10 most common dog training mistakes
How a dog “thinks” has a lot to do with understanding the ways to train your dog.
Human emotions cannot come into play when training your dog. Dogs live in the moment. Understanding your dog’s mindset is important to the success of the training process. The trainer must be able to become the dog by proxy utilizing a calm and comfortable atmosphere conducive to both dog and trainer to understand each other. It is always good to start training when your dog is young but you can also be very successful in training older dogs. Older dogs will require more patience to find the connection between dog and trainer. Food is a catalyst that dogs instinctively seek and plays a big part in the communication between dog and trainer. When feeling that your dog may not be following your training food may be what motivates a connection. It is important to find this connection with your dog to enable the sense of purpose for the whole training meaning. Be sure that you never reward for incompetent behavior.
Dog training mistakes are really human caused or the human mistake. If this surprises you, don’t be. Many dog owners make mistakes without realizing it because bad advice, reading incorrect information ore maybe that’s how they were taught with the family dog when they had a pet as a youngster. They may not even realize that they are doing it wrong. Frustration in training your dog when puppies “have accidents” in the house, or grown dogs won’t come when called or jump on people for attention, but these and other problems are not the fault of the dog. Just remember as a pet owner you may fall into some poor training habits. But if you can avoid a few common mistakes your dog training process will be an extremely enjoyable and fun experience for you and your dog.
Don’t make the mistake of calling your dog to come to you and then, “punishing” him or doing something to upset him by doing something he doesn’t like. Your dog is having tons of fun in the dog park — you call and he comes to you — and you reward his behavior by putting him on a leash and taking him home. Or he’s in the yard having fun, you call him to come in and when he does, you start to clean his ears, cut his nails or brush his teeth. Is it any wonder your dog no longer comes when called.
While your dog is having fun playing, periodically call him to you, give him “refreshments” and then say, “Go play!” Remember that in the teaching phase, you’re building trust with your dog. By doing this few times, your dog will learn to love to come to you when he hears his name and won’t be worried that the fun is ending.
Sticking your dog’s nose in his messes to correct his housebreaking “mistakes.” Bad move. You don’t actually have a problem with your dog “going,” you just have a problem with the location. Sticking his nose in it or hitting him with a rolled up newspaper will only confuse your dog and may actually teach him to hide his bodily functions from you.
Ignoring bad behaviors such as jumping, chewing and aggression, thinking your dog will “grow out of it.” The longer your dog is allowed to continue inappropriate behavior, the more certain he will become that it is acceptable. Jumping, chewing and aggression are not stages of a dog’s development, but unacceptable behavior. Teach your dog that this is unwanted behavior by teaching him what to do instead.
Hitting your dog or using pain in the learning process. Today we have products available to keep dogs from pulling on the leash, research about modifying behavior by positive and negative reinforcement though humane methods that don’t involve pain — there’s simply no need to use any type of pain method on your best friend!
Taking your dog back in the house immediately after he eliminates. Your dog takes forever to go to the bathroom — he takes as much time as he can to find just the right spot and read all the p-mail in the neighborhood. Why? Because the minute he eliminates, his time outside is all over and you hustle him back into the house. So in order to stay outside longer, he simply delays going to the bathroom.
The solution? Teach your dog to go to the bathroom on cue and, once he does, reward him by starting the walk then!
Remember, dogs have good days and bad days.
If your dog is sick or sore, your dog will have trouble focusing on the training you are working on together. Always check your dog over to make sure they are feeling well and good health. Be sure to check your dog daily for any type of wound or illness. If he appears to be off-color or having a bad day, it may be best to limit the training for a day or so or until your dog is feeling better.
Don’t avoid eye contact with your dog. Eye contact is critical.
Your dog can't learn if he isn't paying attention! Make sure any stimulus is strong enough to get him to give you eye contact. Working with non-verbal signals only is a good way to teach your dog to keep one eye on you at all times.
Repeating commands over and over is frustrating for you and your dog.
How many times have you watched someone repeat a command several times while their dog pretended to be completely deaf? Have you done this yourself? Saying, "come" over and over, until you sound like a broken record, is a sure sign that you've forgotten one of the principles of training. If a behavior works for him, he will repeat that behavior. If it doesn't work he will try something else.
