Fix Your Dog Problem: Dog Training
Welcome to Fix Your Dog Problem,
This site has been set up to help you find simple answers to your dog problem. Inside you’ll find lots of articles on specific problems, tips and tricks, as well as thorough reviews of the latest dog training products.
Perhaps you have a new puppy and your finding house breaking a challenge. Your beloved pet may have a digging, jumping, barking or dog training problem, we want to help you find an answer that will work for you and your dog.
Perhaps you have an even a more serious and worrying dog aggression problem.
The good news is that most if not all, dog behavior problems can be fixed with the right training and positive reinforcement. Some times it’s both the dog and the owner who need help to learn good habits.
Click here to get the ultimate dog training guide
Keep the following 6 tips in mind when training your dog.
1. Choose the right time and place to train your dog.
The best place to train your dog is some where quiet with as few doggy distractions as possible. An area with lots of other dogs, children or wildlife is not the best place to start.
If you dog is a bundle of energy begin with a short stroll so that your dog is not too buzzing with energy. It’s also probably better to wait until the excitement of your arrival home has died down.
If you are going to use food as dog training reward, train your dog before their meal so that the treats will be most appreciated.
2. Keep training short and fun
Make training a fun activity this will help your keep dog focused,strengthen your bond with your dog and be the start of a lifelong loving relationship.
Train for no more than 10 -15 minutes at time. It is more effective to do a number of short sessions than one long session.
Use a release word like “free” or “release” to let your dog know when he has completed the command or training is over.
Finish a dog training session with some playtime, that way your dog will associate following commands and training with fun.
3. Choose the right reward for your dog
Get to know what motivates your dog the most usually either a food or a praise/ affection reward.
If food is the main motivator for your dog use very small, 2 cm treats that can be consumed in one go. Otherwise you dog will lose concentration while chewing or hunting for the pieces.
Then gradually increase the number of times your dog obeys or the length of time they stay to earn their food reward.That way your dogs obedience will not be entirely dependent on a food reward.
If praise is the best reward for your dog be sure to use a high, sing song tone of voice as this is what dogs like best.
When using touch to affirm the reward do so in a way your dog likes such as a scratch behind the ear. When petting your dogs head bring your hand up from under the head so, that it is not a threatening posture.
At the beginning you’ll find that both food and praise combined, are the most effective dog training rewards.
4 Keep it simple
Use only short or single word commands for example, Sit, Down, leave it, Quiet, Off.
The only exception to this rule is the “come” command. You should first use your dog’s name, to get their attention. Then “come” and “good boy” in a happy voice so that you dog knows he’s not in trouble.
Never punish you dog after using the come command. In fact don’t punish your dog ever. Dogs can’t reason and punishment is not an effective long term deterrent to bad behavior, it only teaches fear.
Most dogs want to please their owners, so consistently rewarding only good behavior is what will get the best result.
5 Reward obedience quickly
It is important to reward you dog for their compliance quickly after they obey so that he or she will associate the behavior and the reward..
At the start you dog may need some assistance to go to the correct position. Try lifting a treat over the dogs head so that he or she sits.
Some times you may need to place the dog in to the correct position with tension on the collar and downward pressure on the rump.
As soon as the position is achieved even for a second reward your dog eg “Good Boy Fido” in high pitched tone.
6 Always finish dog training on a positive.
Give you dog a command you know they can achieve however briefly. Patience on your part is very important. Don’t try to accomplish too may commands in one training session.
It’s better to practice only a couple of new things at any training session and mix it up a bit with commands your dog knows and can do.