5 top tips for successful training
1. Use positive reinforcement techniques
Almost all vets agree that positive training is the most effective method of dog training. Positive reinforcement training essentially focuses on rewarding your pet for good behavior, rather than punishing bad behavior.
Whenever your dog demonstrates good behavior and responds positively to your commands, reward them! By rewarding good behavior, you’re reinforcing the association between good behavior and good things.
It’s also crucial to make sure you’re not inadvertently rewarding negative behavior. Lets say your dog barks at you to play or jumps up to say hello, don’t acknowledge it or give in, it only encourages bad behavior. Instead, wait until they’re calmer before giving them attention.
2. Find the right reward.
Not all dogs are food-motivated, and will respond very enthusiastically to any sort of edible treat as a reward. Others are pickier: often, soft, chewy treats are preferred to hard, crunchy ones.
There are some who just aren’t that interested in food at all. If this is the case with your pup, try experimenting with other rewards, like a quick play session with a favorite toy, or even just plenty of affection.
3. Consistency is key.
Having consistenty in your training is incredibly important. This includes consistency in how you’re training your dog—for example, always using the same word, and even the same kind of intonation, when asking them to do something.
Equally important is for everyone in your household to be on the same page. Dogs need consistency to learn new habits, so if you never let the dog on the couch, but your partner does, your pup will just end up confused.
4. Train little and often.
5 minute training sessions repeated throughout the day are much more effective than longer ones any longer than 5 minutes and your dog may become distracted or frustrated.
Dogs also often struggle to generalize commands to other places or situations (i.e., understanding that asking for a “sit” at home is the same thing as a “sit” on a busy street), so it’s useful to repeat your training sessions in multiple locations, with different people and with varying levels of distraction, so that your pup learns to respond correctly to the same command all the time.
5. Build up in stages.
Starting with training small can be helpful, particularly when it comes to more complex behaviors like “stay,” or with behavior modification (when you’re trying to get rid of unwanted behavior).
Try breaking behaviors down into smaller parts. For example, in the beginning, if you’re training “come,” praise and reward your dog when they take even one step towards you. It’s much easier to add on steps and build up to the whole behavior once your pup starts to get the hang of it.
1. Use positive reinforcement techniques
Almost all vets agree that positive training is the most effective method of dog training. Positive reinforcement training essentially focuses on rewarding your pet for good behavior, rather than punishing bad behavior.
Whenever your dog demonstrates good behavior and responds positively to your commands, reward them! By rewarding good behavior, you’re reinforcing the association between good behavior and good things.
It’s also crucial to make sure you’re not inadvertently rewarding negative behavior. Lets say your dog barks at you to play or jumps up to say hello, don’t acknowledge it or give in, it only encourages bad behavior. Instead, wait until they’re calmer before giving them attention.
2. Find the right reward.
Not all dogs are food-motivated, and will respond very enthusiastically to any sort of edible treat as a reward. Others are pickier: often, soft, chewy treats are preferred to hard, crunchy ones.
There are some who just aren’t that interested in food at all. If this is the case with your pup, try experimenting with other rewards, like a quick play session with a favorite toy, or even just plenty of affection.
3. Consistency is key.
Having consistenty in your training is incredibly important. This includes consistency in how you’re training your dog—for example, always using the same word, and even the same kind of intonation, when asking them to do something.
Equally important is for everyone in your household to be on the same page. Dogs need consistency to learn new habits, so if you never let the dog on the couch, but your partner does, your pup will just end up confused.
4. Train little and often.
5 minute training sessions repeated throughout the day are much more effective than longer ones any longer than 5 minutes and your dog may become distracted or frustrated.
Dogs also often struggle to generalize commands to other places or situations (i.e., understanding that asking for a “sit” at home is the same thing as a “sit” on a busy street), so it’s useful to repeat your training sessions in multiple locations, with different people and with varying levels of distraction, so that your pup learns to respond correctly to the same command all the time.
5. Build up in stages.
Starting with training small can be helpful, particularly when it comes to more complex behaviors like “stay,” or with behavior modification (when you’re trying to get rid of unwanted behavior).
Try breaking behaviors down into smaller parts. For example, in the beginning, if you’re training “come,” praise and reward your dog when they take even one step towards you. It’s much easier to add on steps and build up to the whole behavior once your pup starts to get the hang of it.