With pet businesses considered as a fast-growing global industry, dog training is one of the many pet care services that most pet owners look for in their area. Dog training is a vital part of a dog’s life, and for several reasons. It stimulates the brain, keeping dogs happy. If combined with a morning exercise, they are more likely to sleep all day after a long and tiring physical and mental morning routine.
Most dog trainers utilize k9 training software to manage their training classes more efficiently. If you are an expert trainer or want to train your pets, here are the twelve(12) golden rules for dog training and how the software can help you easily comply with these rules.
K9 Training Should be a Fun Experience for You and the Dog.
If you think you are not in the mood for a training session yet, don’t start. Keep the training sessions as short as 5-10 minutes to maintain the pet’s motivation.If the dog doesn’t respond correctly after several attempts of a specific command, do not reward him, but let him take a short break, resuming with a more detailed order he can follow. Train dogs step by step, a different class where you can arrange these schedules using k9 training software.
Every dog must know the basic obedience commands such as sit, stay, down, and come.
Teaching them these basic commands off-leash is also essential. As the tasks become more complex, a dog’s motivation to respond might decrease. Thus, the chance of succeeding in dog training depends on the dog’s incitement to react.
Do not include any adverse consequences in training nor use punishment-based components.
Please do not yell at your dog whenever it’s not able to do a task. No hitting, hanging, chain jerking, and electric shock allowed. Each training session must give dogs a positive vibe and lots of rewards for a job well done. Most dogs either want to please their owners or get highly valued resources such as food or toys. You can use it as a reward to increase their motivation.
If using K9 training software, advise pet owners to schedule a training time where dogs’ motivation for reward is the highest.
If they take food as a reward, they can have the session before the meal. A full tummy after eating doesn’t make the pet motivated for training anymore. If the prize is attention such as praise or petting, pet owners can book a session when dogs hunger for their attention. For example, coming home from work or seeing them in the morning when you wake up.
Your training reward must be the most powerful one your dog can ever get.
Food-motivated dogs may receive treats or something they really want but can’t always have on their bowls. This way, they will give their best in obeying your commands to receive the treat. Do not give large food treats that crumble and with textures that require too much chewing. These treats take too long to eat and might get your dog’s attention rather than focusing on the training.
If the reward is your attention, give it in high singsong tones because it is pleasing, and they would love it. Enthusiasm in your voice affects their motivation to obey and perform the next tasks. In petting, stroking the side of their face or scratching them on the chest works. Most dogs also love petting on the top of the head.
It is also vital to value the timing of the reward.
Experts recommend giving an award within ½ second after a correct response. This way, you can assure that your dog can correlate his behavior to the tip. If your dog never experienced training at all, the first few sessions will be challenging. Sign up now and make an appointment through the k9 training software to train your dogs with the right hands.
Short commands are efficient.
When you say commands such as sit, down, out, off, and leave it, say it once. Repeating the command will not help as dogs will recall orders for about two minutes before the perception is lost. Using the command “come,” first attract the dog by saying his name, followed by the word “come.” You may say “good boy” even before he comes so that he’s confident that he’s not in trouble. Your tone should be cheerful and lively.
If you are going to put a dog on a leash during a training session, attract his attention so he will look at you.
Make sure to look at him, too, and then say a command. If you ask them to sit, beginner dogs will slowly get into the sitting position. Praise them immediately with a high and cheerful voice as you give the reward. However, untrained dogs will need assistance for doing the command. You may move the treat over and above his head to achieve the sitting position. You may also use placement techniques such as putting a little tension in collars or downward pressure on the rump. For client appointments, k9 training software may help pet owners indicate if their pet is a beginner or not, so trainers know the right approach for a particular training session.
Level up your training sessions once in a while.
After achieving 85% of the total improvement needed in a quiet and undisturbed environment, you can now move on to the next stage. Start to mold a behavior toward the ideal response and increase reward as the dog progresses to respond faster.
Gradually increase the time dogs must obey the command.
For example, you command it to sit. Increase the time it must remain seated for at least one minute while at about 5 feet away. After that, you may add more time as the distance also increases. This sit-stay command must be successful for about 5-10 trials before moving on to another task.
Keep sessions short and frequent.
Dogs will learn more from short regular sessions than lengthy sessions with long intervals. Once they are already efficient with useful commands on a continuous reward giving, it is now time to change an intermittent schedule. Initially, you may give rewards thrice or twice, and then every other third command, and lesser until you reach an occasional giving of prizes.
After working in quiet areas, it’s time to move now to environments with more distractions.
You may do it in a yard with a leash at first, slowly adjusting your distance, and finally dropping the leash to teach them to obey without you on the other end of the lead. After this, dogs will slowly get used to busy places and still listen as you give a command.
