Exciting News just in time for Valentine’s Day! We have 2 available puppies from Dory & Huxley’s litter. They were reserved, but by no fault of their own, the families couldn’t get their puppy at this time so they are ready for their Furever Homes February 15th, 2023.

Emily Available from Dory & Huxley’s Elf litter, charting 20 lbs full grown

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The Top 5 Golden Rules Of Dog Training

Caring for your dog involves teaching it how to differentiate right from wrong. You must train your dog properly so you can take it to any public place without any fear.

Training dogs is fun, but it could be challenging how a dog's mind and thoughts work is completely different from how it works in people.

Dog training methods tackle this aspect of training canines. It provides benefits, including mental stimulation and learning proper discipline and etiquette.

Follow the top 5 golden rules of dog training to make it an enjoyable experience for you and your dog.

The Top 5 Golden Rules Of Dog Training

These 5 golden rules of dog training will help you train your dog successfully in a way that you both get a rewarding experience.

Avoid Repeating Yourself

You often see owners call their dogs repeatedly, only to witness complete ignorance from the dog's perspective.

On the other hand, other owners get their dogs to respond in the first call itself. The difference lies in how they have conducted training and what tactics they used.

Repeating is the biggest mistake owners make when training their dogs. Dogs learn by association. They associate specific words and gestures with different behaviors.

When training your dog, if your dog responds to his name, make sure you reward it. On the other hand, if it doesn't respond, drop it at that point. Repeating several times annoys your dog, and it tends to ignore your call.

You also get frustrated when your dog doesn't respond, fostering negative emotions in both parties.

Therefore, drop it for the time being and try it at a later time. Consistency is key, and remember to reward your dog when it successfully responds to your call.

Facilitate Predictable Results

The other important rule is to focus on something other than a behavior likely to occur at a particular moment.

For instance, your dog's attention may be on something else in its surroundings. It may be trying to figure out what that is and will not respond to your calls.

If you notice this happening, wait until your dog has figured it out, and then give it a try. Your dog might respond to your call this time.

You shouldn't confuse your dog when its attention seems to be on something else.

Pay The Sticker Price

Just like with people, a price is paid for each behavior a dog shows. For example, if your dog obeys the 'sit' command, praising it may be sufficient.

However, praising your dog won't be sufficient if it's a more advanced task or behavior. It requires something bigger.

The reward you give depends not only on the behavior or act but also on the breed and characteristics of your dog.

Some dogs are very social and will instantly go to play with another dog at a park. Getting such a dog's attention with words or a simple treat is impossible. You need to think of giving a big treat to grab its attention.

On the other hand, if you have a timid dog, simple verbal praise will be sufficient for it.

No Pace For Punishment

Training dogs means that you need to reward them for showing correct behavior. However, there is also something called positive punishment. It is about adding an unpleasant sensation to stop a behavior from occurring.

When you do this, your dog tends to associate the negative emotion with the environment that it is in. For example, your dog is playing with other dogs in the playground when you see it engaging in unwanted behavior.

You warn it with something like a prong collar, and it feels uncomfortable. Your dog may associate the park with other dogs with this uncomfortable sensation.

It could lead to showing aggression towards other dogs. Your dog might even be reluctant to go to the park the next time.

You should avoid positive punishment and use positive reinforcement training instead. Praise your dog and reward it for positive behavior.

Let Your Dog Select

In training, we teach, and dogs learn. It is vital to remember that all behavior is conditional. To teach or modify a specific behavior, you must change the conditions that allow it to happen.

This is one of the most difficult of the golden rules to follow. The capability of teaching or modifying a behavior doesn't belong to the dog. Instead, you should change the conditions that allow it to exist.

You should empower your dog to make choices in its environment. It allows them to feel control over the situation and breeds comfort and confidence, resulting in calm behavior.

You should never force your dog to do something. Instead, it should naturally occur for your dog to feel comfortable with it.

Other Things To Remember

These five golden rules are crucial for successful training. However, there are more things that you should keep in mind and follow when training your dog.

The K9 training institute review provides more details and guidance on the rules to follow to train your dog successfully.

Here we have outlined some of the basic things to remember when training your dog.

Get To Know Your Dog

Each dog is different from the others and has various temperament levels and learning styles. You might realize that one dog finds it hard to learn new tricks while another is a pro.

It all varies according to the dog. Sometimes, dogs in the same breed may have different temperament levels and learning styles.

There is no one-size-fits-all, so you should get to know your dog better. It is the only way you can find out what it can do and what suits it the best.

Some of the characteristics that change in each dog are as below.

Sociability
Obedience
Openness

Make It An Enjoyable Experience

Just life children don't like to be commanded, dogs also don't like to train in this manner. Training sessions should be fun. It should be an enjoyable experience for you and your dog.

Make sure to reward your dog with verbal praises, treats, and belly rubs to keep them in a good mood. Dogs relate training with something that brings joy and are keen to spend more time in it.

Interactive dog games are also an excellent way to keep your dog interested in training sessions.

Maintain Consistency

Dogs can soon forget things and let go continuously when they don't do it. Therefore, consistency is vital to ensure that training benefits your dog.

Try to stick to a schedule for dog training. You might go off-schedule some days and even miss a day or two of training, but stick to it as much as possible.

Your dog learns that training is part of its life and gets used to it when consistency is maintained.

Know When To Call It A Day

Although consistency is important, training should be manageable for your dog. If so, your dog will associate training with negative feelings and may feel reluctant to do it the next time.

Training sessions should last up to 15 to 20 minutes a day. Therefore, make sure to finish everything during this time limit.

You should also have some variation in training because dogs tend to get bored soon. Try to make training sessions as interesting as possible.

Ignore Your Dog After Separation

Ignoring your dog for some time after separation is a good way to control its behavior. Don't run to your dog as soon as you come home after leaving it alone for some time. Instead, do your work and go to your dog after some time.

However, you should still pay attention to your dog. That could impact your dog's growth and lead to issues such as a lack of trust and resentment.

You should also not try this with a dog already suffering from separation anxiety.

Emphasize Your Control Over Food

As an owner, you must provide food for your dog and yourself. Having complete control over food is also part of dog training.

The meaning of this is not that you should let your dog starve. Rather, you should assert dominance by eating before your dog.

Get something to eat when your dog is in the room with you. Finish eating your snack and ignore your dog's pleading. After you are done eating, you can give your dog also.

Repeating this several times will help you gain respect from your dog. It will build patience by learning to stay until you finish eating, knowing it'll get its fair share afterward.