Training your dog can be difficult, especially if it is your first time. This article will be able to provide you with some dog training tips to help you along.
There are different tricks you can try when you are crate training your dog. If they are hesitant about the crate, you can put a nice chew bone inside and shut the gate while they are not in it. As soon as they smell the tempting treat, they will want to get into the crate to enjoy it. When they go inside to get the bone, give them lots of positive reinforcement.
It takes small steps to crate train your puppy; they must become accustomed to it. When they seem comfortable in it with the door open, try shutting the gate and feed them treats through the wires. In the beginning it is important to only leave the dog in the crate for a few seconds. After a while you will be able to leave them in the crate for longer amounts of time. If your dog becomes restless, you may be ramping up too quickly.
If you have to give your dog a verbal correction, be sure that they are sharp, to the point, and short. Yelling and screaming at your dog is counterproductive. Just tell them no, and redirect them to the task you are asking them to do. Also make sure that the volume of your voice commands their attention and lets them know that you mean business.
Dogs will focus on something and ignore all else unless something breaks that attention. Eventually, you will be able to ensure that your dog is more focused on you and your commands than other distractions.
Don’t approach a strange dog too quickly. Hold our your hand and slowly move closer. Dogs need to familiarize themselves with the smell before they can trust you. When a dog recognizes the scent, they won’t fear you and will follow commands.
Start your training your dog with something that will be easy for him to learn. You will both get instant gratification and establish a good foundation which you and your dog can build on. This will give you much better results while training.
Use positive reinforcement when puppy training. You can use treats, toys, positive speech and even belly rubs. Never hit or shout at your dog. Your dog will not respond well to these methods and will not understand what you want them to do. Instead, make sure you are firm, patient, consistent and positive so that you can achieve the best possible results.
Keep tabs on the number of treats you give to your dog as a reward in order to avoid making him gain weight. Treats will add up when you are training your dog, be careful to not overlook them.
Spray your dog with water to discourage bad behavior at home. This will show the pooch that there are consequences to these actions. Afterwards your dog won’t do these things anymore.
Praise your dog to reinforce good actions. Give treats, smile, and get excited so your dog will associate good behavior with a positive result. You should not give them a treat or reward if they are not doing something good.
Teach your dog to get “down”. This command can be used in an emergency, or used as the basis for teaching other behaviors. Dogs that understand the “down” command are able to hit the ground whenever necessary, which is valuable in times of danger.
Maintain consistency when training your dog. One way to ensure everyone in your household uses the same commands is to create an easily accessible list of the commands used to train your dog. Anyone needing to handle your dog should follow the same program, using reward for good behavior and taking care to never reward bad behavior. Your dog will become very confused if each person responds differently to a single type of behavior. This will make training very hard.
If you catch your puppy in the act of chewing on an inappropriate item, stop it right away. Get some toys for your puppy to chew on and make sure he understands the difference by scolding or praising him.
If you want to be successful at dog obedience training, you must be willing to commit to a specific amount of time on a consistent basis. Dogs learn best from consistency and repetition. Also, as you spend more time with your pet, he will begin to trust you more fully and will want to obey. Doing these things for your dog will ensure your place as the pack leader.
Good training your dog can teach your dog everything from basic behavior modification to advanced trick mastery. Apply what you’ve learned here, and you’ll be an expert dog trainer in no time.