11. Puppy Training Tips
Training a puppy or new dog can be an awesome experience, but should never be taken lightly. Within these 11 puppy training tips, you’ll find some hacks that will help in your you and your puppy’s training success.
1.Remember your dog is a dog
As the number one puppy training tip, a new owner needs to remember that their dog is a dog! Of course, this may sound harsh but treating dogs as if they were human is perhaps the worst thing you can do for your dog. Love your dog as the loyal gorgeous companion he is, but never treat him as a baby. Dogs need to understand their role within a family unit before they’re trainable. Problems occur when the role identification, is upset.
2.The foundation of training is Leadership
Once the dog understands his role within the family and can identify the presence of the pack leader his training can commence. Whoever takes on the role of pack leader will have far more success in training the dog. The simple reason is that dogs are pack animals and show utter respect to their pack leader.
3.Exercise your dog.
One of the vital 11 puppy training tips that will help your dog to thrive in training the owner needs to provide their dog with proper exercise. An exercised dog is a trainable dog, not to mention the benefits of the exercises on the dog-owner. Never contemplate getting a dog if you’re unable to provide appropriate exercise for him or her.
4.Puppy training tips: Dogs need a schedule
Without any form of structure in our lives, we can float aimlessly through our days. A dog without structure can be like us and get irritable and uninterested in training. But with a set of schedules, we start to set goals and begin looking forwards, knowing when and how is empowering. Dogs too need empowering and need set times for interaction, exercise, feeding and training.
5.Our pets require boundaries
We need to set boundaries for our pets to follow, and that is where the training should start. For example, if you dislike your dog in the kitchen or jumping uninvited on to your bed make this a focal point of your training. If your dog begs for food and this annoys you, focus on this aspect of the dog’s behaviour instead.
6.No need for Discipline or punishment
It takes time and effort to see real improvement in your dog’s behaviour. Another important tip out of the 11 puppy training tips is to make sure you invest heavily in a dog’s training, and that doesn’t just mean money. Invest your time and your patience. Punishment is NOT part of any training, rewarding your dog is the key. Never let your frustrations distract you or your dog, from your goal to successfully train your pet.
7.Rewarding your dog
A dog will learn by association, so if your dog does something and gets a reward, the action is likely to get repeated. For this to be effective the reward must be linked to the action. When training, this means the dog should get the reward within one second of the action.
8.Stay strong and calm
Another puppy training tip is that you must stay strong. You’ll need unwavering mental strength and confidence to gain the trust and respect of your dog during training sessions. Your dog can sense if you are uncertain or fear them, so you must control situations by maintaining the role of an authoritative pack leader. You do this by remaining calm and never ever lose your temper. If you ever feel so frustrated, you think you may shout or make your dog fearful – walk away. Think about hiring a professional dog trainer.
9.Consistency is key: an important puppy training tip
It’s easy when you’re feeling tired and you just feel you want to relax to let your dog sneak up on to the sofa. Or maybe your puppy thinks it’s playtime and takes a sneaky nip at your arm, and you just flick your arm away. By ignoring him this once, especially if jumping on to the sofa is usually out of bounds, you are setting a dangerous precedent. How is the dog to know that by tomorrow morning this behaviour is no longer acceptable? Mixed messages like this will only confuse your dog.
10.Puppy training tips -The family pack
Everyone within the household has some responsibility for the proper training of the family pet. You and all household members need to be on the same page when it comes to acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Everyone needs to know what boundaries are being set and will need to stick to them. Although there is only one pack leader, the rest of the family are still dominant to the dog and should treat their relationship with him or her as such.
11.Call a Professional
Training your puppy should be a pleasure for both you. Although, you will face challenges as you work towards better manners. But when you find yourself frequently frustrated with your dog, it’s time to seek help. Frustration is only a few degrees away from anger and you probably won’t be able to make progress trying to train your dog when you’re feeling upset.
You should also consider bringing in a professional if your dog exhibits behaviour that makes you nervous (like growling or biting), particularly if you have young children in your home. It’s safest to begin behavioural modification with a professional when a dog first starts exhibiting troublesome behaviours rather than waiting for them to take root. As the expression goes, dogs rarely grow out of problem behaviours, they grow into them. You may also be interested in my post 25 dog training myths and misconceptions
