That first day with your new puppy is a joyous one to be sure. Unfortunately, a few weeks later you’ll be wondering what you just got yourself into. As you mop up yet another puddle or toss a chewed-up shoe, you may find yourself questioning your sanity. But, training your dog to properly behave can return positive feelings. This article is packed with practical and proven advice for training your pet pooch.
When you’re working on training you dog, you must always try to teach it how to know that it’s their home. You should place the food bowl inside the crate and leave the door of the crate open while they eat their food. The dog will recognize the crate as having delicious food.
It takes small steps to crate train your puppy; they must become accustomed to it. Once they have grown accustomed to being in the crate with the gate open, try closing the gate and feeding them small treats through the crate. Start off only putting them inside for 10 seconds, and when they seem okay with that, slowly increase the time they are inside. If your puppy starts acting distressed about going into the create, you need to slow things down.
Your dog needs to learn good feeding habits, and this is best accomplished with a clear routine. He has to know when the food will arrive and it should be on schedule, but he also needs to know when the food will be removed again. Your dog will learn to eat in a few minutes instead of going back to the food bowl all day long.
Reduce as many accidents as possible when you’re toilet training your dog. Sometimes, your dog will have triggers for when its that time. Pacing, snuffing and whining are common. Don’t delay; bring them outside. Immediately pick up the leash and go outside to a preferred spot. Whenever he relieves himself in an appropriate time and place, he should be praised immediately. With some time, your dog will be able to tell you when he needs to go outside.
Overworking a new puppy with new information will only lead to trouble. Puppies have short attention spans, therefore keep your sessions short and provide ample amounts of praise. A training session that wears your puppy out is going to turn into an unpleasant memory, making him less likely to respond well to subsequent sessions, and more inclined to ignore what you are trying to teach him.
When leash-training your dog, keep some slack in the leash. Dogs generally want to explore uncharted areas anytime they get the chance. Due to their excitement, they will try to pull on their leash. Rather than allowing this behavior to continue, a looser leash walk should be encouraged by the person in control of the animal.
Working on your dog’s recall is essential. Your dog should come back to you regardless of the environment they’re in. Work on this skill daily. You might just save your canine’s life some day because of recall, so never skip or pass on training this, regardless of what it takes to get it done.
Keep your dog challenged regularly. Throw “pop quizzes” occasionally to be sure he is not getting out of practice.
Make sure you are consistent when you train your dog. Write down the specific commands you want to use with your dog, and get everyone in your household to review the list and use the same words. Ensure everyone understands the importance of consistency in only rewarding good behavior, not bad behavior. When the people around the dog use different commands and responses, he may become confused and training could suffer.
Patience, commitment and love go into dog training success. Using the above advice will have you and your dog loving one another for many years. It doesn’t happen immediately, but with consistency, you will have a well-behaved dog.
