Sparky’s Best Dog Training Tips
In celebration of National Train Your Dog Month, Nature’s Advantage is giving away Treat Pouches to the first 100 people that place an order on naturesadv.com beginning January 4, 2021. Make sure to get your order in so you can start the new year off with an extra training boost!
Dogs like Sparky sometimes have a difficult time paying attention because they’re easily distracted. With so many smells, yummy things to taste, squirrels to chase and so many places to lift their leg, it’s no wonder that focus is a little difficult for them. We’ve created a dog training How-To for distracted doggos like our pal Sparky. Here are some of the best dog training tips to get you started:
1) Be patient with your dog
Patience is the most important thing to remember when training a dog. Dogs learn very differently than humans. It takes time to train a dog and if you get frustrated with them they may also get frustrated which makes the dog training no fun for anyone involved, canine or otherwise.
2) It’s all about the reward
Just like people, dogs like to be rewarded for a job well done. However, praising our dogs for being good and listening isn’t enough. When training dogs, we need to reward them with something they really love, such as a delicious treat or an extra special toy. Having a reward gives your dog something to work for and is an incentive for them to pay attention to you.
3) Have a “place” mat for your dog
A good training technique for dogs is to have a “place” mat. This can be a rug, a dog bed or even a rubber mat on the floor. That will essentially become your dog’s safe place. When your dog is overly excited or begging for some of your supper, ask your dog to stand, sit or down on the mat, give them a command such as “place” and give them a treat. Eventually your dog will learn that if they want a treat, they should go wait patiently on their place mat.
4) Start with basic obedience
Before you get to training your dog tricks like playing dead, rolling over and crawling, you first need to teach your dog basic obedience skills. Before starting, do some internet research (and we don’t just mean this blog) to find the best dog training information and dog training tips and tricks. We recommend beginning by teaching your dog to sit. Gently push their butt into the sit position while giving them the “sit” command and as soon as they are sitting reward them with a treat. Eventually you won’t even need to put them in the sit position, you’ll just be able to say “sit” and they will automatically do it. Just remember to reward them with a tasty treat each time.
5) Work on Socialization
Teaching your dog basic obedience skills and how to behave at home is great, but the skills aren’t very useful if your dog forgets them every time you’re out in public because he’s so excited to see all the people and other dogs out and about. Consider enrolling your dog in a socialization or manners class led by a professional dog trainer. A dog trainer will also have the best tips on training a dog. Just remember to bring lots of high value training treats to your dog training class to keep your dog’s focus on you and not on everything else going on around them.
6) Don’t yell at your dog
Sometimes our dogs do things that are really frustrating or scary, like running away. It is important not to raise your voice or yell at your dog when they come to you after doing these things. Your dog doesn’t understand and will think you’re yelling at them for returning. No matter how upset you are, always praise your dog for coming back to you. You want your dog to come running to you willingly, not running the other way due to fear of punishment.
Now that you’ve learned some of Sparky’s top dog training tips you can practice some of them with your own dog. Head on over to the Nature’s Advantage website to pick up some tasty training treats for your dog and check out the other blog posts for more dog tips and tricks. Hurry though, as only the first 100 purchases receive a free training pack. Also, be sure to follow Sparky and Nature’s Advantage on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
