Motivating Your Dog
Keeping the attention of a dog while training is not always easy. Dogs are easily distracted, and it is important to not allow the dog training sessions to be sabotaged by boredom. Making dog training fun for the dog and the human alike is essential to creating a happy, well adjusted and well trained dog.
Providing random positive stimuli during the day is a great way to keep the interest of your dog. Doing things the dog enjoys, like walking in the park, riding in the car, and playing with other dogs, are good ways to keep the dog's attention, but you must reward him for small successes.
For instance, in order to reward the dog for coming to you when you call him, ask the dog to come to you, without giving any ideas about going for a walk, a car ride, or other treats.
After your dog has come over to you and obediently sat down, attach the leash and begin the treat. This can be either the afore-mentioned stroll in the park, ride in the car, or anything else the dog enjoys doing.
Providing some sort of reward, whether a treat, a special outing, or just a tickle behind the ears, every time the dog does something you want him to, is a good method to keep your dog's motivation while you are dog training.
If the dog knows something good is going to occur every time he follows your commands, he will be more motivated to do want you tell him every time.
Distraction training.
When training any dog, it is vital to not let distractions ruin the training. The dog must be trained to ignore distractions, such as other people, other dogs, other animals and loud noises, and concentrate on what is being taught These kinds of distractions can even be used as rewards when training your dog to come when called.
For instance, if your dog enjoys playing with other dogs, whether in the local park or with the neighbour's dogs, let him play freely with those other dogs. Then go into the park or garden and call your dog.
When he comes to you, give him lots of praise, treats and other rewards, then immediately let the dog to return to playing with his pals. Do this a few times and praise the dog every time he comes to you.
The dog will quickly learn that coming to you means good things (treats and praise) and not bad ones (being taken away from the park).
This so-called distraction training is one of the hardest things for your dog to learn, because dogs are naturally social animals, and leaving the pack is one of the most difficult things you can ask your dog to do. Most dogs will be understandably reluctant to leave their canine companions, but it is vital to persist in dog training.
Training the dog to come to you may take some creativity on your part at first. For instance, waving a favourite toy, or a lure, is a great way to get your dog's attention and put the focus back on you. If your dog has been clicker trained, a quick click can be a good motivator too when you are training your dog.
Once the dog begins to become used to coming when called, you can begin to reduce and then stop the visual cues and focus on getting the dog to obey your voice alone. It is important that the dog responds to voice commands alone, since you will not always have a toy or other lure to hand.
Providing random positive stimuli during the day is a great way to keep the interest of your dog. Doing things the dog enjoys, like walking in the park, riding in the car, and playing with other dogs, are good ways to keep the dog's attention, but you must reward him for small successes.
For instance, in order to reward the dog for coming to you when you call him, ask the dog to come to you, without giving any ideas about going for a walk, a car ride, or other treats.
After your dog has come over to you and obediently sat down, attach the leash and begin the treat. This can be either the afore-mentioned stroll in the park, ride in the car, or anything else the dog enjoys doing.
Providing some sort of reward, whether a treat, a special outing, or just a tickle behind the ears, every time the dog does something you want him to, is a good method to keep your dog's motivation while you are dog training.
If the dog knows something good is going to occur every time he follows your commands, he will be more motivated to do want you tell him every time.
Distraction training.
When training any dog, it is vital to not let distractions ruin the training. The dog must be trained to ignore distractions, such as other people, other dogs, other animals and loud noises, and concentrate on what is being taught These kinds of distractions can even be used as rewards when training your dog to come when called.
For instance, if your dog enjoys playing with other dogs, whether in the local park or with the neighbour's dogs, let him play freely with those other dogs. Then go into the park or garden and call your dog.
When he comes to you, give him lots of praise, treats and other rewards, then immediately let the dog to return to playing with his pals. Do this a few times and praise the dog every time he comes to you.
The dog will quickly learn that coming to you means good things (treats and praise) and not bad ones (being taken away from the park).
This so-called distraction training is one of the hardest things for your dog to learn, because dogs are naturally social animals, and leaving the pack is one of the most difficult things you can ask your dog to do. Most dogs will be understandably reluctant to leave their canine companions, but it is vital to persist in dog training.
Training the dog to come to you may take some creativity on your part at first. For instance, waving a favourite toy, or a lure, is a great way to get your dog's attention and put the focus back on you. If your dog has been clicker trained, a quick click can be a good motivator too when you are training your dog.
Once the dog begins to become used to coming when called, you can begin to reduce and then stop the visual cues and focus on getting the dog to obey your voice alone. It is important that the dog responds to voice commands alone, since you will not always have a toy or other lure to hand.
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Does your dog need training? If you need more details on dog training, then go over to our website entitled Successful Dog Training
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