Dog training is both an art as well as science, and it certainly takes time for any dog owners to acquire this new skill set on the Do’s and Don’ts for the new dog training methods. As soon as you bring your puppy or dog home, you need to start the training process.
However, before you start any kind of training, be sure to spend a few minutes with your puppy and observe him. This is crucial, especially when you are teaching a young puppy.
There is no single training method for all and every dog as different dogs require different training approaches, depending on their personality. It is worth your time to find the right training methods that work well for your dog as it will make training a much easier and less stressful task for you. Even the most basic training has the potential to create a deep and lasting bond between you and your dog.
Some trainers prefer to use a reward based approach, rewarding for any type of effort made or for good behavior. Others trainers respond to problems by using corrective training techniques, such as using an electronic collar. Others still use a corrective training system using verbal commands. The point is that trainers do not agree on whether reward or correction is the best way to train any dog.
Though some dog trainers disagree with the use of food reward as a form of positive reinforcement training as they consider this as a submissive technique and not a training method, however, I do find that using treat or food rewards work extremely well on my puppy. You can reward your dog with treats, affection, meticulous praise, or a combination of the three.
I try to reward my pup every time he successfully complete his toilet training so that he develops the habit of going outdoors to potty. If you’re going to potty train your puppy, it is best to crate train him, and when you are unable to supervise him, it’s best to confine him to his crate.
Correction-based training is more cutting-edge, using a combination of correction and punishment. I never really did an in-depth research on correction-based training before as I’m not in the least interested in doing so now.
What I found worked for my dog is to use humane corrections, such as something to snip the dogs tail, leg etc., when he goes to the bathroom indoors, or if he do something wrong that needs correction. OK, I admit. I was never really enthused about this style of training. I just wanted to know what worked without having to inflict pain on my dog. So obedience dog training (the old-fashioned kind of training) was my next step.
Obedience training, by definition, should be humane; it should not do anything to hurt your dog. This is the point that many trainers seem to miss when doing humane training. It’s not really about whether the pain is painful or not. What is incredibly important is that your dog should not become afraid of the trainer or fearful of the process.
Clicker training is another fascinating technique as you can use it to teach your dog the behavior that you want him to learn. Clickers are good because they make a distinct sound that is only available when you push the button.
They are used to teach a behavior that is called “conditioned reinforcers” which means using the clicker sound to make your puppy perform some actions such as “roll over” or “sit”. The clicker is used to “mark” the behavior that you want from you dog and to “clip” the behavior that has taken place invariably with a clicker “marking” and a reward after.
Clicker training is patience well spent. It takes very little time and can be very effective if done properly. The rewarding of positive behavior is a very nice contrast to the punishment and widely used by many trainers.
It’s well-known that even the best dog owners in the world make mistakes when training their dogs. As every dog is different and what worked for one dog may not work for another, so why not giving the above suggestions a try?
All dog training methods require patience, consistency, and understanding of your dog. If you can accomplish this, then you will find success with your dog training.