How to train your puppy? We can say that in the world of dressage there are five basic reasons why dogs are trained. There are also various methods of dog training that are applied depending on the type of training the dog needs, as well as the breed and psychology of the dog itself.
What does it mean to Train a Puppy? Training a puppy means teaching your dog to execute the various commands given to him by the owner. The owner, having taught his dog the basic commands, allows him to lead an easier, healthier, and less stressful life.
It has been scientifically proven that trained dogs live longer and that it is much easier to deal with the problems they encounter during their lifetime.
In this text, we will present you what are the basic reasons for training, what are the tasks and practical tips on how to train a puppy, ie. how to start learning the basic commands with your pet, as well as what it takes for the owner to know about dressage in order to successfully implement it.
Why experts recommend training a dog while it is still a puppy
Many owners after the puppy come to their home have the attitude that their dogs are too small to train them. However, the training they need is not complex but represents basic training so that the dog can adopt home education and know-how to behave while he is with you at home.
All this is important in order for the owner to make basic contact and strengthen the relationship with his dog and in the future to better and more quickly master more complex tasks, and the owner to better understand the dog.
Young dogs are far better at learning, so you should start training as soon as your pet gets home. Of course, not right away. It takes a couple of days for your dog to get used to you and the environment he has come to. When he becomes aware that he is safe in your home and that you are his friend, training can begin.
IT IS NOT TRUE that a dog must be at least 6 months old or older in order to master what he has learned well! The younger the dog, the faster and easier he will learn what you tell him.
Puppies are like sponges: they can’t wait to learn something new, to literally absorb and apply what they have learned. and you know for yourself that as children you have absorbed everything that older people say and that you have gained the greatest knowledge in your life by the second year. So do they.
Teaching your pet can be a very fun and rewarding experience. Dogs are very good and fast “students”, and during that learning, they rely on you the most, which helps to further deepen the relationship and establish a stronger connection between the owner and the dog.
Together, the commands (“Come”, “Sit”, “Stop”, “No”, “Lie” and “Let go”) will make your dog a well-behaved and good dog. Also, it has been proven how to train a puppy, which means to enable him to have a less stressful life compared to dogs that are not, and at the same time, he is less likely to become a stray.
What we are writing about are some basic things that you can rely on as a kind of first aid and basics in training. However, if you want bigger and better effects and results, you need a much greater commitment that takes a lot more time, so most owners are usually the best option to contact a reliable trainer who will dedicate themselves to it, review some videos on Youtube or read some book on the subject.
5 most common reasons why it is necessary to train a puppy
There are 5 grouped reasons why a dog most often needs to be trained and certainly all of them, owners who have trained their dog or taken him for training, have met at some period of their pet’s growing up. These reasons are:
Security
Given the fact that you, as the owner, are the leader of the pack in which the dog is, after leaving his litter, one of the basic things you need to provide is – safety. Basic commands, such as “yuck” or “stop” are crucial for a dog’s safety. Often seconds decide and every exercise you go through with a dog can save his life. A common example is if a dog runs across a street full of cars.
Nice behavior
The basic things a dog needs to know are rules of good behavior. You can practice all this gradually with him and these are the primary exercises that are done on quality training. They will give you the opportunity to solve everyday situations in a much easier way – calm feeding and taking food out of hand, stop jumping on children and guests, barking at the sound of bells/intercoms, urinating were not needed, and the like.
Socialization
A trained dog will get along much better with dogs and people, of course, if the temperament is such that he wants it. If it is more difficult in nature, training will give him more confidence in you and give him the pleasure of proper walking and meeting new people and dogs with a higher percentage of success.
Bringing the owner and the dog closer
Joint training is the basis for building a relationship between the owner and the dog. Every dog wants a safe owner who is there with him, who guides him, teaches him, and allows him to grow, in addition to the huge amount of attention he received through scratching, food, etc. Dogs have stronger or weaker instincts and nothing will replace the charm of playing properly with a dog if the dog has a strong instinct for a toy/prey.
Fun and something new
Every dog has talents. Some lie tricks, others run, some just like to cuddle. In practice, it has been shown that dogs can master a large number of commands, even over 200 different ones. It is a common myth – older dogs do not learn. Error. There are more and more cases when working with dogs aged 9-10, and the results of working with them are exceptional. If you already have a family member, why not study together and have fun?
We reveal to you “Clicker” training
We are not talking about clickers that we played with as children, but a clicker is a small, plastic object similar to a key ring that can fit in your palm and be of various shapes.
Here are some basics of this training:
In order to direct your dog’s attention to the clicker, it is necessary to stock up on a bunch of treats. Give them to your pet, one by one, with a short break between each. At a certain point when the dog takes the treat – click. Soon, the dog will associate a click with a treat and will start working harder to hear that click. It’s literally like a green light for pedestrians: a way to tell a dog he’s done something good.
How to train a puppy and what are the initial steps of training that should be followed
Keep workouts short and sweet. Train with a puppy only when you are in a good mood, otherwise, you will transfer stress to your pet. Always complete your training in a positive way, with an exercise that you know the dog knows best, so you can treat him to a treat at the very end.
