Dog Guidance Blog

From helping your dog to know when to bark, to know when it’s not okay to beg, to come to you when you call him, it’s easy to see how at least some training can be very beneficial. It may seem hard to teach your dog new tricks, but in reality it’s simple if you just keep trying the right strategies. Here’s a few good ideas.

To enforce good behavior when training your dog, remember to praise your dog. Get excited, smile, and give treats to help your dog relate the good behavior to something positive. Never reward unwanted behavior as the dog will also relate the unwanted behavior to something positive as well.

Training sessions for your dog should be fun and stress-free. Your dog will learn better, and you will be able to teach better in a positive environment. Use your training session as a bonding time with your dog and have fun. This will help you and your dog have a life-long relationship.

Training your dog to walk on lead takes time. The idea is to have your dog walk obediently beside you without straining, tugging, and pulling from side to side. Correct your dog’s movement with short snaps of the lead that pull sharply and abruptly back against his momentum. He will stop pulling and walk complacently for a time beside you. During this time loosen the lead but when he pulls again snap the lead again.

You, as the leader of the pack, should always eat first. In the animal world the Alpha always eats before the rest of the pack. This confirms dominance and establishes trust in the leader. When you exhibit this behavior you teach your dog to respect you as leader and also to trust that you are leading in the proper way.

A very important command that any dog should know is ‘stay’. Not only can this command stop him from doing something dangerous like running into the street, it can calm him down in a strange place. Firstly, tell him to ‘sit’. Hold him in the sitting position, repeating the word ‘stay’. Praise him with a treat, all the time ensuring that he stays seated.

When training your dog, you must establish a schedule and provide some consistency. It is important to have a routine and to reinforce the actions you want the dog to learn. By repeating the actions over and over, and providing reinforcement, the dog will quickly learn what they are supposed to do.

To keep your dog from barking, teach them to obey to a simple order that will make them quiet. When your dog barks, show them a treat and repeat the order, for instance ‘be quiet’ until it stops barking. You can then give it the treat. If you repeat this long enough, your dog will associate the treat and then the order with being quiet.

Before crating your dog always allow them the opportunity to eliminate. Young dogs, in particular, have to relieve themselves quite frequently. You can’t expect them to not urinate or even defecate in the crate if they haven’t been given the opportunity to do so before they are crated.

Focus on making the training sessions with your dog fun. All animals behave better when they enjoy being good. Use whatever your dog likes, including toys, attention and privileges, to help make training a game rather than a chore. You will probably be surprised at the type of results you get from your animal.

Training a dog is a great experience. Seeing how your pet develops good behavior and respect for your command you is a rewarding experience and well worth your time. Training a dog should be treated as an opportunity to have fun instead of a chore, so have fun trying out the suggestions in this article!