Dog Warp

As most of you who already have dogs surely know, training a dog is no small feat. In fact, the training itself is just one of the last parts of the teaching process. Before that happens though, you need to first become the focus of you dog’s world, and only then will all of your teachings be really understood by your dear canine.

Here are some dos and don’ts in order for you to gain your pup’s full attention:

First, on the topic of negative reinforcement:

A lot of people out there think that punishing your dog will make them more obedient and docile to any command. But the truth is that any kind of physical punishment will just turn your dog away from you. If punished, a dog will learn just to fear and to hide from you and will actually be scared to perform any command you give them.

Threatening is another negative way in which to demand your dog’s attention. At its best, the results you will get are similar to those of punishing them, but most of the time your dog will not even understand you at all, and will just be a little scared of their unstable and yelling owner.

Now on the positive ones:

Little Treats: Food can indeed be a powerful tool to motivate your dog. However, as is the case with any other physical means of stimulation, the more one gets, the less one will be willing to give in order to get more of it. The same is true with dogs and food, if you keep giving your dog big chunks of food every time you want their attention, you will have it, but it will not be long before he’s had enough. So, in order for food incentives to work, make it rain instead of pour. Give your dog little treats and don’t do it very often, this way you will have his full attention the whole time.

Repetition: Like with human learning in its early stages, dogs can learn a lot through repetition. In fact, just the act of repeating will embed some commands and the attention that they entail in your dog’s brain. Additionally, if you enhance this repetition process by giving your dog small treats and praising them, you will have a devoted dog every time you come close to them.

Challenges: Once you are confident in your dog’s abilities, it is time to take things to the next level. In order to do that, you can take your dog to the park or to the forest, where small birds and other animals are abundant. Once there, having your dog on a leash, get them close to where an animal is standing (but keep your dog out of range so he can’t hurt the animal, just in case) and then give your dog the “sit” command. Try this several times until your canine is able to sit even when the animal moves. It might take some sessions to accomplish this but once your dog achieves it, you can be sure you have a dog that is always listening to you.

As we have seen, patience combined with some positive reinforcement exercises will do marvels for your dog, and will strengthen the bonds between you and them considerably.