Tag: Woodlands Puppy Obedience Classes

When submitting their puppy to training, many people make the mistake of believing that once the training is complete, they can simply rely on the training instilled by the instructor forever. Well, while that is a nice sentiment, it couldn’t be much further from the truth.

Think long and hard about what you learned in fifth grade English class, and then ask yourself if you remember any of it. If the answer is no, then you probably need to consider the fact that your puppy is very much the same and with an even shorter attention span. A dog goes through the Woodlands professional puppy training facility for a few different reasons.

Maybe they’re training to be a service dog, maybe they’re being socialized so that they deal with being in public and around people better. Then again, maybe, just maybe you’ve been working on weeding out food aggression. No matter what the case may be, you need to make sure that you’re working on it at home and that you’re reinforcing the training as best you can.

Reinforcing the Woodlands Puppy Training

So when it comes to properly reinforcing the Woodlands puppy training, what is it that you need to do? Believe it or not there are quite a few things, and the first one is making sure that you are consistent. You’ve probably heard this from you trainer over and over again but we’re going to say it once again: Consistency. It’s a four syllable word that’s perhaps the most important when it comes to proper puppy training.

If your puppy has been trained in a certain way, you need to keep up that training at home. It might be easier for you to break the routine, but once you do, you’re going to confuse your pet, and they might simply revert to their old ways. It’s a sad state of affairs but it does happen, and it can become irritating, especially if you have to take them through the training again.

For example, if part of their training involves not feeding them scraps from the table, then you should most certainly avoid feeding them scraps from the table no matter how tempting it might be. The moment you break that rule you’re going to be in serious trouble.

Proper Positive Reinforcement

If you want your dog to adhere to the training then you have to continue with the positive reinforcement. You may not have to treat them every single time they follow a command or do as they are told, but you do need to make sure you award them with praise regularly so that they know they are doing the right thing and that they will continue to do so. This is absolutely critical and any professional puppy trainer/trainers would absolutely agree with this logic.

Be in Charge

The final point that we’d like to bring up is that you need to be in charge when you are dealing with your dog, period. One of the biggest mistakes that dog owners make is allowing them to have their own way every once in a while, and we’re going to say right now that such an approach just isn’t going to work. If you allow your dog to push you around, they’re going to keep pushing and they’re going to keep playing on your weakness.

This is not malicious, it is simply the nature of your dog to play on your weaknesses and attempt to gain pack leadership. No matter how close you are to your dog, the fact remains that they still have a pack mentality and they will always be trying to work their way to the top. You cannot let this happen!

Keep these things in mind when you are dealing with your dog at home. We offer some of the best training in the country, but when it comes right down to it, you’re the one that they respect, and you are the one that will have to make sure they are remembering their training. Don’t worry, we’re going to give you the information you need to keep them on the right path, and both you and your beloved pet will benefit from it.

 

Let’s be honest, your dog is going to be exposed to a lot of things in their lifetime.  This includes distractions like other people, animals, and things that might scare or ‘trigger” your dog like sirens, loud voices, and even thunder (a lot of dogs are terrified of storms).  Good training can help your dog ignore a lot of these distractions and consistently behave well.  Our Woodlands dog training experts  incorporate this as part of our training for dogs of all ages.  Our “no approach fits all” training style helps us to understand what distracts one dog instead of another and why so we can provide individualized training for great results.  To learn more please visit us online at Pup Town Houston.

Dog obedience classes are a must to ensure you have a well-mannered, socialized dog that is a great companion and faithful friend.  You want to make sure that your dog doesn’t “walk you” or find its way into a harmful situation.  This is why training, including ignoring or avoiding distractions, is so important for your dog.  Not to mention you don’t want your dog to hurt another animal or even worse, a person.  If you aren’t ready to enroll your pup in classes just yet, here are some tips on teaching your dog to overcome distractions and be a good canine citizen.

Understand Triggers

As simple as this sounds, it is important to know what your dog finds particularly fascinating.  Some dogs can’t resist the urge to run up to another pup while others love to chase squirrels or other small animals.  If your dog has a penchant for sniffing holes in the ground, this could be a potentially dangerous behavior as this could be an insect nest or home to a poisonous snake.  And if you think a high-pitched siren makes humans wince, imagine what it does to Fido’s senses!  Once you know what your dog’s triggers are, you can figure out the best way to help your pup not give them a second thought.

Set up Success

When helping your dog overcome distractions, develop a series of steps like levels 1-5 to help your dog reach its goal.  If you are teaching your dog to sit, begin in a quiet environment until your dog has the command down pat.  Then gradually introduce a series of distractions while you are giving the command to help your dog ignore the outside factors and focus solely on you.  Start off with a very mild distraction like having the TV on in the background and as your dog completes each step, move your pooch to the final step, like being outside next to a whole family of squirrels while successfully sitting on command.

Positive Reinforcement

As you have a level of 1-5 for your dog’s distraction factors, find a level 1-5 of treats for your dog with 1 being something they love and 5 being a treat your pooch will dance and do backflips for.  As your dog completes each level of overcoming distractions, increase the level of treat to increase positive reinforcement and a greater reward for a greater level of difficulty.  Increasing the positive reinforcement is an effective way of holding your dog’s attention no matter what distraction may arise and you want to make sure you and your dog are prepared for any situation.

Create Distance

While you are teaching your dog to ignore distractions, an effective tactic is to create distance from the distraction.  Let’s say your dog loves to chase squirrels and you realize you need to help your dog overcome this behavior.  While you are in the first steps of helping your dog ignore this distraction, put as much distance between your dog and the squirrels as possible.  When you are in the final steps of training, move your dog closer to the squirrels.  By desensitizing your pup to the distraction, the goal is to reach the point of said object no longer being a distraction.

The same principle can be applied to dogs who are very eager to make new friends as you should be cautious of a new dog until you are familiar with its personality.  By shrinking the stimulus area, you are not only teaching but also protecting yourself and your dog during this important learning experience.