Universal Principles For Successful Dog Training
Moses Chia
Dog training is not rocket science and is not as difficult as you
think. It is certainly possible for ANY dog owners to train their
dogs themselves. This is provided they put in adequate amount of effort.
The principles listed here are universal to dog training of any
dog breeds, be it sporting, working, toy or terrier, any dogs -
big or small, pup or old, any Owners - competitive or leisure.
In short, if you are serious about training your dog and demand
Only success, You MUST apply these principles. No “If” No “But”.
Get the basic right first before you start to train your dog!
Consistency
Consistency is very important during training and correcting
unwanted behavior. Always use the same "command" for a specific
task you require of your dog. Don’t confuse him by using
different command for the same task.
Once you’ve establish some house rules such as - keeping the
cooking area out of bound to your dog, enforce them constantly.
If the dog learns that he can get away with it now and then, your
previous efforts will go down the drain. Lastly, make sure
everyone in the family accept and enforce your rules
consistently.
Timing
Timing is critical to successful training. Praise your dog
whenever he is doing something right. As expected, reprimand him
on the spot and to the point whenever he misbehave or fails to
response to your command. Praise and reprimand that happen later
will have no effect on your dog.
* There are 2 main schools of thoughts concerning the timing of
correction when your dog misbehaves. I called the first school of
thoughts the “Direct Approach”. It simply requires you to
reprimand your dog on the spot if he misbehaves. This is more of
a tangible and straight forward approach to training your dog and
is easy to understand for most trainers.
I called the second school of thoughts the “Endurance Approach”
as it’ll require you to ignore your dog when he misbehaves. Using
the cause and effect to your advantage, this approach requires
you to ignore the dog, especially when he misbehaves to seek
attention and encourage you to pay attention to your dog only
when he’s a good boy.
Attention Factor (Endurance Approach)
Dogs love attention and are hugely motivated by it. Unlike man,
dogs do not know how to differentiate between positive and
negative attention. They see things in a simple way. If a certain
action gets reaction and attention, you’ll bet they repeat it
over and over again. (Cause and Effect)
Unfortunately, for most dog owners, we more often than not give
our dogs negative attention. For example, "Do you let him out of
his crate when he groans?" or "Do you give chase when he runs off
with your socks?" These are negative attentions given to the dog
and is certainly motivating his bad behavior.
Fortunately, the opposite is true if you pay enough attention to
your dog when he behaves himself. When the dog understands that
he’ll get attention only when he’s behaving, he’ll learn that
only good behavior attract attention and he’ll repeat his good
behavior always.
Focus your attention on your dog only when he is behaving; praise
him or give him a treat, let him know that he’s getting the
attention. If this technique is used correctly, he’ll be a
well-behaved dog for a long time to come. Nevertheless, this
approach is probably not for the short temper and requires you to
go through an endurance ordeal. Imagine your dog chewing up your
sock in your presence. “Endure Dude!”
Training Mood
You need to be in the correct frame of mind before you train your
dog. Never train your dog when you are under the influence of
alcohol or drug. Also try not to train him if you’ve a bad day or
not in the best of your mood.
If you’ve just argued with your sweetie or got a telling off from
your boss earlier on. You would most probably take out your
frustration on him and threaten your relationship with him in
future.
Do remember to apply these dog training principles constantly &
you'll be half-way through to successful dog training.
Moses Chia is a dog lover and owner of DogsObedienceTraining.com
– The dog training resource site for a happier and healthier dog.
http://dogsobediencetraining.com/
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