Your readiness to know how to train a dog speaks volumes as to how much you care about your pet and its well-being as a member of your household as well as the community. Training a dog on your own is lots of hard work and can be rather tricky but if you understand the basic principles of dog behavior, you can just as quickly enjoy the benefits of your time and efforts invested in training your dog. A relaxed and well-behaved dog spares you from noisy barking at night, destructive habits like scratching, jumping, gnawing, and biting, undisciplined elimination, and anxieties that your dog might do harm to other people.

The Basic Principles of Dog Behavior

Different dog breeds are more susceptible to certain training methods. For instance, a Doberman is easily trained as a guard dog and border collies are predisposed to be a herding dog because of its ancestry. Some dogs like retrievers and setters are great at hunting. If you’re interested in learning the basics of ways to train a dog, you must have a good idea of precisely how his or her mind works.

A dog’s lineage is traced back to the wolves. While they have come to be domesticated enough to earn a place within our homes, it is not a surprise that physical characteristics and wolfish instincts are retained. As our fuzzy pets have sharp eyes and a keen sense of smell, dogs still harbor an innate need to be part of a pack.

This does not necessarily mean that you should fear your pet running away to join a neighborhood gang of howling dogs; it is their need for a leader to follow. You can use this characteristic to your advantage by establishing yourself as your dog’s fair and firm-handed leader. It instills a sense of security in them to have someone to follow around. If a dog does not see your leadership qualities, it will not hesitate to take on the position as leader of the “pack.”

For your dog to follow your lead, you need to be ready to take on the role of the “alpha dog.” Do not ever let those big, begging puppy eyes to destroy your resolve not to let him sleep on your bed at night. Occasionally show it who the boss is by asking it to leave his place in the couch so you can site or not feeding him until you are done eating. It may be hard to do but keeping him in his place is the key on how to train a dog successfully.

While it is best to start training a dog while it is still a puppy, older dogs you adopt from animal shelters can still be taught new tricks, contrary to popular belief. For beginners, learning how to train a dog can get a bit frustrating. Bear in mind that your dog cannot learn all the tricks in the book overnight. Avoid yelling at or hitting it. Not only does it make your dog scared and mistrustful, it is also illegal.

Reward and praise your dog every time it successfully obeys a command . Apply reinforcement through consistency and repetition of your commands. Promote awareness about your pet’s training in the household in order to avoid confusion. And most of all, never stop trying.

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