Establish a Consistent Routine
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Bringing a new pup into your home is one of the most exciting and joyous experiences in any pet parents' lives. However, bringing pets into your lives also brings you massive responsibility as they are essential to your lives. To ensure joyous and harmonious co-existence, it is crucial to provide your dog with proper training.
Now there are numerous places or organizations that provide training services to your dogs. However, it is essential to know that training your dog at home helps to strengthen the bond between you and your pup and also improves communication. According to APPA (American Pet Products Association), only 13% of dog owners hired professional service for dog training in 2022 (American Pet Products Association 122,123).
Let's explore some of the most effective tips and tricks to train your dogs at home. These strategies will help you throughout your journey with your pup, whether you are a first-time dog owner or looking to reinforce the existing training of your dog and help you make your puppy well-behaved.
Establish a Consistent Routine
Consistency is the main mantra for successful dog training. You should set a daily routine for everything, whether feeding, walking, playtime, or exercise sessions. A consistent schedule helps dogs to understand what is expected of them.
Use Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is one of the most powerful tricks for successfully training your dog. Positive reinforcement involves rewarding your dog with treats, verbal phrases, or affection whenever your dog exhibits a good behavior.
Treats such as small cheese puffs or natural chews can be used to reward your pup for exhibiting good behavior or after the successful completion of each training session. According to APPA (American Pet Product Association), 55% of dog owners use treats for training dogs (American Pet Products Association 122,123).
This process encourages the dogs to repeat the desired actions making the training session more effective and enjoyable.
Start From the Basics
You should make sure to start the training with small and basic but essential commands like "sit," "stand," "stay," and "come." You should be patient, repeat the orders consistently, and reward the dogs each time they respond to the command successfully. These basic commands will be the fundamentals for the advanced commands coming in the future.
Patience is The Key
Patience is a must when it comes to training your dog. Training your dog takes a lot of time and effort. Dog owners should be able to keep themselves patient, as the training progress might be slow. Each dog has its own pace of learning, so you should stay positive, celebrate even the most minor achievements, and encourage your dog with rewards and affection.
One Command At a Time
Trying to teach multiple commands at a time can confuse your dogs, and the training progress will be very slow or none at all. So dog owners should train their pooches one command at a time and proceed with another once the dog perfects it.
This strategy ensures the progress is steady and your dog can handle it.
Use Clicker Training
Clicker training is a highly effective and positive reinforcement technique. 11% of dog owners use clickers as a training device (American Pet Products Association) (American Pet Products Association, 122,123).
Trainers can precisely indicate desired behaviors using clickers, little handheld devices that make a distinct sound. This clear communication allows dogs to associate the click with rewards, accelerating learning and maintaining a solid bond between the dog and its owner.
This method is a very compassionate and force-free method that makes sure to strengthen the bond between the owner and the dogs. Since the sound of the device is considered a reward, it can replace treats or toys as a reward after completing each session.
Be Gentle with Your Pet
Being kind with your dog is just as important as maintaining consistency. It would be best to avoid punishments or physical corrections as such behavior can create fear and anxiety in dogs. Instead, you should maintain positive reinforcements and be gentle even if your dog makes mistakes. Positive reinforcement helps to strengthen your bond with your pet.
Keep Sessions Short and Fun
Keep the sessions short during the training, ideally between 5 to 15 minutes. Your dog will be bored if you keep the session too long, while short sessions help maintain your dog's interest in training.
Also, make the session enjoyable with treats, toys, and plenty of encouragement. Vigorous training might lead to slow progress and training will not be effective. Remember, rest is a must!
Socialize Your Dog
Make sure to socialize your dog if you want a friendly, well-behaved, and webb-adjusted dog. You should expose your dog to different people, environments, dogs, and even other animals in a controlled manner. This method helps boost your dog's confidence and adjust to different environments quickly. Socializing your dogs helps to reduce behavioral issues with dogs in the future.
Training your dog at home is one of the best parts of the journey with your pup. Home training helps strengthen the bond between the owner and the puppy. By applying the correct approaches, you can train your pup efficiently at home and create beautiful memories with your dogs.
By establishing a consistent routine, using positive reinforcement, and starting with basic commands, you can set the foundation for a well-behaved canine companion. However, you should be patient and not for your pup to learn many commands at a time. With time, effort, and lots of love, you can make your puppies happy, well-behaved, friendly, and an important part of your family. Happy Training!
Also Learn: Dog Exercise: The Dos, Don’ts, Benefits, and Types
Reference From
American Pet Products Association. 2023-2024 APPA National Pet Owners Survey. American Pet Products Association, 2023.