Three Principles on Dog Obedience Training
There are dog obedience training schools where dogs are trained to follow simple commands using three basic principles as the trainer’s guide.. Most dog training and dog behavior schools use these principles. They are the following:
Principle One: Consistency. This covers the use of words, tone, and the actions that accompany the word or command. During the beginning of the training, the trainer or the dog owner must decide what should be the parameters of training- what you are trying to teach the dog and how to do it. Words do not make sense to a dog. Your dog does not understand our language, nor does he understand or think, the way we do.
For the training to be understandable, the command must be used in a consistent manner so he can recognize the meaning to the word and tone. If you are using the word ‘come’ make sure everyone is. The command ‘Come’ specifically means that the dog should approach the giver of the command and use it in that sense. If he does not come to you, do not force the dog to come to you and punish him for doing so. Your dog would attribute the command with the punishment.
Then what would you expect?He would not follow the same command since this leads to punishment. The same command used, by all people, must be consistent. For example, if you use the words ‘come’ make sure everyone in your family uses that word also, not ‘come here’.
Principle Two:The hours devoted to training and the words used as command should be kept short. Remember that the attention span of dogs is extremely short so it is almost impossible to keep them engaged in the one activity. Combining children with your puppy obedience training is an example of keeping your training sessions short as they would lose interest very quickly, so it is best to move on to the next thing.
Your dog becomes easily bored and their interest at the beginning soon fades. Training should be kept to ten to fifteen minutes and set at regular times.
Principle Three: Do not use force and punishment to hurt your dog when training. Also, never force the dog to follow the command if he is not prepared for it or punish a dog for something he did. Don’t push the animal too hard while training.
Your dog has no understanding of your impatience for his lack of learning speed. All he knows is that you are mad. Using force does not convey your meaning correctly whereas negative reinforcement does. If he knows that he is praised when he does something right, then he should not feel praised when he does not follow a command.
You have to be understanding and patient, especially during your dog obedience training sessions. The outcome will be a very responsive and well trained dog.