If you ever want your dog to obey on the first command, don't fall into the trap of repeating a command and doing nothing while he ignores you. Give the command once, and if he doesn't respond, go to him, take him by the collar. Now repeat the command and physically help him obey. If you never repeat a command without using the collar, he will come to the conclusion that he might as well obey the first time so as to take advantage of your good nature.
Using force in training
If you're up on all the latest trends in training you'll know that eliminating the use of force to train a dog has become one of the great crusades of the doggy world. "Positive reinforcement" is the new buzzword of the training establishment, with some going so far as to decry any use of force or negative reinforcement of any kind.
It's true there are people who use excessive force when training and something needs to be done to show them a better way, but advocating the complete abolishment of force in training is not only miss-leading, it's impractical, counter-productive, and, to the best of my knowledge, impossible.
If you, or someone you know, have successfully trained a dog without the use of any force, please put me in touch with them.
I have never been able to train a dog without using force. I've never known anyone else who's been able to do it either. Sure I've met lots of people who claim they never use force in their training program. Usually when they're telling me this, they're holding one end of a leash while the dog strains at the other end. That's a dead giveaway. It’s never about whether to use force. It's always about the appropriate use of force, when to use force, how to use force, and using the least amount of force to get the required response.
In your dog’s natural environment, force is the constant companion of every dog. The pack leaders' authority is born of force. Every dog’s' pack-position is born of force. The dog is either serving it up or they are on the receiving end. He understands this type of force as a way of life. Your dog understands force perhaps much better than you.
Be cautious of repeating mistakes in your training program. One of the most common mistakes in training your dog is by allowing the dog to associate a chain of events with a certain activity. For example, when you take the dog for a walk, you put on your coat, get the leash down off the hook, grab your keys, and off you go. The dog associates these events as a sequence leading up to a walk. Before long, when you take the leash down, he knows he's going out. Soon, all it takes is for you to put on your coat and he's ready to go.
Established patterns of behavior are extremely useful in training, especially in the introduction of new exercises. But be sure to watch for the first signs of anticipation and then begin varying the routine so that the dog cannot anticipate when the next command will come. This keeps you in charge of the training and allows your dog to respect and listen to you carefully to determine what you expect of them.
Human emotions cannot come into play when training your dog. Dogs live in the moment. Understanding your dog’s mindset is important to the success of the training process. The trainer must be able to become the dog by proxy utilizing a calm and comfortable atmosphere conducive to both dog and trainer to understand each other. It is always good to start training when your dog is young but you can also be very successful in training older dogs. Older dogs will require more patience to find the connection between dog and trainer. Food is a catalyst that dogs instinctively seek and plays a big part in the communication between dog and trainer. When feeling that your dog may not be following your training food may be what motivates a connection. It is important to find this connection with your dog to enable the sense of purpose for the whole training meaning. Be sure that you never reward for incompetent behavior.
Dog training mistakes are really human caused or the human mistake. If this surprises you, don’t be. Many dog owners make mistakes without realizing it because bad advice, reading incorrect information ore maybe that’s how they were taught with the family dog when they had a pet as a youngster. They may not even realize that they are doing it wrong. Frustration in training your dog when puppies “have accidents” in the house, or grown dogs won’t come when called or jump on people for attention, but these and other problems are not the fault of the dog. Just remember as a pet owner you may fall into some poor training habits. But if you can avoid a few common mistakes your dog training process will be an extremely enjoyable and fun experience for you and your dog.
Don’t make the mistake of calling your dog to come to you and then, “punishing” him or doing something to upset him by doing something he doesn’t like. Your dog is having tons of fun in the dog park — you call and he comes to you — and you reward his behavior by putting him on a leash and taking him home. Or he’s in the yard having fun, you call him to come in and when he does, you start to clean his ears, cut his nails or brush his teeth. Is it any wonder your dog no longer comes when called.
While your dog is having fun playing, periodically call him to you, give him “refreshments” and then say, “Go play!” Remember that in the teaching phase, you’re building trust with your dog. By doing this few times, your dog will learn to love to come to you when he hears his name and won’t be worried that the fun is ending.
Sticking your dog’s nose in his messes to correct his housebreaking “mistakes.” Bad move. You don’t actually have a problem with your dog “going,” you just have a problem with the location. Sticking his nose in it or hitting him with a rolled up newspaper will only confuse your dog and may actually teach him to hide his bodily functions from you.
