Dog training involves the process of teaching your dog skill and good behavior. Training your dog is important in ensuring a safe, stable and healthy relationship and companionship Dog training near me.
Types of dog training techniques can be classified under the following school of thoughts;
- The traditional training methods school of thought – this school of thought encourages the infliction of physical pain and punishment in ensuring dog obedience and cooperation
- The positive training school of thought – this school of thought is opposed to the ideologies of the traditional school of thought. It kicks against the use of physical punishment as a means of ensuring an obedient and dutiful dog. It advocates that the use of positive reinforcement should be used as motivator to elicit and maintain good dog behavior
- The dominance trainers – this school of thought is based on the belief that every animal has an innate desire to dominate others. it seeks to kill of this innate desire by way of punishment in order to make a dog submissive and obedient.
The need for dog training usually arises for the following reasons –
• To raise a well respected canine citizen. I want happy, involved, outgoing dogs who are valued and trusted members of the community.
• Building of a strong owner-dog relationship based on trust, co-operation and understanding of clearly defined roles.
• To be in full control of a dog at any point in time and to be able to have utmost confidence in your dog when around people or other animals.
• To help a dog develop on their natural instincts for security, loyalty, protectiveness and alertness
Dog training techniques include the following;
- The treat training method – this method is one of the methods popularly favored by the positive trainers. It involves giving your dog treats each time there is good behavior. The treat also helps to trigger repetition of such good behavior by the dog in the future so as to ensure continuous supply of treats. Treats serve as motivators and allows for positive reinforcement. Treats can range from edibles like biscuits, bones to non edible treats like favorite dog toys or fun games.
- Use of training collars – dog collars these days often come with different functions; there are dog bark collars which can be used to control noisy dogs. Examples include the citronella collar and the shock treatment collar.
- Dog potty training – to reduce the mess your dog creates with urine and faeces, it is important you create a schedule for taking your dog to relieve himself, usually after food. There should be positive rewards for a dog when a dog relieves itself without supervision. a crate should be provided for this purpose and you should issue command to the dog to relieve itself in the crate.
- Body block – this is used when you want to prevent your dog from entering a particular area. If the dog enters this area, you carry it out and you your body to obstruct it from gaining further entrance. It should be noted that there is no hitting or beating in body block
- No touch, no talk, and no eye contact – this is effective when you want your dog to become submissive and calm. This is an effective technique but can be difficult to use consistently if you are crazy about your dog
- Agility training – this is done to help your dog get better and stronger. It works on balance, control, mental alertness and patience. It tests and improves your dog’s physical abilities. It usually involves fun activities and competition for your dog that should be completed within the shortest time possible. It provides fun for you and your dog in the course of training
- Hand signs – this involves the use of clear and bold hand signals. It is used for training a deaf dog or a dog with hearing difficulty training a deaf dog. Signs should be consistent to help the dog catch up quickly. Rewards should be given to reinforce positive behavior and continuous obedience to signals.