Many people wish to train dogs, but they think it’ll be hard. In many cases, this is because they aren’t familiar with all the options available for training purposes. Unless you are willing to consider different training approaches, it will be difficult to find the best solution for your situation. In this article, we will present a number of tried-and-true puppy training methods.
Correcting a dog should be done quickly and concisely. Avoid launching a lengthy tirade against your pet and his naughty behavior. Say no and give them a command to do the right thing. The tone of your voice should let them know you are serious about the command you are making.
Create a calm environment whenever you enter the room the dog is in. Your dog should have the patience to wait for you to get settled and signal that you are ready to play with him. Don’t acknowledge your dog when you enter the room. By doing this, you will be able to create a controlled environment in which you determine when and how play time begins.
Poor Diet
Be sure to feed your dog healthy foods and treats. A poor diet will negatively affect your dog’s skin, eyes, muscles, bones and joints. A poor diet can affect their behavior as well as their health. Improving your dog’s diet will also improve its mental capacity.
Teething can be painful which is why your puppy chews on things, so always give him a choice of chew toys to keep him from getting into trouble. Give it one of his toys instead. If your puppy is in a lot of pain due to teething, a frozen wet washcloth is ideal for him to chew on.
Dogs should never be tied up close to each other. One dog’s chain might become entangled with the other, which could lead to serious injuries. If the dogs are different sizes, it could be even worse. A small dog could easily choke to death if it were to get too tangled up with a larger breed.
Stay away from high end training devices like shock collars. These devices are expensive and do not always work as well as you would expect them to. In addition, shock collars and related devices can actually irritate your dog and eradicate current good behaviors. In general, using such techniques produces negative effects.
Consistently train your dog. If more than one member of your family is training your dog, be sure all people use the same commands, rewards and discipline. Your pet will have a better time at learning once it knows what response to expect from his behavior.
The tone of your voice is very important when you are trying to train your dog. Your dog can usually tell how you are feeling. By adopting a stern tone to your voice, it will be easier to enforce discipline.
When it comes to training a puppy, it is not a good idea to provide too much information and training at one time. Brief, simple, positive training sessions are well-suited to the limited supply of energy and attention a pup has to work with. If you try too hard to train the puppy, he will probably just forget what you have taught him and will see the experience as bad. This will make it more difficult to train the puppy at a later time.
Leave the leash somewhat loose during training. When dogs are going for a walk, they will often want to check out new territory. Your dog might pull on their leash. Smart pet owners will make sure the pet walks on a leash with some slack to it.
Regular challenges will keep your dog from losing his chops. Get him to repeat tricks you haven’t practiced in a while, to keep him sharp.
Make sure you pay attention to the limitations of older dogs. Every dog has its own peculiar quirks, and you need to learn to love their imperfections. Keep in mind that adopting old dogs may mean you adopt dogs that are set in their behaviors. Although you may be able to teach an older dog new habits, there may be some habits that cannot be changed.
Learn to recognize your dog’s signals. Most dogs do the same things when they need to urinate. Understanding this pattern can help to avoid hazards around the house. Being able to predict your dogs behavior will help make training much easier.
Your dog needs to have regular vet check-ups. Check your dog’s health if you notice him having a hard time with training. Dogs are good at hiding their pain. Behavioral changes may be the only way you will know if there is an issue with your dog’s health. For instance, aggression may signal pain, while regression concerning house training may be suggestive of urinary tract infections.
One good training method is known as “shake-can”. Place a hand full of coins in any empty can, and then seal it up with tape. If your dog does something bad, you can shake the can. This will get the dog’s attention and take his mind off of what he was doing. After several shakes, your dog will realize that he or she is actually doing something wrong. Just shake it one time though, shaking it too much will desensitize your dog.
Hopefully with the knowledge you just acquired about training your dog, you’re feeling more confident with ways you can do just that. Of course this is only a small sampling of the invaluable training resources you’ll find at your disposal. If these ideas don’t help you, there are many others to choose from.