Dog training is not rocket science and is not as difficult as you think. It is certainly possible for any dog owners to train their dogs themselves provided they put in adequate amount of effort. The principles listed here are universal to dog training of any dog breeds, be it sporting, working, toy or terrier, any dogs - big or small, pup or old, any Owners - competitive or leisure.
In short, if you
are serious about training your dog and demand only success, you must apply
these principles. Get the basic right first before you start to train your dog!
Consistency
Consistency is very
important during training and correcting unwanted behaviour. Always use the
same "command" for a specific task you require of your dog. Don’t
confuse him by using different command for the same task.
Once you’ve established
some house rules such as - keeping the cooking area out of bound to your dog,
enforce them constantly. If the dog learns that he can get away with it now and
then, your previous efforts will go down the drain. Lastly, make sure everyone
in the family accept and enforce your rules consistently.
Timing
Timing is critical
to successful training. Praise your dog whenever he is doing something right.
As expected, reprimand him on the spot and to the point whenever he misbehaves
or fails to respond to your command. Praise and reprimand that happen later
will have no effect on your dog.
There are 2 main schools of thoughts
concerning the timing of correction when your dog misbehaves. I called the
first school of thoughts the “Direct Approach”. It simply requires you to
reprimand your dog on the spot if he misbehaves. This is more of a tangible and
straight forward approach to training your dog and is easy to understand for
most trainers.
I called the second
school of thoughts the “Endurance Approach” as it’ll require you to ignore your
dog when he misbehaves. Using the cause and effect to your advantage, this
approach requires you to ignore the dog, especially when he misbehaves to seek
attention and encourage you to pay attention to your dog only when he’s a good
boy.
Attention Factor (Endurance
Approach)
Dogs love attention
and are hugely motivated by it. Unlike people, dogs do not know how to
differentiate between positive and negative attention. They see things in a
simple way. If a certain action gets reaction and attention, they will repeat
it over and over again (cause and effect).
Unfortunately, for
most dog owners, more often than not, they give their dogs negative attention.
For example, "Do you let him out of his crate when he groans?" or
"Do you give chase when he runs off with your socks?" These are
negative attentions given to the dog and is certainly motivating his bad behaviour.
Fortunately, the
opposite is true if you pay enough attention to your dog when he behaves
himself. When the dog understands that he’ll get attention only when he’s
behaving, he’ll learn that only good behaviour attract attention and he’ll
repeat his good behaviour always.
Focus your
attention on your dog only when he is behaving; praise him or give him a treat,
let him know that he’s getting the attention. If this technique is used
correctly, he’ll be a well-behaved dog for a long time to come. Nevertheless,
this approach is probably not for the short temper and requires you to go
through an endurance ordeal. Imagine your dog chewing up your sock in your
presence.
Training Mood
You need to be in
the correct frame of mind before you train your dog. Never train your dog when
you are under the influence of alcohol or medication. Also try not to train him
if you’ve had a bad day or are not in the best of your mood.
If you’ve just argued
with a close friend or partner or got a telling off from your boss earlier on,
you would most probably take out your frustration on your dog and threaten your
relationship with him in the future.
Do remember to
apply these dog training principles constantly & you'll be half-way through
to successful dog training.
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