Three effective methods of training your dog
Dogs are incredibly loyal animals. If you give them love, they will love you back. At the end of the day, whilst they might only be a part of your life for a small period of time, to them you are their entire life. It is also important to treat them well with the best antlers for puppies.
Pets are also beneficial for our mental health, dogs especially so. For instance, they’re great encouraging their owners to get exercise, which for those who suffer with depression can work wonders.
Similarly, for those suffering with loneliness, pets offer not only great companionship, but walking a dog also gives people a chance to socialize by talking to other owners.
It’s only natural then that, when you’ve got your little pup, you’ll want to indulge in some obedience training. For that, it is likely you’ll turn to a specialist instructor. Imagine how your new puppy can mark all over your house due to excitement or anxiety. You can’t train your buddy without any preparation. For dogs, you will need training pads, collars, toys, treats, and diapers or belly bands for dogs. Now you can focus on training your dog.
Working with dogs is a highly popular career choice, and instructing is perhaps among the most popular jobs in the sector. Indeed, being an instructor is one of the few jobs in the industry for which you don’t need to have any prior qualifications to do – but it’s recommended you do, otherwise without knowing what you’re doing there’s a strong possibility you wouldn’t last long. So, if you’re looking to go into the industry, it is worthwhile exploring what qualifications you could work towards.
When it comes to techniques, there are several methods that can be employed. Here are just three of the methods and theories you can use.
- Positive Reinforcement
Put simply, positive reinforcement means that when a dog does something right, they get rewarded with a treat. If they do something bad, they don’t get rewarded – simple as that.
If using this method, it’s recommended to establish the correct behavior from the outset, giving a reward seconds after the desired behavior has been completed. It can also be combined with a clicker, allowing the dog to have an audible descriptor to know when they’ve done the right thing.
Over time, you can wean away from continuous rewards, moving more to an intermittent approach.
Positive reinforcement is a popular method and has been used by such trainers as Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz, who trained three of Edward Kennedy’s dogs as well as Barack Obama’s Portuguese Water Dog, Bo.
- Clicker Training
This method is closely linked to positive reinforcement, relying on much of the same principles. With clicker training, a device is used to deliver a quick noise. This doesn’t necessarily need to be a clicker – it could also be a whistle, for example.
This method is advantageous in that is makes the dog aware the precise moment the task was completed, showing them what exactly is being rewarded.
For the clicker method to be successful, it is recommended to condition the dog to know exactly what the click means, and to do this you might consider giving them a treat with every click in the early stages.
Later down the line, you can look to create a more advanced pattern, adding in verbal commands and shaping new behaviors.
- Alpha Dog (or Dominance) Training
This method, popularized by TV personality Cesar Millan, is seen as somewhat controversial, as the alpha dog method relies on their pack mentality – something which in recent years has proven to be less present than previously thought.
Cesar Millan’s theory is that you should dominate your dog. If they want their food, they must wait calmly before you give it to them. Likewise, if they want to go outside, they must sit and wait for you to open the door, rather than barging through.
Dominance training can mitigate bad behavior, however modern experts find the model outdated. Not only does it fail to address the causes of bad behavior but can often leave your dog with anxiety and fear.
Although these are just three methods of the several methods that can be used when training your pup, it might be that you find a certain technique works best for you. There isn’t a fool-proof method with guaranteed results, and sometimes it takes patience, but whichever method you choose to use the results will be worthwhile.
