Dog Obedience Basics
Teaching your dog basic obedience skills can be an exciting as well as challenging task. If you seem to be having problems on where you should start, then I can tell you the best place to begin is for you to start by doing some homework first. To have a good student you must first become a good teacher. By first enabling yourself to be a good teacher, your dog will respond in kind by learning much more quickly and with fewer mistakes.
One of the first things you must do is to be able to get your dog’s full attention on nothing but you. At first this may sound simple, but you may find that it is harder than you think. Dogs have much superior hearing to humans, and can hear things we cannot. Often times a dog will turn his attention away from you because he hears something in that direction that you are not capable of hearing. Also, the keen sense of smell that dogs have can make him lose interest in you rather quickly. It is for these reasons that you need to pick an area for training that has the fewest possible distractions to your dog.
Once you have your location, you want to associate your first command to either “look” or “watch”. Do this by calling the dog’s name and say “watch” or “look”. Always use the same word. Decide on one or the other and stick to it. You don’t want to be slack in your given commands, always be precise and use the same command for any task you ask of your dog.
You certainly want your dog to pay attention to you for a certain length of time. You can accomplish this by practicing attention exercises with your dog. One good way to accomplish this is to hold a favorite toy or a favorite dog snack in front of your face and then give the chosen command. Every time the dog takes time to watch, you should praise him. With this exercise, the more time you put it into training, the longer your dog should pay attention only to you. Your ultimate goal is to get your dog’s attention for at least one minute. Don’t forget to reward your dog for a job well done.
Once you have your dog’s full attention you may go on to other commands, such as “sit”, “down”, “stay” and “come”. Work on one command at a time and always be heavy with the praise. You don’t want to be heavy handed on the treats, just a bit each time. You may however feel free to praise and stroke your dog lovingly for the great job he’s doing.
When training your dog, never let any session last for more than thirty minutes. Your dog will grow tired of this “game” you’re playing and get tired. Once this happens you are definitely done for the day, for he will no longer give you any of his attention.
Follow through with the training, and be consistent for best results. And never, ever use force or punishment as a way of training your dog. It’s cruel and you don’t want to hurt those who love you best.
