Dog training is a whole discipline in itself and today there are many options to do it professionally K9 training Houston. However, from the first moment a puppy enters the home, it is more than advisable to instill some guidelines and rules to improve coexistence and create a stable and happy bond. Today from we give you a basic guide on how to train your dog from home and the most important tricks you should teach it.
Why is it so important to train your dog?
The discipline and the limits are the axis of a good relationship and coexistence between caregiver and pet. Dogs, as pack animals, need a leader to establish a favorable and safe environment, and this is what lays the foundation for them to be a balanced animal in terms of their mental and emotional health.
Regardless of the breed or size of the dog, everyone needs to follow certain behavioral guidelines and, contrary to what it may seem, dogs really enjoy it< a i=2> of the moments and activities that take place during canine training. As we talked about in the previous article The best toys for small dogs, all the time we spend with our pets is a time in which . In short, training your dog will make him tremendously happy. It’s all advantages!a feeling of belonging is generated and the bond between both is reinforced
Differences between educating and training a dog
Although these terms are often used as if they were synonyms, educating and training do not mean the same thing but they do complement each other.
Educate refers to the first teachings that the puppy, from its first days at home, You must learn. For example, urinating in the soaker or on the street, not approaching the table when people are eating or where he should sleep.
Training, on the other hand, encompasses deeper and more complex communication and is carried out by professional trainers with the collaboration and presence of the owners.
Both actions require time and effort on the part of the caregiver, but they are essential for a dog to develop healthy and happy, in addition to making our lives with our pet much easier.
Positive reinforcement or negative punishment?
Before continuing with the best tricks to train your dog from home, you should know that canine professionals are committed to incorporating positive reinforcements when our pet performs an exercise or action well. This helps our dogs feel loved and accepted, strengthening the bond and increasing their motivation to learn. On the contrary, punishments have the opposite effect, causing separation, frustration, anxiety and sadness.
That being said, prepare the prizes and sweets and let’s learn!
5 basic and very useful tricks to educate your dog
We have seen the differences between educating and training a dog and, although this list of tricks is mainly based on dog education, it also includes tips and some dog training exercises that are very easy to apply from home.
These guidelines can be taught to a dog from 2 or 3 months onwards and at any age after that indicated. Age is not an excuse! Also, remember that training is a game for your dog and you should both enjoy the experience and the time spent. you will share together.
Guidelines to follow to teach any exercise to your dog
Although the purpose of each exercise is different, dogs learn all behaviors through the same guidelines.
- Choose the key word for each exercise: The dog will associate each word or command as the order for it to perform one action or another. Choose words with one or two syllables at most and that are not similar to each other to avoid confusing your pet.
- Associate a gesture with each key word for each exercise: To ensure that the dog understands the command, it is advisable accompany the command with a simple gesture. For example, when you order him to look you in the eyes, point to your gaze as well.
- Choose a treat or treat: To avoid embarrassment or the dog gaining weight during learning, the ideal is choose small amounts of a light food that does not put your health at risk, but that you love! For example, tiny pieces of chicken or turkey breast. It is important that you give him the reward only when he does the exercise correctly and not before to avoid confusing him.
- Encourage him in addition to rewarding him when he does it correctly: Our tone of voice is what really gives him information about our intentions and moods. When he does well, quickly give him his treat and praise him profusely, petting him and saying words like Very good! , Well done! or Good job!
- Transmit to him the state you are looking for in him: There will be times during learning that you may lose patience due to his lack of concentration or success. It is common that when we want to teach him to sit, the dog jumps in search of the treat we are carrying in our hand or instead of lying down he moves from one side to the other. In these cases we must try to calm them and return them to the task, but to do so we must be calm too. Avoid yelling and hitting him! Remember that it is a game for him. You can get a sound that you know helps him calm down accompanied by a gesture, like a soft “shhh< /span>” accompanied by the gesture indicating silence and waiting a few seconds to start again.
- Patience: Dogs, like people, can have a very varied level of intelligence. Not all dogs will understand the exercises in the same number of repetitions. It usually takes a dog between 15 and 25 repetitions to learn a skill.
- Look into the eyes
This trick is very important because it gets our dog to focus all his attention on us, stop what he was doing and concentrate fully on what we ask of him. In this case, and applying all the previous guidelines, tell him to look you in the eyes with the word and gesture and correct him with a “no” when he looks away. If he succeeds, give him his reward and repeat the pattern until he understands it. - Sit
When a dog has something above his head he tends to sit up to raise his head and look up naturally. To get your dog to sit, he guides your hand with the treat above his head while you say the command and waits for him to sit. If you notice that he tends to jump, you can try the exercise in a corner and corner him. - Lie down
Educating your dog and teaching him to lie down is very useful to force him to calm down and exercise control over any behavior he is doing that we don’t like. This trick can be done in two different ways:
When the dog has learned to sit and from that position, we lower the treat to the ground until he lies down.
With the dog sitting, we kneel, place one of our legs in a 45º position in front of him and put the treat underneath, forcing the dog to go under our leg and in a lying position.
- Get up
Although this trick seems less relevant than sitting and lying down, it is highly recommended to prevent the dog from getting ahead of our commands and associating that, after sitting, comes the order to lie down. By introducing a third command, we ensure that the dog continues to pay attention to our instructions and does not take for granted what we are going to ask.
From the sitting position, we show him the prize or his favorite toy and say the chosen word accompanied by the gesture.
- Assist when called
One of the most important tricks to train your dog and that will have the most benefit for coexistence is to have your dog come when called.
The key is not to call the dog when we are sure that he is not going to come (when he is obsessed with a situation) and to provoke situations where we do know that when we call him he will come.