benefits discussed above, we’re confident that you’ll have the time of your life with your furry friend.
