Hiring a qualified, positive dog trainer is the best investment you can make in your dog. This investment will be returned to you and your dog exponentially by providing a healthy relationship and a happy home.
Dog training used to just be about teaching dogs obedience commands, usually
through the use of punishment-based techniques. It was often wrongly considered to be something so straightforward and simple that anyone could do it on their own without the help of a professional.
This attitude does still exist to a degree today, but more often, dog parents are
beginning to recognize that dog training can have life-saving value. They understand that finding a qualified, educated trainer to work with them and their dogs is the right way to go and will provide the guidance they need.
How you train matters
Science has evolved, and with it, the profession of dog training has evolved, but not without some debate. Many traditional trainers, who promote outdated dominance and punishment-based philosophies have seen their business decline due to the increased numbers of educated, enlightened, science-based dog trainers. As a result, dog parents may face choices when it comes to choosing the training philosophy that is right for them and their dog.
Positive training puts the emphasis on teaching dogs what to do, not continually
punishing a dog for not doing what we want. What sets apart a really good positive trainer from the rest is not just their ability to teach a dog to do things using reward-based teaching, but to use humane techniques to also curb and prevent negative behavior. Positive training makes dogs more confident and builds a strong bond between dog and person. It encourages the dog to listen and respond when asked to do something and works well on all kinds of dogs including those" working" dogs with high drive.
The fact is, the majority of domestic dogs haven’t received any real training – positive or otherwise. Since our dogs are now sharing our homes and lives in much bigger ways, it is more important than ever that our dogs receive a good canine education. Doing so will prevent thousands of dogs from being surrendered to shelters due to behavioral issues that could have been prevented. Investing the time to teach your dog will make living with them much easier and that investment could also save their life.
5 Reasons why dog training is important
1. Builds a positive relationship
One of the best ways to build a healthy relationship with your dog is to
understand how your dog perceives their world, as well as how they learn. Usingpositive training makes learning rewarding and successful. Unfortunately there are still some trainers practicing today who believe in order to properly train your dog, you must first teach them who is boss by becoming the ‘alpha’ or ‘pack leader'. This approach is always doomed to fail because the methods used to establish this dominance over dogs are physically and psychologically damaging and dangerous.
Positive training, which rewards and motivates a dog for behavior that you want, allows you to create a relationship with your dog based on mutual trust and understanding instead of fear and intimidation. The most effective teachers are those who can influence behavior without the use of force. They work through any problems their dogs might have in a positive and supportive manner. Dogs who are taught using positive reinforcement methods are more tolerant, self-controlled, and behave much more predictably in different situations.
2. Teaches life skills
Every dog needs to learn how to live successfully in a home. Today’s dogs might seem to have an easy life compared to their wild counterparts, but living in the human world comes with certain unique pressures. Teaching your dog life skills and providing them with enough mental enrichment and physical exercise will prevent them from developing anxiety and other stress-related behaviors such as destructive chewing, excessive barking, and aggression. An important part of the learning process is to set your dog up for success by managing their environment and making it easy for them to thrive. This begins with understanding how your dog reacts in certain situations. For example, if your dog is highly social and loves new people coming into your home, teach them to greet without jumping on your guest. This helps to discourage excitable behavior while still allowing your dog to enjoy the new person. If your dog is fearful of new people, take pressure off by putting them behind a baby gate or in a room as the person enters. Safe space is vitally important for dogs that are socially inexperienced or fearful, and managing the environment to reduce pressure keeps everyone safe and happy.
3. Increases sociability
Increasing your dog’s enjoyment of social interaction will give them the
confidence to deal with the challenges of living in a home. Teaching your dog to cope in different situations requires understanding, but consistent commitment ensures success. We have high expectations for our dogs, encouraging them to be friendly with everyone they meet, even if they are uncomfortable in certain situations. It’s therefore vital to socialize your dog by giving them positive experiences with all kinds of people, animals, and environments. Doing this at a young age will build their confidence and reduce the potential for anxiety and discomfort in adulthood.
Socialization does not mean your dog always has to physically touch another dog or person. Humans socialize without physically touching each other. Exposing your dog to different situations where they can observe and
experience at a distance is as important as teaching them to accept physical touch.
Socialization is about making sure your dog is comfortable in these social situations while taking care not to force them into a situation they might find uncomfortable. If you have the kind of dog that doesn’t interact well with others, don’t feel that you need to force it. Like some people, not all dogs enjoy being social. Understanding how your dog copes will determine how far you can go and even though having a social dog might be preferable, it is not a failure if your dog doesn’t enjoy it and finds it uncomfortable. Observing how they cope will help you respect and understand their limitations.
4. Avoiding problem behaviors
Training your dog builds a language of communication between the two of you that promotes security and comfort. The more time you invest teaching your dog to live successfully in your world, the more you will avoid problem behaviors that comes from a lack of understanding. Unfortunately, many dogs end up being punished for behavior that could have been avoided if the time was taken to help them learn. Dogs may respond well to cues in training, but may remain unprepared to deal with life’s pressures in the real world. Make sure that every cue or action you use has a purpose behind it. “Place” is a valuable cue because it can be used at times when you need your dog to be physically and emotionally calm, while “come” is a cue that allows your dog to be off-leash but teaches them to return to you when you need it. Hand targeting or the “touch” cue, for example, not only helps your dog get used to hands being extended toward them, something they are likely to experience many times in life, but is also good for teaching recall.
5. Loyalty and companionship
Positive reinforcement does not mean being permissive, it simply means that you focus on teaching your dog what “to do”, and stop unwanted behaviors without relying on relationship-destructive techniques like intimidation, pain, force, or threats. Guiding your dog to make the right choices and understanding what they need to be happy will help increase the bond between you.
Misunderstandings about dog training
There are great misconceptions that positive trainers never like to say no to their dogs and allow them to get away with negative behavior. There are also misguided beliefs that positive trainers only teach by filling dogs with treats and that they lack the skills to truly deal with problem behaviors such as aggression.
Positive training helps people foster relationships with all types of dogs who have all types of behaviors by understanding and turning the problem behavior around without the use of force or fear. This changes behavior without damaging the trust between the dog and the human. Anyone can use rewards to teach dogs to learn but it takes advanced knowledge and skill to turn challenging behavior around without the use of force.
People who take the time to teach their dogs, lead much more fulfilling lives with their canine companions. A healthy balance of learning, sociability, and providing your dog with the right kind of exercise and enrichment will ensure their success. People who fail to give their dogs the education they need are doing them a great disservice and will have problems in the future. The learning process does not have to be costly or intense, and the more enjoyable it is for the both of you, the better the results will be.
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