Training your dog is an essential part of their life, whether you’re trying to battle particular behavioural problems or helping them socialise and interact with other dogs and people. It’s always best to train your pup young, but there’s never a wrong time to start!
One of the main things you need when training are treats, so that your dog gets positive reinforcement when learning new commands and tricks. So, always make sure you have some to hand!
Rewarding wanted behaviour will make sure that that behaviour will be repeated (because what dog doesn’t love treats?) A clicker is not necessary while you train your dog, but often people find them very helpful.
- Have your treats handy. Press the clicker and give your dog a treat straight away, repeat up to 10 times.
- When your dog begins to respond to the clicker, you can move on to simply commands like ‘sit’ and ‘down’
- When your dog responds to the command, press the clicker and give them praise and a treat.
- Hold a treat close to your dog’s nose
- Move your hand up and allow your pup to follow the treat with his head
- This should naturally make your dog sit, and once they do say ‘sit’, give him a treat and follow with some loving praise
- Told a treat in your clenched fist and hold your hand near your pups nose
- Move your hand to the floor and slide across until he is in a down position
- Once there, say ‘down’ and the reward with a treat and praise
Make sure your dog has perfected ‘sit’ by the time you teach them ‘stay’.
-Ask your pooch to sit
- Say ‘stay’ and open your hand in front of you, palm facing forward
- In the same position, walk a few steps back. If your pooch stays, reward them with a treat.
- Repeat and take more steps back each time, and always reward them if they stay.
The two things to always remember while training your pup is to reward them with both treats and affection and repeat until they understand. Stay patient, stay calm and don’t rush! They’ll get there eventually.
