Most pet parents would think that training is quite difficult. Of course, it is not easy to a certain degree, but you can definitely train your dog quickly in many ways that you do not expect at all.
Most people, especially dog trainers, would brand this type of training as unorthodox. However, most of these training techniques embody the principle of positive reinforcement, so it is generally effective for the majority of dog parents.
These methods are very ideal to be performed even by those who are frequently busy with their work or school. This is because most of these training methods can be performed in only 3 to 5 minutes.
The only key is that you have to be consistent with it and do it with increasing frequency. Read below for more information about these training techniques.
Five Easy Training Methods For Your Dog
1. Mealtime Training
How frequent do you feed your dog? For most dog parents, it is usually 2 to 3 times a day. Mealtime training will provide you the opportunity to train your dog at least twice a day every day of the week.
You can teach a number of tricks for this method. The usual ones are sit, stay, and come.
First is you have to ask your dog to sit before you give him his food. Introducing this command will provide him a sense of what to do before eating.
After he’s accustomed to the “sit” command, you can now add another command to the routine. The stay command is the best one, as your dog will need to sit, then stay first before being served with food.
The last command that you can add is “come”, where you signal for your dog to come, then sit, then stay before being served with food.
2. Walking Your Dog Training
Most dog parents walk their dogs every day. If you are one of those people who walk their dogs daily, then you can use this opportunity to train your dog. Some commands that you can train are the stay, sit, and wait.
The trick is you have to exploit the chance of your dog to go for a walk as a command. Tell your canine companion to sit or stay, then wait. Do this before going for a walk. If your dog starts to drag you, be patient.
Do not drag your dog back, but instead stay in place while uttering the command. If your dog manages to sit and wait, that is now your cue for a walk. Do this every now and then, especially when walking around the corner.
However, it is recommended to do this sporadically so that your fur baby would not expect it.
3. Practicing Training Commands During TV
Watching TV with your dog is quite relaxing, but it can also be exploited as a good time for training.
The start of a commercial break is your queue for training, and you can observe if your dog can follow a few commands until the show resumes. The commands that you can practice with your dog are sit, down, or stay.
You can see if your dog can stay, sit, or just lay down until the commercial ends, before giving him a treat.
The trick is to give a treat only if your dog has done it perfectly. Additionally, you can use this time to teach your dog how to walk beside you.
Hook up his leash and let him follow you near while walking around the couch. When the show resumes, give him a reward and do it again next time.
4. Playtime And Training
Playtime is an important time for you and your dog. This is when you can bond and collect fun memories with each other.
Not everyone knows that playtime can also be used for training. There is a lot of tricks and commands that you can teach your dog, while having fun.
A command that you can use is sit. When playing fetch, let your dog sit or stay first, before throwing the ball. The routine is that you can add another command to this routine: the fetch command.
Make your dog sit or stay, then throw the ball. Make sure that he is still staying by your side. After commanding fetch, he should be able to understand that it is the queue to run for the ball and bring it back to you.
In this method, you can be a little creative and include indoor tricks for training your canine companion.
One of the advantages of using playtime to incorporate training is that it also exercises the mental health of your fur baby.
This makes it easier to train for the future, much more if you are enrolling him to a training school for a formal training.
5. Training Anytime
Unknown to many, anytime that you are with your dog, it is training time. Our canine companions tend to observe what behavior or actions get them what they want. Most of the time, what do these dogs want?
They want our affection, as pet parents. Unconsciously, we are training them to certain behaviors that can be bad.
For example, when your dog jumps on you and you reciprocate it by rubbing his head, you are encouraging him to jump more often to you.
If you are eating your dinner and your dog asks for food with those puppy eyes and sad growls then you give him a piece of that chicken you are eating, you are training him to beg food more frequently.
You have to correct this as early as possible, so that it would not be a problem as your fur baby grows older. Be mindful of these behaviors and ensure that they are not positively reinforced.
For example, if you notice that your dog is being hyper and playful as he jumps on you, do not give him any attention. Wait for him to settle down before petting him. Do this more often and most of this unruly behavior will be corrected.
Leave a Reply