Dog training requires some initial effort on both you and your dog’s part. Make sure that you know what you’re getting into ahead of time. Learning as much as you can about dog training ensures that you are armed with enough information to know what to do. Use the article below for tips to expand your horizons on dog training. Reward your dog for obeying you, but only occasionally. Rewards like treats and excessive praise can be useful tools when training your dog. Just be careful that you do not condition them to expect this every time they do as they are are told. Reward them for following instruction, but do so randomly. Dogs mimic their owner’s behavior. Don’t be shocked if they decide they want to sleep in your bed and sit in your recliner. Don’t be shocked if they attempt to eat from your plate. Most of all, don’t be angry. Your dog has to be trained that this behavior is unacceptable. They need to be taught the acceptable options. If your dog does not seem to be responding to your training, make an appointment with your vet. If your dog is not learning properly, it does not mean they are dumb. Sometimes physical and occasionally mental maladies could cause your dog to not respond properly to training. Your vet may be able to give you some indication to the problem. Socialization skills are an important part of a well-rounded training program for any canine companion. Learning to get along with adults, children and other pets makes for a happy dog that is welcome in his surroundings. Socializing your dog is easy and can be incorporated into your daily activities. An evening dog walk, trip to the park or visit to the pet store can provide a great opportunity to expose your dog to short interactions with neighbors and their pets, while getting much needed exercise and bonding time with you. If your otherwise well-behaved and housebroken dog starts exhibiting poor behaviors, such as urinating indoors, take it to a vet to rule out any medical problems. Many medical issues can cause a dog to act out. Don’t punish your sick dog for showing you that it is sick; help it. To keep your dog from barking, you need to stop rewarding this behavior by giving him what he wants. This means paying attention to your dog, letting him inside the house or comforting him. Your dog will associate your behavior with the barking and will think that you want him to bark. A great dog training tip is to get everyone on the same page. If you’re trying to correct certain behavior, you don’t want a family member enabling that bad behavior. By having everyone on the same page, your dog will be much more likely to respond to training. Make training a part of your dog’s daily routine. Ten minutes of training every day gives much better results than an hour of training once a week. The dog has less time to forget the lessons learned and it is much easier to keep a dog’s attention for a few minutes at a time. Also, the dog will not end up eating so many treats in a single session that hunger is no longer a good motivator to learn new commands. Each and every thing you and your dog do together is forming his behavior and personality. It is imperative that you know this, you might see that they will revert to bad things if they are teased. Work towards behavior that is desired when training your dog. Your rewards should suit your dog’s personality. You wouldn’t work for free, so why would your dog? Make rewards match the difficulty of the task. Regular treats are great for behaviors your dog already knows, but don’t be afraid to pull out something truly stinky and tempting to teach new challenges. Your house shouldn’t be like doggy prison. Your dog should have a wide variety of social interactions daily. This will ensure he’ll continue to blossom as a social animal, and he’ll be able to use up some of his energy meeting all these exciting new people and dogs. You’ll both benefit from the experience. It’s maddening to come home to a house full of chewed up couch cushions and tipped over waste baskets! If you have to leave your pooch alone all day, he can become bored and lonely. Try exercising him more in the morning and at night when you get home. You may even consider a pet walker to walk him during the day if finances allow. You can sometimes train your dog to stop destructive behavior just by tiring him out! Make sure everyone around the dog knows your rules. It can be confusing for a dog if the adults say not to give the dog food but the kids are sneaking food to him under the table. Make sure that everyone who spends time with the dog knows that you are trying to train him so that he gets consistent messages. Dog-proof your home if you know that your dog is prone to chewing and biting everything in sight when the family is out. If you don’t want to crate your dog, you will have to act as if there is a baby in the house and remove access to those things that your dog may get into when you’re gone. Many behavior problems can be solved by additional exercise. If your dog is acting out, he may not be getting enough exercise. Try to walk your dog at least three times a day. If your dog is a working breed, at least one of those walks should be a run. A tired dog is often a well-behaved dog. Invest time and effort in training your dog the proper way. Know what you’re getting into and arm yourself with knowledge and tips. The tips from the article above should help point you in the right direction. Don’t forget to read more about training your dog after this article. Share