The question of how to train your dog is one of the most common questions dog owners ask. With the increasing popularity of dog shows and TV shows that show dogs in their most natural behavior, people are beginning to wonder how to train your dog properly. Dogs are social animals. They need to be trained not only for proper behaviour but also for obedience.
There are many ways of teaching your dog basic dog training. Some people may even call it dog training by “luring” them into performing unwanted behaviour. There is nothing more annoying to you or your family than when someone is just sitting around, doing nothing constructive, while your family is with their children! To prevent such undesirable behaviour, you should try some simple dog training tricks such as: the clicker, the lure, or the voice command.
Clicker training is a method many dog trainers use, because it offers a highly effective alternative to punishing your dog for not following the commands. It involves a simple training technique in which you reward your dog with a treat after each correct behaviour (i.e. sitting, lying down, jumping etc). Each time your puppy or dog performs an obedience task correctly, they get a treat, and each time they perform an inappropriate behaviour, they are rewarded with the treat.
A lure is essential to this training method, because it is very easy to catch your dog off guard. During playback, simply click in as if you were to click during a live instruction. As soon as your puppy begins to respond, give the appropriate treat and praise him profusely. Do not rush through the clicker training, because your dog will become familiar with the sound of the clicker and will automatically anticipate the treat. If the dog stops responding to the lure when receiving the treat, he is being stubborn, so spend some more time teaching him the correct behavior.
Another useful trick that many dog owners teach their puppies is ‘sit’. This is probably the most important rule to teach dogs, because the reason you want your dog to remain sitting down is because it allows you to control the dog’s bowel movements. If your dog remains sitting down, he will be able to hold his stool for longer periods of time, preventing him from having to defecate in the end. Once you have taught your dog the sit command, the next step is to teach him the stay command. This will teach him that it is far better to remain sitting down than to move about, because sitting down means that the dog will get some time to defecate.
The basic commands mentioned above are just the first two steps. There are other simple tricks to teach your dog as well, such as for instance the heel command, which instructs your dog to stand still until you tell him to heel. The idea is for the dog to learn that standing still saves energy. There are lots of other commands to teach, but these two should serve as a foundation for the training process. You should seek out professional dog trainers for help if needed.
When you have successfully taught your dog the basic commands, it is time to move on to the more advanced tricks, such as sit, stay and heel. In each of these commands, you will want to use the release word. To teach the release word, you begin by saying the word, “release”. Your dog should immediately begin to stand up and walk away from you, releasing his burden. You should repeat this exercise a few times to make sure your dog understands what you are telling him.
You can also begin using treats in order to correct unwanted behavior. When you see your dog exhibit undesirable behavior, simply use the command “stop” and then say the word “lick”. Your dog should immediately stop his behavior and stand quietly until you have finished saying the word. You should then reward your dog with a treat. Using treats as a replacement for punishment has many advantages. First of all, when he obeys your commands, you will not feel the need to punish him, which is important because punishment can cause negative behavior.