Most dog owners can’t imagine their life without their furry friends. Dogs are indeed loyal, they provide you with unconditional affection, tons of energy, and zest for life. Even though they are our best friends, you should make sure to help them behave their best, so that you can both enjoy your time together.
Training your dog is a lifelong process, but some skills are definitely more important than others. You should first master the essential skills before going further.
We know that dog training can sometimes become exhausting, especially if your dog does not listen too much, but luckily, there are some tips and tricks on how to make the whole process more effective and more efficient.
Keep Them Short
Rather than having rare sessions that last long, have short sessions more often. Your dog training sessions shouldn’t be longer than 15 minutes. If you have a puppy or a grown-up dog that is easily distracted, you might want to shorten this time even more. If the sessions are too long, they will get distracted and bored, and the chances that they will start making more mistakes is high.
Try Using Some Dog Training Gadgets
Dog training gadgets are getting more and more popular. As experts on dog training gadgets explain, these gadgets are extremely useful, and if you go to the website where they explain the details, you can learn more on the topic. There are numerous options out there that can help you train your furry friend. These include bark controls, containment, and tracking devices, as well as training collars. Based on the problems you are facing with your dog, you should choose the ones that suit them the best.
Focus
When you choose to do the training sessions, plan to just work on one command. These intense and quick lessons will help your dog learn faster, and working on just one command at a time will help your dog stay focused. The exception can be if the session is going badly, and you want your dog to do something it knows, in order for the session to end on a positive note. In cases like these, switch to simple actions your dog knows well.
Try Training When Your Dog Is Hungry
If your dog is hungry, he or she will be more likely to behave well during the session. Since you are giving treats at the end of the session, it makes sense that your dog will be more interested. If you give them a big meal before the session, the treats might not be as encouraging.
Try Clicker Training
Clicker training is a technique that relies on the same principles like positive reinforcement. In this technique, you use a device that makes a quick, sharp noise, such as a clicker, as the name suggests, whenever your dog accomplishes wanted behavior. You have to make sure that your dog is conditioned to know that a click means a reward is coming. This way, the dog associates a behavior with a click and a reward. Finally, you can introduce a verbal command to form a new association.
Train After A Play Session
In order to get some of your dog’s energy out, have some vigorous play sessions before the training. If you just got from work, your dog is probably going to have so much energy. If you try the training session right away, the odds are that you will both be frustrated. So to avoid these kinds of situations, make sure your dog has had enough space and time to use up most of his or her energy.
Be Consistent And Be Persistent
If there is any magic involved in dog training, it’s consistency. When you start teaching a new command, choose a short phrase or word, and don’t change it. For instance, don’t use “Walk” one day, and then “Let’s go” the other. This will only confuse your dog and will make it harder for you to teach them good behavior as you have intended. If there are more people living in your house, everyone needs to handle the dog in the same ways because of the same reasons.
Dog training is, most simply and yet quite descriptively put, a question of who is more persistent – the owner or the dog. Some commands and behaviors can be achieved quickly, but others will take time. If you try something several times, and it is not successful, try to be patient, remain calm, and try again.
No matter how the whole session went, you should make sure to end on a positive note. This is one of the most important reasons why you don’t want to have sessions that are too long. A good stopping place could be when you reward your dog for a behavior you like. By this system of short sessions that end with a reward, your dog will have fun and will learn to love training.