To everyone that owns a dog, they are truly a best friend and a loyal companion. If you are becoming a first-time owner, you will want your new friend to behave themselves around other people and dogs. Getting a new dog, whether it’s an adult or a puppy, requires you to remember certain things about the way they interact with you and how they see your relationship. To help you, here are a few tips on how a new dog may impact your life, and ways you can work with the dog to ensure you start off on the best paw. You can also visit Dog Blogto learn more about the health benefits of having a dog.

Be Persistent and Patient

You might be eager to get started with your training, and you might have ideas of teaching them to roll over or fetch the ball. However, this training should be left until they have learned the basics. Training at first might be slow going as dogs can only take in so much information at a time. It means you should only train your dog for a short amount of time each day. The training needs to be regular and persistent so that they learn to treat it as part of the routine.

Become the Pack Leader

Dogs are pack animals, and they like to live in a regime, which can be of enormous benefit to you when it comes to training. You need to let your dog know that you are the pack leader, this will encourage your dog to do as you ask and make it easier when it comes to training. Start by letting them lick the backs of your hands and try to rub their bellies continuously. If your dog shows their belly to you, it means they are submitting to you. Once you have achieved this, use that status to give your dog commands and repeat them until they have learned what to do.

Expect Mistakes and Correct Them

Dogs are just like humans in that they will make mistakes, especially when they are puppies as they are also learning how to be a dog. You should expect there to be some mistakes, and for your training to take time to sink in. In fact, it is unlikely that your training will have an impact on the first few tries, no matter how intelligent they are. If you see your dog making mistakes, then try to correct them at the time instead of letting them carry on. It is widely thought that if you try to fix a mistake, later on, they will just become confused and won’t be able to correct it.

Reward Good Behavior

Like most animals, if you give dogs a reward for something they have done, they will want to do it again. You should reward good behavior and any other task or training technique that has gone well. You need to reinforce the good while correcting the bad that way your dog should make fewer mistakes. When it comes to a reward, there should, of course, be plenty of loving and making a fuss of them. They will love that and be eager to recreate what they did to get it again. You can also give them a food reward, but you need to be careful what you give them. If you give them high-calorie treats, then they can quickly start to put on weight.

Have the Right Equipment for Training

When you are trying to train your dog to do something, you need to have the right equipment so that you can get them to do what you want. For example, when you are walking your dog, it is a good idea to get a specific training leash, so you can keep control. You need to find the best dog leash for training and then use it every time you take them out for a walk. Some leashes are designed to stop your dog from pulling which can be a major problem in the beginning. It is also important to make them safe and visible if you are walking at night.

Keep the Training Sessions Short

If you were stuck in a training session for a few hours every day, the chances are that you would be bored after a short while and lose concentration. The same applies to your dog; they cannot cope with long training sessions. If you do try to train them for an hour or more, they won’t take in much of what you teach them. It is far better to train them for 10 to 15 minutes per day and let them rest or play the rest of the time. It can be especially important to puppies as their energy levels are not that good when they are young.

Make Your Training Fun

Dogs love to have fun and to play as much as possible, so if you can turn training into a fun and positive experience, they will retain even more information. Although you need to be firm and repeat commands to them, it should also be intermingled with periods of fun. If it becomes all work and no play, your dog will grow to dislike training. You should also be training to the weather conditions, for example, if it is hot and sunny, then train for a few minutes then let them rest in the shade with some water.

End Your Training Sessions on a Positive Note

It is important that you try to do the most difficult training at the beginning of the session and work towards the easiest ones at the end. It is at the end when your dog will get tired so doing something that almost guarantees a reward will leave them in good spirits. It is also important to give them some affection at the end of the training, so they feel they have pleased you and made you happy. To them, this will be a positive ending to the training, and it will encourage them next time. Check out this article if you want to learn more tips and tricks to raise your new dog.

There is no minimum or a maximum number of training sessions you need. It is all about helping them to learn and to keep going until they succeed.

Author

Northern girl Laura is the epitome of a true entrepreneur. Laura’s spirit for adventure and passion for people blaze through House of Coco. She founded House of Coco in 2014 and has grown it in to an internationally recognised brand whilst having a lot of fun along the way. Travel is in her DNA and she is a true visionary and a global citizen.

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