Top 10 Most Common Dog Training Mistakes
Hey!!! Did you get a new pup? So, you must be all excited to train your dog, which means you will have to get your actions in line first. They don’t understand human vocal, it’s all about emotions and connection they learn from.
Here are some very common mistakes committed by most dog trainers. You’ll be surprised to know even minute action of yours makes a difference in your dog’s behavior.
1. Is my dog old enough to be trained?
Dog training must begin the moment you get the pup home with yourself. Don’t wait for your dog to develop bad habits, rather than mending them and ending up making more efforts or abandoning him. Remember, training your dog isn’t behavior management. Your dog is ready to be trained for basic commands including sit, stand, down, handshake, etc.
This will not only let you establish authority over him but also make the connection stronger. Dogs always need to know who is their master, DON’T let them be the master.
2. How regularly to train your dog?
Training is not like something you do it once and be done with it. You will have to train your dog regularly, for starters try making training as fun you can for him so that he doesn’t hate training sessions as we do our classes.
The best way to train your dog is by using treats, according to experts you should properly train your dog thrice a week. But that’s not all you must revisit old concepts one by one before offering him food.
3. Is your dog aggressive around his food?
Once you have established yourself as his leader, you must train him to respect his food. From personal experience, all they learn is from food, you must be in control of their food.
This has to start the moment puppy comes home, that’s the only time you will be able to control him, trust me once he gets bigger and gets out of control, he will be a trouble for you.
Firstly, whenever you offer him food, don’t straightway give him his food, make him wait and let him know he can eat only when you tell him to.
Secondly, while eating you need to put a hand in his bowl sending him a message that you are his master or make him stop midway and make him obey you. Trust me he will do these things very smoothly if you train him early.
Thirdly, never offer him dinner before you have had yours. Even if you are doing it don’t let him know.
Dogs only understand hierarchy.
4. Inconsistency
Well a quite famous adage goes on for life “practice makes a man perfect”, this is indeed true for man but also works for a dog.
If you want your dog to follow a certain rule then it must remain for life long, this is a weak spot for emotional people. Let’s say you don’t want your dog in your bedroom or on the couch, then you must not allow him ever no matter what.
If you allow him sometimes and then don’t allow other times, this creates confusion for your dog.
5. How long should I train my dog?
They don’t speak humans, so you have to communicate to them in their manner, and this will take time no doubt but don’t just freak out. Trust me your dog isn’t dumb or shallow, you just have to convey the message in the right manner.
Don’t lose patience, he will get you. Try breaking the commands in steps, this makes things easier for the dog to understand. Try keeping the training session short for like 10-15 min in a row then you can again continue after some time. Always ends the session with a reward.
Training a dog is like being a good teacher too.
6. Should I punish my dog sometimes?
NEVER, you might be getting things done by him by punishing him. There is a difference in using punishment to train him and asserting dominance.
Dogs respond best to reward system or positive reinforcement, and through this, you can establish your dominance over your dog, please avoid beating him or yelling at him.
Punishments may have very serious ramifications. Your dog may not show his aggression to you but it can be lethal to someone else.
7. Abusing clicker
Clicker = Rewards for dogs. They don’t understand a word you say, they link your commands with the clicker which means rewards.
Don’t just click the clicker because you like the sound of it, it may lose value for your dog and won’t react to it.
Use clicker only when you wanna train him or tell him something.
8. Reinforcing bad behavior
You might not even realize and you are accidentally giving him a green signal for some of his bad behaviors. Our dogs are social creatures and they crave attention, you might not even consider your actions, reinforcing his bad behavior.
Some of the examples include comforting your dog when he’s frightened, letting him in the house right away when he barks, or even giving him a stern talking-to when he misbehaves.
If he is whining for food and you give him food then he interprets it as it is okay to beg for food and he will start doing it more often.
If your dog is doing something undesirable, like jumping up on you, whining, or begging, the best thing you can do is to deny attention until the behavior stops.
9. Calling your dog for something unpleasant
Tell me, would you go to someone if you know you’re gonna get into trouble, similarly every time you call your dog to do something unpleasant, you’re just punishing him for returning to you. Now you know what its ramifications will be, he won’t come to you next time.
10. Failing to proof behavior
Most of you have not even heard of it. Proofing a behavior means to practice it in different settings with various distractions. Most of the trainers forget to train their dogs for this.
Once your dog has learnt to sit in your house, all he knows is put his ass over your house’s floor. No doubt when you begin to train your dog, do it in a controlled environment, but then also introduce him to new circumstances.
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