Dog Education

Dog Education

One of the few things that dog owners or potential dog owners consider is whether or not their dog will need to be trained. Although dog training is not required unless your dog has a specific condition, a modest amount of training to erase undesirable behaviors and create limits for your dog might be explored. Furthermore, a well-trained dog will feel much more safe in your house when it understands its limits. Even in the wild, a dog's behavior will be constrained by the pack structure and hierarchy that exist. After all, your dog is a member of your 'pack'.

A critical element to remember when it comes to dog training is that any kind of training should be conducted from the standpoint of "positive reinforcement." This simply means that you should give your dog praise, a treat, or both for each good act she displays. Anyone who praises a dog for excellent conduct will find success soon. The same cannot be true for someone who punishes a dog for not behaving well.

For instance, if you instruct your dog to sit and she complies, you reward her with a treat. Sitting when instructed means reward from the dog's perspective. Simple.

What if you instruct the dog to sit and she refuses, and you then punish her? You have just given the dog a random punishment for nothing. This will just confuse your dog and make her distrust you.

The key is positive reinforcement.

One of the most frequent errors that dog owners make is unintentionally training their dogs to engage in harmful behaviors. Barking, face-licking, and leaping up are common instances. Let's take a closer look at each of them.

Barking is something that most dogs do. When a dog barks, it indicates whether it is normal or abnormal behavior. It's alright if your dog just barks when someone arrives at the door. This is expected territorial behavior. As a member of its pack, your dog is alerting you to the possibility of danger at the door.

If your dog spends the majority of its waking day barking at everything, even you, it has developed a terrible habit that is easy to break.

People's first error is to yell "quiet" or "shut up" at their barking dog. The fundamental reason this will not work is straightforward. When your dog barks, you 'bark' back. From your point of view, you are yelling at your dog to stop barking. From your dog's point of view, you're barking and loving the sounds.

A more effective way is to wait for your dog to stop barking and then lavish him with praise and a reward. As soon as the barking resumes, ignore your dog, walk away—anything except pay attention to your dog. Then, when the barking stops, it's time for another goodie. It won't be long until your dog realizes what two and two mean.

Face Licking: Face licking is a relic of your dog's puppyhood. Face-licking is a technique used by puppies to induce their mothers to regurgitate food for them. This is quite common in nature. Wild canines will also lick the face of a higher-ranking pack member to demonstrate and accept their subordinate place in the pack. Unfortunately, you and your family members receive the licks since you are higher in the pack!

Face licking seems harmless at first glance; however, it should be avoided owing to health risks. Never allow a dog to lick the face of a newborn or toddler. This will very certainly expose the newborn to pathogens that its immune system will be unable to control. Similarly, if your dog has worms, has been inspecting other dogs' feces, or has even been grooming itself, the last thing you want is for your dog to come up to you and kiss your face. Positive reinforcement should be used to discourage this behavior.

Say no! when your dog approaches your face firmly but without yelling. Push the dog away from your face if she does not back off. When the dog replies to the "no" sentence for the first time, it's time for a reward. If you do this repeatedly, the dog will learn that face-licking is not acceptable.

Jumping Up: While jumping up may not seem to be a negative habit, it may be highly harmful when there are small children around. Your dog will not understand that jumping on you is OK, but leaping on children is not. This is just going to confuse the dog. Every time the dog leaps up, try to dissuade it by saying, "Down!" Give her a reward the first time she reacts and every time after that until you just need to say the phrases.

There are several basic methods for training your dog. These are only a few examples. There's no need to accept poor behaviors in your dog when they can be readily corrected. Oh, and never believe the saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks," because you can, and it's never too late.