Top 4 Dog Training Tips

Are you a dog lover? Want to train your dog? Need dog training tips and advice? Here are the basics. These are general rules every pet owner needs to know about dog training!

Be Patient

The cardinal rule is: love and respect your pet. Build your dog-owner relationship on mutual respect. Remember, positive reinforcement works wonders as opposed to violent methods. Use an encouraging tone and give him or her rewards. Teaching your dog or puppy to fear you will only teach him or her to defend himself or herself against you. If you've got a short fuse, you need to recite this over and over again like a mantra especially when your disobedient dog keeps running away from you. Never hit your dog.

Start Early

This is one of the most important of all dog training tips. Remember the saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Well, that may not be absolutely true in all cases. But that is probably true in most cases. Dogs that have grown to be disobedient learned to be disobedient. They haven't been disciplined and haven't been shown any boundaries. Again, they actually LEARNED to be disobedient because their owners have unknowingly trained them to be that way. Dogs (and people) learn a great deal while growing up. Puppy training successfully imprints commands and behavior. What he or she learns as a puppy will determine his or her manners as an adult dog.

Be Prepared

There are several tools you need while training your dog. You need to make sure that you're truly prepared before the training begins. For example, there are many types of collars out there in the market. Choose the right one for training your dog. Break away collars for example, is never good for training. The light line or check-cord is better suited for training dogs. This is a sort strong cotton cord about forty to fifty feet long that you can buy in any hardware. It's perfect to use instead of a training leash if you want to control your dog at a greater distance (such as in fetching and search rescue). Dogs of different breeds and sizes also need different types of cord thickness as well as different types of leashes. Of course, the most invaluable materials you will need are dog biscuits. You need to use your dog's favorite treat as a reward.

Another thing to consider is determining the right place to train your dog. You might have to train him or her indoors sometimes but it is generally better to train outdoors for practical reasons. You also need to make sure that there are no distractions. These will compete with the dog's attention and would hinder him from absorbing command signals.

Keep at it!

This rule goes sort of relates to the first rule. Remember that training your dog is an everyday thing. This is especially true for behavior modification. If the dog sees that he or she can get away with being aggressive even just once, then he or she will be likely to do it again. Be firm with your methods and he or she will lean not to disobey or challenge you.

All in all, those are four general dog training tips and rules that all dog owners need to know. Keep these in mind and be responsible.