From walks and feeding to car rides and bed time, each instance is an opportunity for you to take charge and teach your dog how the hierarchy of the household works. You must be 100 percent responsible, take full authority and make all decisions for your dog.
Dogs will align and respond positively to consistency, so make this trait the cornerstone of your training.
Like humans, canines have different personalities. Some are more orderly and have more rules than others, whereas some are more excitable and energetic. Some dogs may be fairly independent and some may beg for your constant attention. But, when you break it all down, behavioural issues stem from miscommunication, lack of understanding the household hierarchy and boredom.
When dogs act out, they are usually doing that as a way of asking for help.
Key areas to consider when training your dog and some dog training tips you can try right away:
Hierarchy
A lack of understanding their place in the household hierarchy is confusing to your dog. Owners acting as followers then trying assert themselves inconsistently is too difficult for the dog to understand leading them to become anxious or aggressive. For example, as the owner you make decisions on when to walk your dog, what and when they eat, vet visits, car rides, vacations, and boarding. Your are leading the partnership. However, you might sit on the same couch eye to eye or allow your dog to sleep in the bed with you. Here the relationship between owner and dog is an equal relationship status (peers, buddies) and the dog is left to make his own decisions leading to unwanted behaviour.
Try this: Don’t wait for your dog to bark at you to go out. Put your dog on a schedule and you make the decision when it’s time to go out.
POSITIONS
The training positions are: heel, sit down, come and go place. These positions are meant to open the lines of communication to achieve the result of a well-mannered dog, and teach “no” at the same time. Without proper communication lines open, your dog is left in the dark trying to understand what you want from them. Most dogs just want to cooperate and follow the human, so it’s only fair to communicate on their level of understanding (physically) as well as verbally.
Try this: Take a moment to meet with the members of your household and go over the training positions (heel, sit down, come and go place). This way, the dog will receive correct and consistent verbal cues from all members of the family.
TEMPO
Dogs move fast. They are much better athletes than we are and so it is not wise to try and keep up with them. Rather, we must do our best to slow them down to a pace that we can work with.
Try this: Pause and take a few deep breaths. Are you frustrated or caught up in a cycle? Remember that controlling “your” actions and reactions will make all the difference with successful training. Your actions have more influence over the dog than you may realize.
LEADERSHIP
It is up to you to take control of the situation, not the dog. Dogs are keen observers and body language interpreters. If you lose your cool while trying to work with them, they pick up on that and instinctively know that you are not acting in a leadership mainframe.
Try this: Work alongside your dog. Try to channel whatever their current behaviour may be into doing something that is productive and fun for both of you. Everyone has the ability to be a leader.
REWARDS SYSTEM
It is much easier, and more fair, to set hard and fast rules as soon as you bring your dog home. As you and the dog successfully work through training, you can increase privileges and rewards.
Try this: The next time your dog answers your command correctly, try using positive reinforcement with a verbal cue such as, ‘Hey, hey! Good dog!’
LEASH REACTIVITY
Think of the leash as the steering wheel of a car and the dog as the passenger. You wouldn’t look to your passenger to tell you how to operate the steering wheel or how to get the car from point A to point B. You would have a very uneasy and nervous passenger if that was the case! Dogs are no different, we must handle the leash with confidence and certainty, every time.
Try this: Next time you are out for a walk, practice holding the leash loosely.
Please contact us to learn many more training tips and to enquire about our dog training programs.