If you've never trained a dog in your life, it may seem like an imposing job. Truth be told, there's a lot to learn, so we won't tell you you can learn everything there is to know in a single article. BUT... You can learn the basic guiding principles that will help you to understand the whole training process, to know why it works and how it works. Here are the three core principles of dog training...
Consistency, Consistency
You simply cannot do one thing one day and another thing the next. If stealing food off the table gets a whap on the nose, it has to always, always, always get a whap on the nose. The only exception is when you don't catch them doing it. Doing a trick should always result in a treat or a scratch behind the ears. It's all about consistency. You need to treat them the same day in, day out.
Use Equal Parts Positive and Negative Reinforcement
Don't just punish your dog for being bad, reward them for being good. You need to include both in your training regiment in order to raise a dog who is well disciplined, loving, and who knows that they are loved. If you're inconsistent or if you use an unbalanced training program where it's all punishment or all reward, you wind up with one of those dogs that we like to call "a spaz".
Love Your Doggy
Don't just devote all your time with them to training. If you're only a disciplinarian, they might listen, but they'll only be listening out of fear. If you take care of your dog, if you give them good food, play with them, scratch and pet them just for fun and to show affection, they'll obey out of love, out of a want to make you happy, not merely out of being conditioned to listen.
Consistency, Consistency
You simply cannot do one thing one day and another thing the next. If stealing food off the table gets a whap on the nose, it has to always, always, always get a whap on the nose. The only exception is when you don't catch them doing it. Doing a trick should always result in a treat or a scratch behind the ears. It's all about consistency. You need to treat them the same day in, day out.
Use Equal Parts Positive and Negative Reinforcement
Don't just punish your dog for being bad, reward them for being good. You need to include both in your training regiment in order to raise a dog who is well disciplined, loving, and who knows that they are loved. If you're inconsistent or if you use an unbalanced training program where it's all punishment or all reward, you wind up with one of those dogs that we like to call "a spaz".
Love Your Doggy
Don't just devote all your time with them to training. If you're only a disciplinarian, they might listen, but they'll only be listening out of fear. If you take care of your dog, if you give them good food, play with them, scratch and pet them just for fun and to show affection, they'll obey out of love, out of a want to make you happy, not merely out of being conditioned to listen.
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