There are many areas relevant to dog well-being, but the one that is beneficial to keeping an obedient dog is obedience training. Obedience training is an essential ingredient for a good dog-human relationship and creates a happy and healthy relationship between dog and owner. Before I get into the secrets, let me share with you the positive aspects of training.
1. The training will establish a safe and non-confrontational way for you to establish control. This is especially necessary for a dominant dog personality.
2. Aggressive dogs that climb on furniture or push their owners for petting or petting are less dominant, but still have to obey the rules. Training keeps them in check and lets them know that their owner is the dominant one.
3. Dogs are descended from wolves, who live by rules and have a social structure. The pack operates under a single leader, with clearly defined lines. Although dogs have been domesticated by man, they still have the natural instinct to prove their position. Training lets your dog know that you are the only leader and that you must respect and obey his position in the pack at all times. No matter what breed or how small your dog is, he is still a dog and you need to know his place in the family. This understanding is what makes the owner happy and the well-being of the dog.
4. Training will strengthen and build a healthy relationship between you and your dog.
5. Open a clear line of communication between you and your dog.
6. Set rules and limits that educate your dog to become a dependent member of your family and society.
7. Prevents the growth of unwanted unacceptable behaviors such as nibbling, growing, jumping, chewing and digging to name a few.
8. Eliminate confusion because your dog will know his place and come to respect yours.
9. Obedience training provides your dog with the crucial needs of exercise, mental stimulation, and a loving relationship with his owner. Another vital component for the well-being of the dog.
10. An obedience trained dog or puppy is a much safer dog.
11. Gain trust and mutual respect with your dog.
12. He behaves well when he has visitors at his house or when he takes him out for a walk.
13. Helps to avoid stress and anxiety in the dog and the owner
14. Reduces the risk of getting caught up in a dominance fight with your dog.
15. Training promotes a happy, healthy and confident dog, eliminating problems such as separation anxiety, which is serious and very common, and which often causes pet owners to abandon their dogs.
It’s important to remember that obedience training is a step-by-step process that you build with your dog over time. It doesn’t happen overnight. Start training your dog as soon as possible, even at 3 months of age.
Secrets for an obedient dog
Never underestimate the power of positive reinforcement. In the workplace we are aware of 2 types of managers. There is the manager who uses fear, loud voices, and threats to get their employees to perform, and then there are the managers who use a positive, personable, and calm approach. I have personally worked for both types of managers and let me tell you, there is no comparison! A positive approach is not only less stressful, but it creates a happier and more productive employee, not to mention, an employee who will sincerely give more than 100% productivity and feel good doing it. Positive reinforcement in obedience training greatly contributes to the well-being of the dog and has a high success rate.
Your dog acts as your employee, and providing a positive environment with positive reinforcement will allow you to get faster, more productive results while building a strong, trusting relationship.
Moment
Giving your dog a treat for good behavior is a great idea, but timing is most important. If you wait too long, your dog won’t be able to associate the treat with good behavior from him, which means his efforts are wasted. This same understanding applies to punishment for misconduct; Punishment must be immediate or your dog will have no idea why he is being punished, and this can cause other problems later on as well. When it comes to punishment, you need to catch your dog in the act for the cooling to have a positive effect on his behavior, otherwise the punishment will not work to fulfill your intended desire.
Dr. Nicholas Dodman (an excellent veterinary behaviorist) gives us these principles for effective training:
1. The training must not involve any negative or punishment-based components. There should be no yelling, hitting, chain pulling, hanging, and absolutely no electric shock. Each session should be upbeat and positive with rewards for a job well done.
2. Remember that the opposite of reward is not punishment; it is not reward. If you ignore unacceptable responses, your dog will not be rewarded for its failed response. Most dogs want to please their owners or, at the very least, get precious resources like food, toys, or attention.
3. Reward good behavior immediately. The reward must be immediate for the dog to associate the reward with the behavior.
4. If praise is used as a reward, say it in high, singsong tones, which are most pleasing to the dog. Use an enthusiastic voice. If petting is to be used as a reward, it should be in a way the dog enjoys, such as stroking the dog’s hair on the side of the face in the same direction it grows, or scratching the dog’s chest.
Methods and Consistency
There are various approaches to obedience training.
1. Only Trainer and Dog. You can hire a professional trainer who will board your dog, train it, and return it to you. The pet owner will be taught the commands and the basic rules around the commands so that the owner carries out the consistency of the pattern that the trainer has used and so that your dog knows that now you are the one to obey. But hard work and time is taken by the coach.
2. Private or group training – dog and owner. You and your dog can attend private or group training classes where you and your dog learn the different commands and the owner learns how to handle his dog. Most of these training courses last from 4 to 6 weeks; however, keep in mind that a dog is not fully house-trained in this time frame and still requires her to continue her house training when the sessions are over, especially if she is house-training a puppy. This method is a great way for you to also socialize your dog with other people and other dogs, which is another important area for dog well-being. A well-socialized dog makes for a well-rounded dog and happy owner and contributes greatly to the well-being of the dog.
3. Just you and your dog. There are many wonderful pet sites out there today that will walk you through individual commands and give you tips and tricks on how to best handle your dog. Pet owners can also research this same method based on the breed of dog they own for advice on how to handle that particular breed. This is also effective because different breeds have different personality traits. Many of these sites provide free information; all you have to do is follow the method and be consistent.
Whichever method you consider, it is important and relevant to your success that you stay consistent and on track. If you have older children, it can be very helpful to train them on the procedures and allow them to help you when you are busy or overwhelmed with other responsibilities. The other benefit of this is that your children will learn how to do obedience training, approach and gain respect from your dog. It is vital that everyone in the family knows the command being taught and practices it with the dog. This will build a good relationship between the dog and other family members.
Obedience training with positive reinforcement, along with time and consistency are key to having a healthy, happy, and well-behaved dog, which means you’ll have a great time as a pet owner and the work will be well worth it. Remember that obedience training does not happen overnight and is an ongoing process over a period of time. Start training as soon as possible. Puppies are not too young to start learning the rules, and in fact should begin their training as soon as possible, with age-appropriate measures that will expand and grow with age. These tactics will go a long way toward your dog’s well-being and get you, as a dog owner, barking a happy tune.
TIPS: Did you know that most dogs don’t like to pet a dog on the head?
