Dog Training Simplified

Young dogs should begin training at an early age to help develop good behaviors, but even older dogs can learn to avoid bad habits. Before you seriously begin training, try to do a little research on your dog’s breed to determine if there are any bred personality traits or specific little quirks that the breed might possess that would influence training methods.

Humane training is a necessity if you want to maintain a good relationship with your dog. Good behaviors need to be rewarded, while bad ones should be ignored or corrected. You should never use physical violence, “choke chains” or other pain inducing methods to correct a behavior. Repeated use of physical force can cause a dog to become extremely skittish around all people and afraid of its master. Humane corrections include using a stern voice, withholding rewards or physically moving the dog where it should go without hurting it.

The most common training commands – sit, stay, heel, come and leash walking are easily taught through incentive (reward based) learning. Dogs learn these commands most easily when they are puppies before the dog has a chance to develop bad habits or a rebellious streak. Much like their human counterparts dogs develop personalities over time that are the result of their experiences and what they are allowed to get away with. Because of this it can be more difficult to train older dogs on these basic commands.

Click Here To Solve Those Dog Behavior Problems Fast

Dogs are eager and ready to learn animals. With a little patience and a lot of consistency, it’s not that hard to teach dogs what behaviors you like and what definitely isn’t allowed. Retain a position of confident leadership and you shouldn’t have any problem having a happy, well-adjusted dog as a result.

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What age should a puppy begin obedience training classes?

My Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Sophie, is almost 12 weeks old. Are the classes sponsered by PetSmart and Petco worthwhile, or should I look for other pet training specialists, like Man’s Best Friend?