Behavior Training Get The Most From Your Puppy Dog
Behavior training is getting someone or something to act in a particular manner:
We all behave in a certain way. The reasons that we do is because the first time we acted that way, either:
We were rewarded for it
No one complained about it. So we continued to do it.
creates a happy baby or puppy.
could create an unhappy baby or puppy that will have problems later in life if the behavior was socially unacceptable.
When we first learned to walk from the couch to the table without falling over, we were rewarded with lots of praise. So we did it again to get more praise and recognition.
If you went to the bathroom on the carpet as a baby, were you scolded or you were taught how and where to go potty? My guess is that you were taught where to go and you were praised when you did it right. Right?
Use the same concept to train your puppies.
This is easy. We reward when they do something right and we correct when they do something wrong. We only need to be observant and reward them when something good happens and show what to do when they are about to do something wrong. We don’t even really need to use any special commands.
In a nut shell, if they’re not doing something wrong then they must be doing it right so they should be rewarded in some way even if it’s only encouragement.
Your dog can learn all of these steps and you don’t even have to take an obedience class or use special training equipment. All you have to do is watch for a behavior and understand which the appropriate command to use is. This is just TOO easy and yet so many people fail to do it.
So how do you reinforce these behaviors?
You can reward with anything that is pleasing to the dog. Praise is very good but sometimes needs to be reinforced with small (very small) tidbits of soft-moist dog treats.
Play sessions or a chance to retrieve a toy are very good because you are interacting with the dog and building a bond. Use what your dog likes.
If you see the dog performing the rewarded behavior more regularly, that means its working. Remember when he’s engaged in one of the listed behaviors, he is NOT committing one of the incompatible behaviors.
Should you continually feed your dog to do this type of training? My view is no. to keep on feeding is going to teach the dog only to behave for a tangible reward which puts them in control.
Also in time, the dog will put on weight which is not good for either of you. I prefer to reinforce with praise and bonding and give a tidbit at the end of the bonding session.
Playing and socializing.
The first thing that you, the parent, need to learn is, do I want him to do these cute things when he is older? Probably not, if you don’t want him to do it later, then discourage it now.
When playing on the floor many people lie on their backs and hold puppy above them or sit them on their chest. Very cute, but you have just put puppy in the dominant position.
Remember this is the peak learning period where he learns his position in the hierarchy. When playing on the floor it is better to be on all fours in the stance of a parent dog and the puppy remain beneath you.
There are some excellent online and downloadable courses that you can use to make training easier for you. My recommendations are:
Sit,Stay,Fetch by Daniel Stevens. This really is worth taking the time to look at.
Clicker training by Karen Pryor. Karen Pryor is the leading authority on clicker training in the USA.