Ignoring bad behaviors such as jumping, chewing and aggression, thinking your dog will “grow out of it.” The longer your dog is allowed to continue inappropriate behavior, the more certain he will become that it is acceptable. Jumping, chewing and aggression are not stages of a dog’s development, but unacceptable behavior. Teach your dog that this is unwanted behavior by teaching him what to do instead.
Hitting your dog or using pain in the learning process. Today we have products available to keep dogs from pulling on the leash, research about modifying behavior by positive and negative reinforcement though humane methods that don’t involve pain — there’s simply no need to use any type of pain method on your best friend!
Taking your dog back in the house immediately after he eliminates. Your dog takes forever to go to the bathroom — he takes as much time as he can to find just the right spot and read all the p-mail in the neighborhood. Why? Because the minute he eliminates, his time outside is all over and you hustle him back into the house. So in order to stay outside longer, he simply delays going to the bathroom.
The solution? Teach your dog to go to the bathroom on cue and, once he does, reward him by starting the walk then!
Remember, dogs have good days and bad days.
If your dog is sick or sore, your dog will have trouble focusing on the training you are working on together. Always check your dog over to make sure they are feeling well and good health. Be sure to check your dog daily for any type of wound or illness. If he appears to be off-color or having a bad day, it may be best to limit the training for a day or so or until your dog is feeling better.
Don’t avoid eye contact with your dog. Eye contact is critical.
Your dog can't learn if he isn't paying attention! Make sure any stimulus is strong enough to get him to give you eye contact. Working with non-verbal signals only is a good way to teach your dog to keep one eye on you at all times.
Repeating commands over and over is frustrating for you and your dog.
How many times have you watched someone repeat a command several times while their dog pretended to be completely deaf? Have you done this yourself? Saying, "come" over and over, until you sound like a broken record, is a sure sign that you've forgotten one of the principles of training. If a behavior works for him, he will repeat that behavior. If it doesn't work he will try something else.
If you ever want your dog to obey on the first command, don't fall into the trap of repeating a command and doing nothing while he ignores you. Give the command once, and if he doesn't respond, go to him, take him by the collar. Now repeat the command and physically help him obey. If you never repeat a command without using the collar, he will come to the conclusion that he might as well obey the first time so as to take advantage of your good nature.
Using force in training
If you're up on all the latest trends in training you'll know that eliminating the use of force to train a dog has become one of the great crusades of the doggy world. "Positive reinforcement" is the new buzzword of the training establishment, with some going so far as to decry any use of force or negative reinforcement of any kind.
It's true there are people who use excessive force when training and something needs to be done to show them a better way, but advocating the complete abolishment of force in training is not only miss-leading, it's impractical, counter-productive, and, to the best of my knowledge, impossible.
If you, or someone you know, have successfully trained a dog without the use of any force, please put me in touch with them.
I have never been able to train a dog without using force. I've never known anyone else who's been able to do it either. Sure I've met lots of people who claim they never use force in their training program. Usually when they're telling me this, they're holding one end of a leash while the dog strains at the other end. That's a dead giveaway. It’s never about whether to use force. It's always about the appropriate use of force, when to use force, how to use force, and using the least amount of force to get the required response.
In your dog’s natural environment, force is the constant companion of every dog. The pack leaders' authority is born of force. Every dog’s' pack-position is born of force. The dog is either serving it up or they are on the receiving end. He understands this type of force as a way of life. Your dog understands force perhaps much better than you.
Be cautious of repeating mistakes in your training program. One of the most common mistakes in training your dog is by allowing the dog to associate a chain of events with a certain activity. For example, when you take the dog for a walk, you put on your coat, get the leash down off the hook, grab your keys, and off you go. The dog associates these events as a sequence leading up to a walk. Before long, when you take the leash down, he knows he's going out. Soon, all it takes is for you to put on your coat and he's ready to go.
Established patterns of behavior are extremely useful in training, especially in the introduction of new exercises. But be sure to watch for the first signs of anticipation and then begin varying the routine so that the dog cannot anticipate when the next command will come. This keeps you in charge of the training and allows your dog to respect and listen to you carefully to determine what you expect of them.
posted by Bowwowbill at
3:29 PM
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