If you have just welcomed a new fur friend in your family first of all congratulations and I’m sure your excited about the cute memories your bound to make, training them is more than likely the first task in order. When training dogs is believed to be pretty tough, the right tricks and techniques can help you take a smooth ride in the journey of training your dog to be polite, well-mannered and most importantly happy!
Below are just a few of our favourite tips and tricks to help your dog be happy and well behaved.
1. Reward Your Dogs With Treats
When it comes to a dog, you never can go wrong with treats we would suggest a tasty Furr Boost of course. If there is one thing you can count on your dog understanding, it’s something extra yummy.
You can use treat reinforcement in literally any situation imaginable, from potty training to socialization. The point of the treat reinforcement is to allow your dog to understand that whenever they do something right, they get a treat.
Eventually, this will taper off as you will expect them to do this behaviour consistently, of course, but it’s just like if a toddler were potty training. They need extra encouragement, and to understand that in order to get the treat, they have to complete the correct action.
2. Spend Time Together
Make sure to spend time regularly with your dog. When your dog sees that you care about him, he is more likely to reciprocate with gestures of affection, love, and joy. Dogs don’t like to be neglected (just like us!) and keep looking for your approval. Also, you should never yell at your dog. Instead, ask him to do things nicely and with a smile on your face.
3. Express Love & Forgiveness
Unlike the common perception, using old school methods such as leash correction may not be the best direction for encouraging positive behaviours in dogs. In fact, in many cases, punishment makes the situation even worse. The best thing to do when your pet makes a mistake is to show him that you have forgiven him. Your dog picks up on your emotions and understands what you convey. Remember, patience is a key to reinforce good behaviour in your four-footed friend!
4. Make positive dog behaviour training fun
Training does not have to be strict or rigorous. You can teach simple commands such as sit, get, stop, or come while playing games. This is a great way to help your dog associate training with outdoor fun instead of boot camp. As well, you can vary the times that you train with your dog so that he does not get bored. Often, more frequent short sessions will keep your dog attentive.
5. Encourage Your Dog to Relax
Some dogs are naturally hyperactive. You get up, and they’ll get up too, wanting attention. This is a type of attention-seeking behaviour, and as pet parents, we may find it endearing at first and we reward it with affection…until it gets too much to handle. This gives your dog the impression that they automatically get cuddles or pets every time they do this.
Don’t interact with them in any way or make any comment when this happens. Instead, catch them relaxing quietly and give them a treat or affection so they will know that relaxing is a good behaviour deserving of a treat.