Dog Guidance Blog

Now that one has their dog they must learn the right way to teach their new family pet. The following text will be able to give one the right tools needed for them to give their new dog the best learning experience that one can possibly give to their loved pooch.

Barking

Be sure to be realistic about what you expect of your dog. You are not going to be able to train him overnight. It is going to take a great deal of time and hard work to get him to perform the way that you want him to. It is going to take the longest time to break the normal dog habits like barking, but it will happen if you dedicate the time to training.

A barking dog can drive its owner as well as the neighbors crazy!  A good way to train your dog not to bark is to offer him a reward to stop barking!  When he barks, use a command such as “Quiet!” or “No bark!” and wave his favorite treat in front of his nose.  Soon he will learn that dog treats are better than making noise!

When it comes to barking, be aware of the environment or activities when your dog barks excessively. Having an awareness of the triggers, can help you address the behavior constructively. For example, if your dog only barks excessively when visitors enter your home, enlist a friend to come over to help you address the behavior, at the time of the trigger event.

To reduce the barking of your dog, try getting them used to what causes the barking in the first place. It can be a sound, or being face to face with other people or other animals. Your dog will understand that there is no need to bark in these situations.

Time your rewards properly. Timing is crucial when training a dog. Dogs have very short attention spans, and waiting too long to reward a good behavior or punish a bad one will end up doing more harm than good. For example, when training a dog to “quiet” when barking, rewarding too soon after the barking will serve to reinforce the barking instead of the stopping. When you give the “quiet” command, wait a second or two, and then treat and praise ” ensuring your dog knows that it is the calm behavior that is being rewarded.

The best way to prevent your dog from barking excessively, is to make him more comfortable with whatever it is he barks at so frequently. Dogs bark at anything that scares of threatens them, so if you show your dog that the object of their fear is nothing to be afraid of, he’ll stop barking.

Now that one hopefully has some good ideas for training their dog they can set about their journey. Training ones dog can often be a rewarding experience when one see’s their effort pay off with an obedient dog. Following what one has learned will give them the direction needed to train their dog.