Positive Reinforcement Dog Training Tips

As a pet owner, are you having questions on how to train your dog properly? What are the things needed to encourage your dog to obey you?

Is the punishment method applicable to training your dogs? What if you are finding it hard to train your dog, will you continue or should you stop? 

Being a pet owner is synonymous with being a parent or a good teacher.

Being a pet owner requires you to train your pet to enhance your dog’s skills and knowledge, at the same time improve the relationship with your dog.

To train your dog requires a huge amount of patience. It is like you are teaching a toddler with the things he or she must know for him or her to understand.

In line with this, enlisted below are the 25 Positive Reinforcement Dog Training Tips that can help you train your dog effectively.

1. First and the most important tip is to ready a pea-size amount of treats for your dog. This will be used whenever your dog can achieve the goal in every training.

2. Take note that you need to use a one-word technique in teaching your dog a human language like sit, stand, up, down, fetch, come, and roll-over. This technique is used to make commands short and simple. 

3. Use repetition in teaching new commands to your dog.

4. If your dog can obey your command praise him or her. Like humans, dogs love praises too. 

5. Make sure to remember the cue words you used for every command because it is not advisable to use two different words for every command you taught to your dog.

6. Do not repetitively use the word whenever your dog does not respond.

7. Be patient! Never punish your dog for not obeying you, he or she needs more time to comprehend it.

8. Never give a reward if your dog is doing something unnecessary. He or she might think that you like his or her wrongdoings. 

9. Behavior that can harm your dog such as chewing the wires should be addressed immediately by giving him or her chew bones and spraying shoo away in the wires. 

10. Destructive behavior such as chewing your shoes or clothes can be addressed by giving him a chew bone instead. In this way, you can address his or her teething and at the same time, you are redirecting his or her bad behavior.

11. If you were able to redirect the bad behavior of your dog, make sure to praise him or her. Dogs love being praised!

12. Dogs don’t learn overnight, they need time to comprehend. Patience is a virtue.

13. Don’t confuse your dog, one command at a time. If he or she does not comprehend it the following day then stick to that command until he or she understands it.

14. If humans hate long lessons, the dog hates it too. Make sure to make every session short, to assure that the dog will look forward to the next session. 

15. Schedule several short sessions every day. 3 to 5 minutes is enough for every session.

16. Do not overfeed your dog with treats. Overfeeding of treats might affect negatively when it comes to your dog’s meal pattern.

17. Dog’s love treats but eating the same dog treat over and over again will lead to boredom. Make sure to change the flavor or kind of his or her dog treats frequently.

18. If your dog is not responding anymore whenever you are using dog treats, try using his or her favorite food such as pork or beef as a reward for being obedient. 

19. If you think the tricks you are teaching your dog are too difficult, better prepare him or her for a special treat so he or she will be motivated to learn the trick.

20. To avoid your dog from destroying stuff in your house, make sure to give him or her interactive toys, such as rope or ball. Playing interactive toys with your dog improves your relationship with your dog. 

21. Make sure that both you and your dog are enjoying the lesson. 

22. Rubbing the belly of your dog after each lesson can also be done. This practice can strengthen the bond between the two of you and it is also very relaxing and rewarding for a dog.

23. Conduct the training in a non-distractive environment, to assure that your dog is well-focused with the session.

24. Check your dog’s condition if he or she is in a mood for training. It is useless to force your dog to be trained if he or she is not willing.

25. If you are not feeling well, reschedule the training session. Your dog is sensitive to your emotions. 

Dogs are like kids, they are more likely to be encouraged to learn in a positive environment. If you try using a punishment method then you are increasing the fear and anxiety of your dog instead of teaching him or her to learn some tricks.

In fact, according to a study entitled “Behaviour of smaller and larger dogs: Effects of training methods, inconsistency of owner behavior and level of engagement in activities with the dog” published in March 2010, showed that the increased anxiety and fear of the dogs were related to frequent use of punishment in smaller dogs.

The researchers concluded that smaller dog owners can significantly improve obedience in their dogs by being more consistent in interactions and engaging regularly in play and training activities with them.

Behavioral problems could be reduced by avoiding punishment that might increase fear or fear-related aggression. 

Train your dogs effectively through positive reinforcement. Always remember that positive reinforcement builds confidence not only in humans but also in dogs and even other animals such as cats.

Whatever your dog knows will directly reflect on how you trained him or her. If your dog is fearful or aggressive, then definitely there is something wrong with your training reinforcement.

If your dog is obedient and was able to comprehend with all the tricks you taught him, then congratulate yourself because you did a very good job!