Dog School

Most owners that are busy teaching a pet are likely to be on the hunt for quick and easy dog training tips. After all, dogs are incredibly smart creatures but it’s not like they understand English or can tell you why they’re misbehaving the way they are. So, if you’re a new dog owner or are very experienced with this, we have three very simple dog training tips that can perhaps make this process go by quicker and easier.

Tip #1 – Think like a dog.

Really, not many owners want to think like a dog. What they want is for the dog to start thinking like them! But of all the dog training tips you’ll come across, this may be the most important. If you can grasp why your dog is behaving the way she is or what is making her act up, then you can better address it. For example, many owners hate to hear their dog bark incessantly but it’s important to remember that dogs are primitive creatures and barking is just part of their nature, especially when they perceive a threat or danger. Some dog training tips will tell you to muzzle your dog or to rebuke it harshly, but it’s really better sometimes to address the reason why it barks. Try to socialize the dog more so it’s not as skittish around strangers or let it have more room to run in the yard so it doesn’t feel threatened.

Tip #2 – Reward good behavior.

Many dog training tips emphasize the proper way to punish a dog when it misbehaves and this is appropriate at times, but dogs really crave that positive attention from their owners. In many cases it’s better to reward them when they do the right thing than to simply punish when they do the wrong thing. Remember, dogs don’t have reasoning ability. If you punish them for chewing up your shoes when they’re bored, this doesn’t tell them what they can play with when you’re away. Tossing around a toy with them reinforces that this is what they should play with, as that time spent with you is a reward for them. Many who teach dog training tips forget to point this out to owners, who then miss a valuable lesson on how to actually teach their dog.

Tip #3 – Remember their attention span.

Some dog training tips will tell you how to address a mistake your dog has made but many owners forget that dogs have absolutely no attention span. They don’t understand that they shouldn’t have chewed up your slippers if they just did it five minutes ago. Waving those slippers in their face means nothing as they can’t connect what they did in the past with what you’re trying to communicate right now. Catching your dog in the act and then punishing her is one of the most important dog training tips you’ll ever get.

So keep these simple but important dog training tips in mind and you’ll have success.

As any pet owner will tell you, dog training can be difficult at times. It’s hard to deal with an animal that doesn’t speak English and can’t understand all of your directions and commands, and that seemingly has little respect for you and your home. Many owners resort to harsh methods of teaching or feel themselves tempted to give up entirely, ready to throw in the towel with dog training. However, many of these owners are making a mistake that is actually very common when it comes to this process, and realizing what that mistake is and avoiding it can yield much better results.

And that mistake is failing to understand how a dog thinks and why it behaves the way it does. When you’re involved with dog training it’s important to understand why your dog is doing what it’s doing and what will really motivate it to change its behavior in the first place.

Many owners assume that dogs are like little children that have a basic grasp on the language and that understand direction and commands. In reality, dogs can only associate a few words and phrases with what’s expected of them – this means that instead of telling a dog, “Go get my slippers and bring them back,” your dog training will be much more successful if you simply use the word “slippers.” This is a simple word that they’ll will recognize and associate with the act of getting those slippers. They really don’t understand the phrases “go get” and “bring them back.” But if you understand how dogs simply relate better to small and simple words and phrases, your dog training will be much more successful.

In addition, dogs actually respond much better to positive reinforcement for good deeds than punishment for misdeeds. While it’s true that during dog training a dog may need some form of punishment, the entire process is likely to be much more successful if they are more rewarded for doing the right thing. For example, if they’re barking when you don’t want them to, you can of course put them in the garage or other room as punishment but usually it’s better to use a command that means to stop barking, such as “hush!”, and put your hand around their mouth as you do.

When they stop barking you then give them positive reinforcement such as some petting. This part of dog training is typically much more successful because dogs crave that attention from their owners and are more likely to do what they can to get that rather than simply trying to avoid being punished.

Yes, dog training can be difficult. It’s a lot like raising children in some ways – it requires some patience and doesn’t always happen as quickly as we’d like. But if an owner really takes the time to try to understand how they’re pet thinks and what “makes them tick,” then the process of dog training will be much simpler and much more successful.