Dogs are the most lovable and loyal companions that one can have but they require a lot of care which invariably involves a lot of responsibility on the part of the owner. Here some
dog training tips are discussed. A puppy has to be trained as soon as it is brought home. A professional trainer can be hired for the purpose or the owner can choose to do it himself. First, the puppy has to be familiarized with basic commands such as ‘heel’, ‘come’, ‘sit’, etc. Before using the ‘come’ command, the puppy has to be called by its name repeatedly, so that it gets used to its name. Then the puppy will understand that the owner is addressing it and not anybody else. The ‘come’ command should be followed with a lot of praises and encouragement. If the
puppy does not respond to being called by its name, it can be tied to a leash and pulled after the “come’ command is used. It is best not to use a threatening tone, as the puppy might feel that it is being scolded. When using the ‘heel’ command, the
puppy has to be kept interested in the walk. The owner should keep conversing with the puppy, using the ‘sit’ command and the ‘fetch’ command at regular intervals to keep him occupied. While starting out on the walk, the puppy should be called to ‘heel’ and if it obeys the command the puppy should be praised. In case the puppy gets confused and tends to walk on straight, it has to be walked around in counter clockwise circles so that he learns to pay attention to the commands. One very important part of training a puppy is to make sure that the puppy does not relieve himself wherever he wants to.
It is best to take the puppy to one particular point and train it to relieve itself there. Another bad habit puppies tend to develop is jumping on people. This is basically an act to get attention. The puppy has to be taught to ‘sit’ for getting attention or praises. When it jumps, it has to be gently lowered while the ‘sit’ command is given and once the puppy backs away, it has to be made to sit and then praised. This way the puppy will obey and sit as he knows that he will be petted and praised if he obeys.
‘Trick and treat’ is another effective way of training a puppy. After a tiring game of ‘fetch’ the puppy can be rewarded by petting and getting a treat. After a grooming session as well the puppy should be rewarded with a treat. The puppy will understand that it will be rewarded for good grooming. However, one must keep in mind that the treat should be given only after a trick. It is best to make the
puppy obey a command before it is rewarded with a treat. Most puppies have a habit of chewing on things they are not supposed to. When the puppy chews something that it is not allowed to, then the owner should firmly say ‘no’. The concerned object should be taken away and he should be given a safe toy to chew. The puppy will then understand that it has specific toys to chew on but it cannot chew and bite anything and everything that it wants.
Off leash training is very essential for both puppies and dogs. This kind of training should be provided to puppies from a very early age.
Dog Training is not an easy process. Most owners are skeptical about removing the leash as they complain that their dogs either run away, or chase other dogs or cats or do not come back when called, etc. However, all these problems have solutions. The dogs tend to run after moving objects such as cars or after other dogs and cats and people who are passing by. This happens mainly when the dog doesn’t have a chance to explore his surroundings and is not trained not to chase moving objects and animals. To avoid this problem, training a dog off- leash should be done from an early age. Some
dogs never tend to return when they are called back. This is because when initially the dog doesn’t come back, the owner tends to drag him back by his collar and then the leash is forced on. The dog naturally resents this and thinks if it comes back, the same thing will be repeated. So it tends to stay away. The owner reward the dog with it’s favourite treat every time it comes back. When trained properly, this companion will never let the owner down.
