New dog owners or prospective dog owners need to think about whether or not they will train their dog and how they will train their dog. Training a dog is not a mandatory requirement for owning a dog but at a small amount of training will eliminate bad habits and set boundaries for your dog. If your dog has a particular problem then it is absolutely essential that training be implemented to correct the behavior.
Training a dog can be overwhelming and intimidating to many but it does not need to be.
Dog training basics do not change regardless of the age of the dog, the breed of the dog, the manners you want to install in your dog, or the behavior you want to change in your dog.
To successfully train a happy, loving dog remember these 7 Dog Training Basics.
- You are the leader.
- Your dog needs to understand its place within your pack structure.
- Your dog cannot implement behaviors or change undesirable behaviors if it does not understand what is expected of them. You must train and show them what you want and then reward them appropriately.
- Never reinforce negative behavior you want to change with attention. Yelling at your dog is attention and negative attention is still attention. Instead ignore your dog or walk away.
- Always reinforce the desired behavior with positive attention such as verbal praise, treats, toys, and calm soothing petting.
- Lots and lots of patience.
- Consistency, consistency, consistency! Did I mention, be consistent?
A well trained dog will feel much more secure in your home when it knows it’s boundaries and respects them. A dog in the wild will have some sort of enforced boundaries of behavior by the pack structure that naturally evolves and exists. When you bring a dog into your home, your dog is part of your “pack”. You need to establish that you are the pack leader and this can easily be accomplished through some basic training.
Any method of dog training that you choose needs to be approached from the perspective of “positive reinforcement”. This simply means that you reward your dog with verbal praise, treats, play or all of the above for any positive behavior that is exhibited. Success will come quickly to anybody who praises a dog for good behavior.
For example – If you ask your dog to sit and it does, you give your dog a treat. From your dog’s viewpoint, sitting when told to equals a treat. Yum!
What if you tell your dog to sit and when it doesn’t, you punish it? In your dogs mind you have just dished out a random punishment for nothing. This will only serve to confuse your dog and lead to mistrust.
Remember: Positive reinforcement is the key.
A typical mistake that dog owners make is to inadvertently train their dog into bad habits. Common examples include barking, face licking, and jumping up. Let’s look at each of these.
Barking – Dog’s bark, that’s a fact. It’s WHEN a dog barks that determines whether it’s normal behavior or a bad habit. If your dog barks when somebody comes to the door this is normal territorial behavior. Your dog is warning you, as a member of its pack, that there is potential danger at the door.
If your dog spends the best part of its waking life barking at just about anything and everything including you, then this behavior has formed into a bad habit. Do not despair, do not hide from your neighbors, and do not buy stock in earplugs. Correct the behavior.
The first natural responsive mistake most people make is to shout “Quiet”, “Shut Up” or “No” at their barking dog. The main reason why this does not work is simple. Your dog barks, then you “bark”. From your perspective, you are shouting above your dog to be quiet. From your dog’s perspective, you are barking along and enjoying the noise.
To correct this behavior wait for a pause in your dogs barking then heap lots of verbal praise and a treat upon your dog. As soon as the barking starts again, ignore your dog or walk away. DO NOT pay your dog any attention when they nuisance bark or you are reinforcing the unwanted behavior. When the barking stops, its treat time again. It won’t take long before your dog puts two and two together.
Face Licking – Face licking is a result of your dog’s puppy days. Face licking is a way for a puppy to get its mother to regurgitate food for them in the wild. Puppies and dogs will also lick the face of a higher member of the pack to express and accept their submissive status in the pack. You and your family members are higher in the pack rank which is why your dog wants to lick you.
Face licking should be avoided for many reasons but top on the list is due to health concerns. Never let a dog lick a baby or toddlers face. This could expose the infant or toddler to germs that their immune system may not be equipped to handle. Also, if your dog has worms, has been investigating other dogs feces or been grooming itself, the last thing you want is for your dog to come and lick your face. Discourage this behavior by using positive reinforcement.
When your dog approaches your face, firmly say “No!” but do not shout. If your dog does not back off, push it away from your face. When your dog first responds to the “No” phrase, it’s time for a treat. Be consistent and your dog will realize face licking is unacceptable.
Jumping Up – Dogs jumping up on people can be dangerous especially if children are involved or if the dog is a large breed. Your dog will not understand that jumping on you is okay but jumping on children is not. This will just confuse your dog so you need be consistent. Stop this behavior by telling your dog “Off!” every time it jumps up on you or others. Give a treat when your dog first responds to your verbal command and every time thereafter.
If your dog is not responding to the verbal command alone then proceed to the following: Anticipate your dog jumping on you and as they begin their lunge firmly state your command “Off” and at the same time raise your knee bent parallel in front of you. DO NOT forcefully or swiftly “knee” your dog as this can cause physical harm to your friend. Instead place your knee out in front of you to block your dog from making full contact with you. The key is to time the command and your knee before your dog has made full contact with your body. If your dog beats your timing and makes contact with you, do not punish or scold your dog. Wait for another opportunity to enforce the desired behavior. When your dog begins to respond to this method use verbal praise and treats for positive reinforcement. When this method has proven itself successful take your knee out of the equation and revert back to the verbal command along with verbal praise and treats.
Do not use the word “down” for jumping because “down” should be the command for “lie down”. Keep these two commands separate or you will create confusion for your dog.
When dog training is broken down, there are a lot of simple ways to train your dog. These are just a few. There is no need to tolerate bad habits or undesired behavior in your dog because they can be easily remedied through positive reinforcement, patience and consistency. If you have rescued a dog or have an older dog do not believe that they are “set in their ways”. They may take a little longer to correct the behavior but remain patient and you will be rewarded. Ultimately most dogs want to please their humans and be accepted into the pack.
