Dog Training Basics: How To Give Commands The Proper Way

Learning dog training basics is, of course, necessary in teaching your dogs behaviors that you want it to display. Without learning about the basics and just quickly deciding to teach your dogs tricks, you would not be able to accomplish anything. You need to learn the basics first because dog training is not an easy thing to do and without proper knowledge, you would never be successful. You have to keep in mind that dog training requires consistency and precision. If you fail to display these qualities right from the beginning of the training, expect to have difficulties in training your dog.

The reason why consistency and precision are important in dog training basics is because dogs are incapable of using logic the way humans do. Your instructions should be consistent and the manner in which you give rewards should always be precise. An example of this would be the way you command your dog to come to you. By using different words or phrases that pertain to “come”, your dog would only be confused. It would not know to which word it should respond. Your dog would not be sure whether to come once it hears the word “come” or wait for you to say “come here” first. For dogs, even a single word could change the entire meaning of the command so you always have to be exact in giving instructions.

Precision is also necessary in dog training because of the same reason. Dogs only learn through associations so you should pay closer attention to giving rewards at the right time. Rewards in the form of food or praises should always be given immediately after the correct behavior. A little later might cause the dog to associate the reward to something else so you always have to be alert while training your dog.
Other dog training basics that you should learn about is dogs could act like children sometimes. They could also throw tantrums and could be spoiled by gifts. As much as possible, avoid using punishment whenever your dog makes mistakes and do not always provide food whenever it performs tricks well. Instead, use praises and be more affectionate to your dog whenever it succeeds in learning a trick or a behavior.

Choosing Your Dog’s Name

By: Dennis Fetko, Ph.D., “Dr. Dog”
www.DrDogsBehaviorSolutions.com

Because dog confusion is a major obstacle to training success, what you name your dog and how you use that name can determine your success in his training and behavior.

Dogs are vocal, not verbal. How words sound is important to them, so consider that then choosing names and commands. To your dog, the words “No,” “Know,” “Beau” and “Joe” are the same sound; the dog will have trouble knowing which you mean. If you name him “Beau” and use “No!” as a reprimand, saying, “Beau, you know what I want!” reprimands him twice although you didn’t intend a single one!

You always want your dog to come to you when you call him, so how much sense does it make to name your dog “Beau” and use “NO!” as your reprimand? He’ll have trouble knowing whether you called him or yelled at him.
I like to have a dog choose his name. There are two ways to do this. First, spend enough time with the dog to really get to know his personality and select a suitable name. For example, when new to us my Husky-mix not only jumped on me, he pinned me to the wall and took stuff out of my shirt pocket! I said to my wife: “Look at this! I’m getting mugged!” Naturally, he became Mugger! A client had a very rambunctious Great Dane pup and I love the name she chose: Chaos! Let the dog earn his name!

Another way is to make a list of your favorite names and–in a playful and animated voice–try them on the dog. The one to which the dog reacts best is IT! And he WILL react differently to different names! Try it!

Contrary to popular belief, a dog’s name should change with every new owner. The old thought was that once a dog recognized hits name, you couldn’t or shouldn’t change it. Wrong! Since many owners make the mistake of using the name with a reprimand, or even AS the reprimand, if you keep the old name you tell the dog you’re one of THEM–the former crew. If the dog is now yours, you can’t presume former owners did everything right. If they did, you probably wouldn’t have him. And you’re trying to tell the dog this is a new start in a new home, right? Then why use the old name–especially when it was likely used negatively in the past?
Be sure to teach the dog his new name by using it only with things the dog likes such as treats, praise, meals and love and affection. And don’t choose a new name that sounds a lot like the old one, like “Bo” and “Noah”.
Use the new name consistently and positively ONLY with things the dog likes and within a week or two he should respond nicely. We changed the names of two of our dogs and now they ignore the old names.

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The author, Dr. Dennis Fetko, “Dr. Dog” is a world-renowned animal behaviorist who has appeared on the 20/20 television show, managed the reintroduction of captive-bred Arabian Oryx into the Saudi Arabian National Wildlife Research Center, and made a presentation at the South American Veterinary Congress. His ebook, Dr. Dog’s FAST, EASY FUN Behavior Solutions, reveals his proven methods for eliminating barking, jumping, chewing, digging, pulling and his puppy housetraining methods. Click Here for more information.

Dog Training Secrets You Wouldn’t Want To Miss

You are probably wondering why you could not seem to teach your dog new tricks even when you are doing the exact same thing professional dog trainers do. Well, maybe the mistake here is you are not doing it exactly. There are secrets to every trick but unlike magic tricks, dog training secrets could be deciphered a lot easier. All you have to consider is that dogs do not think the same way as humans do, so dog should not be treated the same way as teachers treat their students in the classroom.

One thing that you should never forget when you are training your pet is you have to be consistent. Learning more about dog training secrets would make you aware that our commands should always be specific because dogs learn through associations. They do not use logic unlike humans do so they would not be able to comprehend instructions when you are saying it in different ways. If you are instructing your dog to come to you, you should choose a specific word or phrase and use only that when commanding it to come to you.
For example, if you keep varying your commands—like using different words such as a simple “come” and “come here”, the dog would be confused whether to follow the “come” command or wait for you to say “come here”. If the dog does not follow your order the first time, you should not show impatience by repeating the command or saying it in a different way. That would only make the dog confused and even more unable to perform the commands you want it to.

One of the most important dog training secrets professionals have is the ability to not treat the dogs with rough handling when they fail to perform their tasks. Ordinary pet owners tend to get frustrated over their dogs when they seem to not learn any of the tricks being taught to them. By being impatient and treating the dog harshly, the pet owner would not get anything but the pet’s mistrust. The dog would soon learn that training is not good for him because he always gets punished and would even perform worse.

Pain-Free Dog Training Method

There are a lot of different dog training methods out there and some of them might work for you and your dog and some of them might not. The good thing is, you could choose among these various methods and pick the one that would be best suited for yours and your dog’s needs. In the past, the use of pain has been prominent in dog training. Professional dog trainers believed that the only way to make a dog learn is to inflict pain whenever the dog performs poorly. If the dog is unable to learn the current trick being taught, the master would immediately punish the dog to enforce an association. Since dogs learn through association, it would associate its inability to perform the tricks well with pain and would try its hardest to perform to please the master and not receive the punishment.

This dog training method may be effective for some dogs but other dogs would only get scared of this method. Instead of associating the punishments and the pain with their mistakes, the dogs would learn to associate the punishments they receive with the whole training process itself. Once your dog does this, you would be unable to train it effectively. Pain can often build the strongest associations so once this gets established, it would be hard to break. You could condition your dog again and make it like the training process by doing positive reinforcement but that may take a while. To avoid this from happening, make sure that you never hurt your dog while training. Punishments could only lead to distrust—something that should never be present between dog and master.

As mentioned, there is another dog training method that would work for you and your dog. Positive reinforcement is a method that is scientifically proven so you would not have to worry about it being ineffective. You just have to be creative in providing treats and praises to make your dog learn. Remember that the treats or praises should always be enforced immediately after the dog performs the trick well. This would make it learn and build positive associations faster.