While many types of animals can be kept as pets, one of the most popular choices for a pet are dogs. About 78 million dogs are owned by households across the United States. Many dogs are purchased from breeders as puppies. Puppies can be a lot of fun to own and raise, but they also require a lot of dog obedience training. Without the proper training, dogs can become hard to control as they reach adulthood, which is why it’s important to begin training your dog as soon as possible. This article will look at several tips for training your dog.
- Send Your Dog to a Dog Training Class: One of the most important tips you can follow for training your dog is to send them to dog training classes, sometimes known as obedience school. These classes consist of training various behaviors and last for a set number of weeks. Dogs who attend these courses tend to learn basic commands like “Sit”, “Stay”, and “Heel,” just to name a few examples. If you do nothing else, be sure to have your dog attend some type of dog training class.
- Use Positive Reinforcement: Aside from a proper dog training class, another tip for training your dog is to use positive reinforcement to get the correct behavior from your dog. For example, you could use dog treats to reward your dog when they follow commands correctly, like coming when they’re called. Under no circumstances should you punish your dog with violence, like hitting them with a newspaper. Physical punishment, no matter how mild it may seem, will only do more harm than good to your dog in the long run.
- Set Clear Boundaries in the Home: And finally, a third tip for training your dog is to set clear boundaries in the home. Right away, you need to establish where your young dog can, and cannot, go in the home. This can be established by using gates to block off areas of the home you don’t want your dog to have access to. Additionally, if you don’t want your dog on any furniture, you’ll have to consistently reinforce that they cannot jump up on any furniture. If these boundaries are established right away, that’ll make it easier to keep your dog trained and obedient as it grows into adulthood. And once these behaviors are firmly established, they’ll generally stay that way for the rest of the dog’s life.
In conclusion, there are several tips you can follow for training your dog. The first and most important is to send your dog to a dog training class, also known as obedience school. You should also use positive reinforcement when training your dog at home, and also set clear boundaries for your dog at home. By following these tips, you should be well on your way to training your canine companion.
