Your dog can be considered a member of your family. Much in the same way that you would train and correct your children, it is important to do that for your dog as well. How can you expect them to behave if you haven’t taught them what that means? Read on for ways that you can start training your family dog.
Swatting or hitting your dog is not a good training method. If you attempt to train your dog in this manner, all you are teaching them is to be scared of you. Eventually, the dog will stop listening to voice commands, and will only respond to you raising your hand. Getting a dog’s loyalty through fear is a mistake on the owner’s part.
Dogs learn through reinforcement. When your dog does something you approve of and you would like to train them to do that on command, reward them with your voice. Consider, for example, the dog that unpredictably brings his owner his slippers. The owner should excitedly say the word “slippers” or whatever word they chose as a command for that behavior.
Show your dog that you love them and are proud of them. It’s easy in dog training to focus on the negative and try to show your dog that what they are doing is wrong. Make sure that you also work to accentuate the positive and praise them when they are doing well.
Training your puppy should start as early as 6 weeks old. The earlier you can start training your new pup, the better the results will be. Studies have found that dogs are the most receptive to training from 6 to 14 weeks old so use that time wisely.
When you are training your dog, do not repeat commands over and over to get the dog to obey. Rather than teaching your dog to do what you say, repeating the same command when your dog doesn’t listen gives them an attitude of indifference. Give your commands firmly, once, and insist the dog do what you say.
Make sure to only say the command word one time while training your dog. It is important not to repeat yourself, because your pet will begin to expect you to say the instructions multiple times. You want your dog to respond to your commands as soon as you say them.
Your breeder should begin socialization with your puppy, but it is up to you to continue it. It is important for a puppy to get used to people and the environment around him, but he will need to be protected from becoming too overwhelmed or scared. Your job is to encourage your puppy’s confidence as he goes out into the world.
The dog in your life is very important to you. Your relationship will only be helped by having good training and discipline now. You can focus more on having fun with your dog when you aren’t always concerned about what trouble he is causing. Use the tips from this article to get started.