puppy training tips

10 Tips to Properly Train Your Pooch

Wonder how dog training works? Follow these 10 steps.

When you get a new pup or rescue a dog in need (or they rescue you) it’s important that the relationship gets off to a good start. There’s no better way to ensure a healthy connection between pet and owner like properly training your new best friend. Check out the following tips to learn great pointers on training your dog.

  1. Start potty training your new puppy immediately. Take the puppy to the designated toilet area in your garden as soon as they wake up in the morning, after eating, after a nap, and before bedtime. Choose a certain command that indicate they need to relieve themselves. When they do, don’t forget to praise them highly, and offer a treat as a reward.
  2. When doing early leash training, select a nylon leash about six feet longer. A leash made of leather or other heavy material will drag on the dog’s collar even when you aren’t attempting to give a reinforcement, and can be extremely distracting for the dog. Once your dog is fully leash trained, however, leather leashes may look better and last longer than nylon ones.
  3. To stop your dog from biting, you should express pain every time it bits you and then ignore your dog for a few minutes. When your dog bites you softly, reward it by responding to their nipping and playing with your dog. Make sure your dog understands the difference between biting and soft nipping.
  4. Use your puppy’s name often so that he knows to pay attention when you speak. Do this consistently during the first several weeks to get your dog to pay attention to you. It is important to use a name the dog easily understands.
  5. It is not good for a puppy to train too often, it will wear it out if it has to process too much information. Puppies have short attention spans, therefore keep your sessions short and provide ample amounts of praise. If your training sessions stress your puppy, he will grow increasingly less attentive in future sessions.
  6. Exercising your dog is a good way to get rid of pent up energy which can impede training. Through this technique you establish a calm demeanor in your dog. This does not mean tiring the animal completely, but blowing off some excess steam can greatly reduce over excitement when training.
  7. A good dog training tip is to do some research, read some reviews and find a great dog boarding facility to watch your dogs when you’re going on vacation. There they will be attended to by dog lovers like yourself, and be able to socialize with other dogs – which is a vital component to training your pooch.
  8. If your dog is being destructive when unattended, it is likely a sign that he is not getting the physical exercise that a dog needs. Find a class that you and your dog can enroll in together and you are sure to find that it is fun and he will be far less destructive when you leave him.
  9. Your dog will benefit from consistency. Make sure that everybody in your house knows the same commands you have taught your dog. All physical commands should be given the same way among family members. In other words, your “sit” command should look the same whether your sister or your mother asks your dog to do it!
  10. If your dog is bored, try making him work for his meals. There are toys and puzzles for dogs that require the dog to discern between scents. There are toys that make the dog think creatively to get food out of a chamber. Either way you go, your dog will have his scavenging instincts fulfilled!

Most people fail at dog training because they haven’t properly prepared themselves. Thankfully, the advice provided in the above article contains all you need to effectively train your dog so that he or she can be a great addition to your family.