Training your dog

As soon as you first bring home your puppy or dog the most important thing that you want to do is to train your dog to be well behaved. Training your dog is not very difficult if you know what to do and have the right advice and information on hand. Many people are overwhelmed by the fact that they must dedicate some time to training their dog and while other people simply don’t train their dogs at all. Training your dog when you first bring it home will highly reduce the chances of your dog developing unwanted and destructive behaviours later on.

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Before you begin training your dog you should do a little research into your dog’s breed. Not all dogs are the same and some breeds require more attention in different areas when training your dog for example the border collie breed is highly intelligent and is very active, the border collie breed is also a workaholic type of dog and requires a “job” to do or else it will get frustrated. This type of breed would require you to provide plenty of exercise to stimulate them mentally and physically but the good thing is that they learn quickly. Once you have researched into your breed of dog you may begin learning how to train your dog.

Dog training is split into two categories; behaviour training and obedience training.

Behaviour training is when you are preventing or correcting bad habits in your dog such as nipping, biting, chewing, whining, excessive barking, jumping, chasing cars, climbing on furniture, digging holes, etc.

Obedience training is when you are training your dog to perform specific actions and commands. The goal is to get your dog to obey the commands and perform them when asked each and every time. These commands include the basic come, heel, sit, down, and many more.

The first golden rule when training your dog is to teach your dog its name. Use it all the time, call your dog by its name every time you play with it. Once your dog knows its name and comes when called then you are ready to take the plunge and start on obedience training. The next most important part of training your dog is to house train and potty train your dog. Nobody wants a dog that poops and pees everywhere in the house, so you would want to teach your dog this basic training as soon as possible. Although this can’t be helped in the beginning, especially in puppies because they don’t yet have full control over their bladders and bowels you must understand that it is not their fault because firstly, they can’t hold it in as long yet, and secondly you haven’t taught your dog where it can and can’t go to relieve itself. 

You should keep training sessions short, typically about 15 - 20 minutes max in order to keep your dog interested, any longer and your dog would get bored and lose interest. These short training sessions should be on a regular basis, about 2 - 3 times a day everyday. Remember to revise over old and learnt training every now and then so your dog does not forget. Do not get frustrated when training your dog when your dog doesn’t get it right straight away, it will take practice and NEVER punish your dog, this will only have bad consequences for future training and may cause behavioural problems. Reward your dog with praise or treats when it does the right thing as this will encourage your dog to want to please you again next time you want your dog to do something.

Keep training positive and with commitment and persistence soon your dog will associate command names with the action, be well behaved and will strive to please you. Training your dog is the best thing you can do for your dog and yourself because it gives your dog a well mannered and enjoyable life and will also make you and your family a lot happier and relaxed in the future.

Click here to check out 2010's best dog training guide