Training a dog can seem hard, confusing or overwhelming for a person that has never gone through it. There's so much information to sort through about the proper way to train your dog. Below are just a few tips to assist you in getting started at training your dog effectively.
Control how much you reward your dog. When the dog correctly follows your commands, you can certainly give a reward. Although you may feel very pleased, control your response to avoid having your training situation become uncontrolled. Act calmly, expect calmness, and then appropriately reward the dog.
Dogs tend to concentrate on one thing to the exclusion of everything else unless that concentration is interrupted. After you do this enough times, it will become easier for you to get your dog's attention. The dog will look for your signals.
Try not to reinforce bad behaviors from your dog. Do not pay attention to your dog or pet it if he does something you are not happy about. Don't scratch the dogs back, give it a snack or reward it in any way if it jumps, barks or does anything you don't approve of.
As the dog gets better at training, you can let it have more freedom. Rewarding them by showing them you trust them more will only encourage better behavior. Just be cautious not to give too much freedom at once, as this may have a counter effect on your training your dog.
Let any dog you approach sniff your hand first so he can smell you. Dogs need to familiarize themselves with the smell before they can trust you. As you become close to one another, fear will be diminished and opportunities to learn together will be increased.
If you want to be successful in house training an animal, make sure that you stick to a strict schedule for feeding times and elimination times. This will give you the opportunity to understand when your dog needs to go to the bathroom. Having a regular schedule will help your dog know that a potty break will be coming, and he will hold learn to hold his bathroom urges until that time.
Positive Reinforcement
Stick with positive reinforcement when it comes to puppy training. Rewards include treats, kind words and physical touch. Never hit or shout at your dog. This just doesn't work, and it will cause your dog to fear you. Stay consistent and use positive reinforcement.
If your dog barks a lot, try getting them accustomed to whatever causes the problem. It may be as simple as a sound or being in close proximity to other animals. The key is teaching them that their triggers are nothing to fear.
Do not wear out your new puppy with an excessive training regiment. A puppy's attention span is short and it has a limited amount of energy, so sessions should remain short and positive. If training sessions are too long, the puppy won't remember the specifics of the training session, just that is was grueling and exhausting. This will make it harder to train him next time.
We hope these suggestions will be helpful to you. By using these tips, you will be able to train your dog.