A study has found that 53.1% of dogs that attended puppy classes after they reached 3 months of age improved their trainability. In the same study, puppy classes also led to positive behavior of the dogs as they grow old. Training is one of the duties of fur parents to their pets. However, you might be surprised to learn that there are some things you do that slows down your dog’s progress. Most common missteps people commit while training their pooch boils down to five mistakes. Are you guilty of any of these mistakes?
Being Impatient And Forcing a Training Program
Training a puppy takes hard work and patience. You can’t expect that your dog will quickly be trained as each one learns at their own pace. Research about how dogs are trained depending on their breed, age, and personality so that you can create an individualized training program for your pet. Based from what you’ve read, determine what seems to be working or not for you and your dog.
Not Using Proper Equipment
You may use available equipment in the market to train your puppy. While the name carries a negative connotation, shock collars can be a helpful training device and may serve a positive purpose for both the owner and the dog. This type of collar gives the dog a warning about their action or behavior. In the long run, it can not only improve your dog’s behavior through training, but even protect it from harm in the future.
Being Inconsistent
You have to be consistent with training your dog or else it might end up training you. According to the American Kennel Club, you should use the same cues and commands to not confuse the dogs. For instance, if you want to teach your puppy that they’re not allowed to sleep on the bed, it’s not okay to let them up sometimes so that you could cuddle them before you go to sleep. Whatever the command is, make sure you follow through with it all the time.
Not Using Treats Properly
The use of treats are an effective way of training any living thing- from puppies, children, and even adults. However, remember that there is a right and a wrong way of giving them to your dogs. One of the common mistakes is when the dog can see the treat in your hand while asking it to complete a command. Since the dog can already see what's in store for it, the doggy would most likely do whatever it thinks would lead to the reward. The treat should appear after they have demonstrated the action or behavior you want them to do.
Punishing Them
Most owners would punish their dogs for house-breaking accidents like spanking or yelling at them. The dogs just don’t make the connection between what they did and your punishment. Moreover, it will also cause emotional issues with the dog, which is a lot harder to fix. Instead of punishing them, learn how to train them effectively so that they won’t have these accidents.
By avoiding these common blunders and by being a caring, consistent mentor to your new furbaby, you’ll be able to train your puppy so that it’ll be a calm, confident adult dog. Don’t forget to enjoy the whole puppy experience!