No matter whether you have got a puppy or adopted an older dog from a shelter, you should be spending time training your dog. Do not believe the old saying that you can’t teach old dogs’ new tricks; dogs of all ages are perfectly capable of learning and enjoy the opportunity. So not only is it vital that you train your dog, but it is also good fun for the pair of you. Here are some great reasons why you need to train your dog.
Problem Behaviours
Every year thousands of dogs end up being surrendered to dog rescue centres all over the country. Nearly every time this is because the dog is displaying behaviour that the owner does not find acceptable, but things have got so bad they are not able to correct this for themselves. Some owners simply will not pay for expert help while others claim they do not have the time or energy.
Starting as you mean to go on from the first day your puppy comes home will help ensure that problem behaviours don’t occur, and your dog can spend a long and happy life as part of your family.
Social Training
We expect quite a lot of our dogs; they have to fit into human life and everything that entails. We take them out in the car, for walks, and expect them to behave in the home. As you can see from the above, this does not always goat according to plan, but it is crucial that you socially train your dog. This means from a very young age; you should expose it to many different scenarios.
From simple things like sitting quietly near a road and watching cars come and go to opening umbrellas, loud noises, children running screaming and many other things that the dog will encounter. In this case, training is simply a case of demonstrating by example that none of these things requires a reaction from the dog and they can sit quietly getting a fuss from you while life goes on around them. It’s also essential they are socialised with other dogs so that they understand and learn to play nicely or ignore the dog completely.
Builds Trust
Dog training is a great way to create a bond between human and animal. Spending time together learning things where the dog is rewarded for positive behaviour will help build up the crucial bond and make them another member of the family. Positive reinforcement is the best way to train your dog; this means ignoring things you don’t want the dog to be doing by calmly removing them from the situation and distracting them and then rewarding them for things you do want them to do.
Ignore any information that you hear about dominant pack leaders as this has been debunked several times, and actually, these training methods can be very dangerous to the dog. Your dog will fit nicely into your family with mutual respect and trust much easier than an animal that is ruled by domination and fear.