In the beginning, train in peace, without anything that could disrupt your training (noise, external sounds, etc.) Training must always be based on rewards for a job well done. Be consistent during your dog’s training and remember, when exercising with a dog, continuity is paramount: 5-6 minutes of training each day is worth more than 60 minutes of training every third day.
Teaching your puppy new tricks can be an ideal way to strengthen the bond between you and your pet, as well as lead to significant progress in the development of mutual communication. By following a few basic rules from this text, you will easily and quickly achieve the desired results in your dog’s training.
Dressage needs to be performed according to a planned and logical schedule
Before you start training, you need to decide where to start training. Inexperienced dog owners start with too much information at once. Even when they roughly know how to train a puppy and how to teach it certain commands, they make another mistake. They try to teach the dog more commands at the same time. To sit, lie down, paw, not defecate at home, etc.
This is a bad approach and should not be applied. Dogs are like sponges, but you need to work with them slowly and teach them to carry out one command at a time. It is best to start with an organized list of priorities. Also, the first and basic training commands that dog masters must be performed through play and cuddling in order for the dog to create a positive opinion about training and adopt the commands you are trying to teach him much faster.
Start by having your dog defecate outside
In dog training and education, everything is based on reading the signals that your dog shows you. Therefore, you need to know how to recognize how this dog shows you that he is going to the toilet. In addition, it is necessary to monitor the moments when your dog wants to defecate.
It is usually a short period after the dog drinks water or eats, the period when he will go to the toilet because dogs generally feel the need to defecate after eating and drinking. Over time, as they get used to defecating outside, they learn how to control the need to defecate.
The practice is for the owners to start teaching the dog to defecate in a diaper, which they later slowly transfer to the yard until the dog gradually learns to defecate outside. Every success and step forward, reward your dog with praise and treats to make his progress faster and faster.
Training a puppy to defecate outside is a step towards overcoming a major challenge in the role of owner, which will further motivate you to continue working with your dog and teach him everything you want.
In order to be able to take him for a walk, it is necessary to teach the dog to be on a leash
All dogs love walks and enjoy the time spent in the park, in the fresh air with their friends. In the beginning, it will not be a problem to walk him and in most cases, the owner will let him sniff what he wants and go where he wants.
However, if you don’t dedicate yourself to him properly and teach him to walk properly on a leash and not pull, as he gets older, he will create an image in his head that you should always go where he thinks.
He will be amazed and will not understand the signals if you pull him a little, just because you did not react in time and because you did not act properly when it comes to walking and leash on your dog.
There are certain differences in whether you walk your dog on a leash or on a leash. Many think it’s all the same, but it’s not, there’s a difference. How to choose the right type of leash, how to teach a puppy and even any other dog on a leash is at some point a problem for the owner to deal with, if he wants his dog to be properly bred.
Every dog, like a human, must have his friends with whom he “communicates” and hangs out every day
The path to successful socialization is the gradual involvement of the dog in as many activities as possible where other people and dogs are present. In addition, each of the activities needs to be repeated, which is the essence of learning anything. A negative reaction to someone or something is not a sign that it should be given up, but perhaps a change in approach or technique.
For many owners, the question of how to socialize a dog can be a very unpleasant experience that they want to get rid of so that it does not happen again every time someone comes to visit them or when they take their pet for a walk.
Train your puppy in a quiet and undisturbed environment
This helps the dog to concentrate and focus all his attention only on you. When your pet has mastered a certain trick, you can gradually move to noisier environments to check that the learned trick has been mastered.
Don’t start training empty-handed
Just as people don’t do jobs without monetary compensation, so you shouldn’t expect your pet to exercise without the reward they will receive in return for a well-done exercise. You can get the most out of your dog by taking his favorite treats or toys with you to training. The more valuable the reward, the greater the impact on your pet’s commitment and effort.
As the dog makes progress in learning the tricks, you can gradually reduce the amount of reward you give, but remember that you must not do it abruptly, nor is it desirable to stop giving it at all!
Keep workouts short and sweet
Training with a dog does not have to be difficult or time-consuming. Short (but regular) workouts can actually accomplish much more than long and strenuous ones. Several times a day, for five minutes, is an ideal way, and don’t forget to end each workout in a positive way.
The faster the reward arrives, the better
Reward the desired behavior within two seconds after the dog has done the exercise well. The sooner a dog realizes he has done a good thing, the faster he will learn and learn the trick.
Don’t expect the dog to read your mind
Show the dog what to do by giving him food as bait to put him in a certain position and ask him to do a certain thing. If the dog does not understand what is required of him, “break” the command into several simple parts: e.g. if you want to teach your dog to wave, you will first hold the treat in a closed fist near your pet’s forearm. He will certainly try to bite her, but since you continue to hold her in a closed hand, he will not be able to get her.
Learning a dog with new tricks can be a very fun activity, and with enough exercise, you never know when your pet will become a real “star” among other dogs in the park!
