If you want a well behaved dog you need to teach him how to behave. An untrained dog can make your life miserable, but you can't really hold him responsible for his actions. He doesn't know any better. But before you start on a training program there is some basic information you need to be aware of. Professional dog trainers use these basics all the time. Here are their top 10 tips.
1. Begin just as soon as you bring that new puppy home. It's crucial to establish routines immediately in order to avoid problems later on. For example, if your dog is not going to be welcome on the couch when he gets bigger, then don't ever let him on the couch as a puppy. If you want to cuddle with him, get down on the floor with him. You want the habits he learns to be good ones, not bad ones.
2. Be firm, but fair and consistent. If you change the rules you will only frustrate and confuse your dog. So, if you don't want your dog to beg food from the table, don't ever feed him treats while you are eating.
3. Teach your new puppy to accept a collar and lead soon after bringing him home. This is one of the easiest yet most important steps you can take to have a well-trained dog. A dog on a lead is easier to work with and control.
4. When training your dog, have fun with him and reward his accomplishments, no matter how small they may be. Rewards can be treats, a scratch on the head, or praise. If he enjoys what you're doing with him and can look forward to being rewarded, you will accomplish a great deal in a shorter time frame.
5. Patience is a quality that every single good dog trainer needs to have, and lots of it. Progress should be measured in very small steps. Your dog will not learn and remember overnight. It takes lots and lots of practice before the desired behavior will come naturally. Be sure to reinforce the targeted behavior by repeated practice and rewards.
6. There will be times when it will be necessary for you to discipline your dog. There are two important points to remember when it comes to discipline. First, don't ever order your dog to come when you are preparing to discipline him. Leave this word for positives in training. Instead go to him. Second, hitting does not have a place in dog training. If you hit your dog as a form of discipline, he will learn to be afraid of you. This will not work with dog training.
7. Whenever you start a new session of training, the first thing to do is to quickly review the behaviors that your pet has already mastered. Then as always, reward him and move on to something new.
8. Keep lessons short. You never want to drag things out to where the training becomes a chore. So if your dog begins to lose focus, end the lesson with a simple-to-follow command. Then give him a reward and then spend a few minutes playing with him.
9. Teaching him commands such as "sit, stay, come, and down", first will make other lessons easier. Once he has learned these commands and responds consistently to each of them, you can then move onto more complex tricks or commands.
10. You have probably noticed that rewards are used liberally when training your dog. It can't be emphasized enough how important it is to only reward when a command is executed properly. If you give him a treat whether or not he sits at your command, there is no real reason for him to do as you ask.
By following these tips on dog training, you can be sure of having success in your quest to have a well behaved dog. And really wouldn't you rather have a dog that listens to you than one who doesn't? - 32366
1. Begin just as soon as you bring that new puppy home. It's crucial to establish routines immediately in order to avoid problems later on. For example, if your dog is not going to be welcome on the couch when he gets bigger, then don't ever let him on the couch as a puppy. If you want to cuddle with him, get down on the floor with him. You want the habits he learns to be good ones, not bad ones.
2. Be firm, but fair and consistent. If you change the rules you will only frustrate and confuse your dog. So, if you don't want your dog to beg food from the table, don't ever feed him treats while you are eating.
3. Teach your new puppy to accept a collar and lead soon after bringing him home. This is one of the easiest yet most important steps you can take to have a well-trained dog. A dog on a lead is easier to work with and control.
4. When training your dog, have fun with him and reward his accomplishments, no matter how small they may be. Rewards can be treats, a scratch on the head, or praise. If he enjoys what you're doing with him and can look forward to being rewarded, you will accomplish a great deal in a shorter time frame.
5. Patience is a quality that every single good dog trainer needs to have, and lots of it. Progress should be measured in very small steps. Your dog will not learn and remember overnight. It takes lots and lots of practice before the desired behavior will come naturally. Be sure to reinforce the targeted behavior by repeated practice and rewards.
6. There will be times when it will be necessary for you to discipline your dog. There are two important points to remember when it comes to discipline. First, don't ever order your dog to come when you are preparing to discipline him. Leave this word for positives in training. Instead go to him. Second, hitting does not have a place in dog training. If you hit your dog as a form of discipline, he will learn to be afraid of you. This will not work with dog training.
7. Whenever you start a new session of training, the first thing to do is to quickly review the behaviors that your pet has already mastered. Then as always, reward him and move on to something new.
8. Keep lessons short. You never want to drag things out to where the training becomes a chore. So if your dog begins to lose focus, end the lesson with a simple-to-follow command. Then give him a reward and then spend a few minutes playing with him.
9. Teaching him commands such as "sit, stay, come, and down", first will make other lessons easier. Once he has learned these commands and responds consistently to each of them, you can then move onto more complex tricks or commands.
10. You have probably noticed that rewards are used liberally when training your dog. It can't be emphasized enough how important it is to only reward when a command is executed properly. If you give him a treat whether or not he sits at your command, there is no real reason for him to do as you ask.
By following these tips on dog training, you can be sure of having success in your quest to have a well behaved dog. And really wouldn't you rather have a dog that listens to you than one who doesn't? - 32366
About the Author:
Training can be stressful for both you and your dog. To ease the stress for your hard working dog, a warm cozy bed is a must. A cozy cave dog bed is the ultimate in luxury for your hard working pet. To keep his bed fresh and clean washable dog beds are ideal.
