All There Is to Know About Dog Training

When it comes to buying a puppy to keep inside the house, the very first concern is housetraining them. Although one would want this to be done as soon as possible, it requires effort and patience. Additional patience is required with puppies younger than 12 weeks of age because it is harder to toilet train them. Given below are some golden tips for dog training.

Golden tips for dog training 

1. Housetraining
   • Remain consistent with a set schedule 

Psychologists have highlighted consistency as the key to training any animal. Remember to maintain a routine for it will make it easier for your dog to understand and follow instructions. Get up in the morning at a fixed time, feed your dog at the same time every day, and set a time to take it out for a walk (preferably after feeding it).

• Keep up with signs indicating your dog’s needs

Circling, pacing, and sniffing are usually signs that it needs to relieve itself so take it out right away. If it is in the middle of the act inside the house, firmly scold it with a “no”, take it outside and praise it for doing so. Punishing is only effective when paired directly with the behavior being discouraged so remember only to scold when caught during the act. Otherwise, it would serve only to confuse the dog.

• Use short keywords consistently 

Keywords like “do your business” or “outside” every time so that your dog learns them as commands.

1. Leash training 

• Begin in an enclosed space 

Rather than starting directly outdoors, let your dog adapt to being leashed in an enclosed space before heading outside. To allow it to get used to the leash, let it smell the leash before you clip it to its collar. Let it drag the leash around before you hold it.

• Don’t allow it to chew on the leash 

There is a great tendency for dogs to see the leash as a new toy but do not let it chew on it. In order to distract it from doing so, use some of its favorite toys.

• Hold the leash only after the dog gets used to wearing it

Simply hold the leash while allowing the dog to roam about in the enclosed space. At this stage in the training, do not pull on the leash to correct it and let it roam freely. It is only mean to get it comfortable with being leashed.

1. Fun tricks 

• When training your dog to follow basic commands and do tricks. Some of the common tricks that you can teach your dog easily are shaking hands, backing up, speaking, waving, spinning, rolling over, etc. In this type of training, using positive reinforcement is most effective. To do so, you can use your dog’s favorite toys or treats as rewards when it does a trick or follows a command successfully.

Dog training is possible personally by homeowners, but in certain cases, one may need to call in the experts. This is particularly the case if your dog is fully grown and has not been exposed to training so far. A  dog training course  by dog-training service providers can help you out in such a case. These usually offer services that include on-leash obedience, puppy training, proper back behavior training, etc. seeking the aid of such companies is known to be a great help in dog training.