A lot of people think that dog training is easy and adopt their first dog and try to train them with this kind of an attitude. They feel that a puppy is easy to train basic commands. Though it is easy to train a puppy basic training commands, dog training demands patience, hard work and time.
Take baby steps if you are trying to train a dog for the first time in your life. Start by basic training commands like ‘sit’, ‘stand’, ‘come’, ‘stay’.
Is Dog Training really needed?
A lot of people think that dog training is only needed when the dog owner wants to get some kind of work done from his dog or the dog is suffering from some kind of behavioral problem. These are the people who in fact face tough time training their dogs as they grow old enough to learn to correct their behavior.
Training shall get started at a very small age. Puppies can learn basic commands once they are one month old and it takes around 6-8 weeks for them to learn basic commands if the dog owner spends 20 minutes daily for training routine.
Now the question is where you can learn the tricks and techniques in order to train your dog basic commands? The answer is simple, teach him yourself. You can learn the ways from Doggy Dan, the seller of most popular dog training course by name of “The Online Dog Trainer”.
This course contains 250 videos teaching you the ways to train you dog different things in its portal plus has a forum where you can ask questions to Doggy Dan yourself. More about the course is published here.
This Training program is cheap and hiring a dog trainer will even cost you hundreds of dollars which is totally not worth it.
Here is something that you need to understand before you begin training your dog:
- Setup a Daily Training Routine and spend atleast 20 minutes trying to teach him tricks.
- Train your dog in a positive manner, that is, using positive reinforcements.
- Make training less stressful for your dog using brain games and puzzle games.
- Train your dog in 6-8 weeks time.
After Teaching your dog basic commands, move to house training him.
House Training
Potty training is very essential to learn for your dog if you do not want to clean up his mess everyday and I am sure you would hate to do that. You would need to teach your dog where to poop. It is very important to teach potty training to your puppy quickly as an elder dog takes longer to get trained.
Consistency and not getting angry is key to house training process. Do not get angry or try to punish your young dog if he still poops inside.
Leash Training
Then you need to make your dog learn how to walk your dog on the leash. You should atleast take your dog for walks twice daily. Leash is very important for the safety of your dog outside so that he doesn’t go on roads and faces an accident.
Teach him how to walk properly with the leash and not bite the leash or pull it while walking.
Start leash training by teaching your dog to walk with a loose leash.
Socialization
Socialization is teaching your puppy to accept new people, new dogs, new environment by exposing him in these places. Socialized dogs are trained easily and are less prone to fears and phobias.
Proofing Behaviors and Techniques
Proofing is the process of checking whether your dog repeats the ‘good’ behavior at every place and with everyone. Sometimes dogs just behave well when they are with their pet parents as they feel that it’s the pet parents who have taught them this behavior so only they would appreciate it.
We need to proof the good behavior and practice it at different places to ensure your puppy is well trained with that.
You need to teach your dog that nothing is free in his life and he will have to earn his food, water and treats by showing the behavior and activities that are accepted from him.
Do comment your experiences and comments on training your dog and ask your questions as well.
