Puppy Care

Dog obedience Training requires the use of some principles which differentiate effective Training from Training without results. Most dog training and dog behavior schools use these rules. These are:

Principle One:The first rule in obedience training is to be consistent. You must be consistent in the use of words, the tone of your voice and your actions, that go with your command. At the beginning of training you as the dog owner or trainer must make the decision as to what guidelines you will use to teach the dog. A word or a phrase, let’s say ‘come’, does not make sense to a dog. He does not understand things the way we understand, and he does not understand the language we use.

So to make the training understandable, you should use the command in a very consistent manner such that the dog will learn to associate the word with the meaning you attach with it. For example, if you are using the command ‘come’, make sure that everyone in the household use it in a singular manner. If you are using this command make it a point that you would not do actions that would make the command confusing for the dog. If your dog does not come to you instantly, do not punish him when he does. This would make him attribute the command with the punishment.

What could you expect next?He would not follow the same command since this leads to punishment. Consistency also covers the use of the same command by all people. For example, if you use the words ‘come’ make sure everyone in your family uses that word also, not ‘come here’.

Principle Two:The hours devoted to training and the words used as command should be kept short. Keep in mind that the attention span of dogs is very short that making them engrossed with a specific activity would be very hard, if not impossible. Combining children with your Puppy obedience training is an example of keeping your training sessions short as they would lose interest very quickly, so it is best to move on to the next thing.

Your dog becomes easily bored and their interest at the beginning soon fades. The same thing happens in training therefore, it should be limited only to 10 minutes to 15 minutes of regular training.

Principle Three: Do not use force and punishment to hurt your dog when training. Also, never force the dog to follow the command if he is not prepared for it or punish a dog for something he did. Don’t push the animal too hard while training.

The dog does not understand that he should learn things instantly and he does not realize that you are becoming impatient with the speed he is picking up the training. All he knows is that you are mad. So do not use force as this does not communicate your meaning properly, instead use negative reinforcement. Do not send him mixed signals, by making him feel praised for doing something wrong, only when he obeys the command, should he feel praised.

You have to be understanding and patient, especially during your dog obedience training sessions. The outcome will be a very responsive and well trained dog.