Have A New Puppy Or Young Dog?Before the bad habits start serious thought should be given to obedience training. Th vast majority of dog training experts agree that the most effective and humane way to train a dog is through a process called positive reinforcement. Following is an article on Positive Reinforcement.
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Successful training for your dog: the Positive Reinforcement Method
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It's widely accepted among the vast majority of dog
training experts that the most effective and humane way to train your
dog is through a process called positive reinforcement training. This
is a fancy phrase for what's essentially a very simple theory: using
positive reinforcement entails rewarding the behavior that you wish to
see repeated, and ignoring the behavior that you don't. This method is
in direct contrast to some of the now-outdated but once-popular
techniques for dog training, some of which were frankly abhorrent:
physical pain and intimidation (such as hanging an aggressive dog up by
her collar), or inhumane methods of aversion therapy (such as shock
collars for barking). Positive reinforcement works with your dog. Her
natural instinct is to please you, the theory of positive
reinforcement recognizes that lessons are more meaningful for dogs, and
tend to "stick" more, when a dog is able to figure out what you're
asking under her own steam (as opposed to, say, learning "down" by
being forced repeatedly into a prone position, while the word "down" is
repeated at intervals). When you use positive reinforcement training,
you're allowing her the time and the opportunity to use her own brain.
Some ways for you to facilitate the training process: - Use meaningful
rewards. Dogs get bored pretty quickly with a routine pat on the head
and a "good girl" (and, in fact, most dogs don't even like being patted
on the head, watch their expressions and notice how most will balk or
shy away when a hand descends towards their head). To keep the quality
of your dog"s learning at a high standard, use tempting incentives for
good behavior. Food treats and physical affection are what dog trainers
refer to as "primary incentives", in other words, they're both
significant rewards that most dogs respond powerfully and reliably to.
- Use the right timing. When your dog obeys a command, you must mark
the behavior that you're going to reward so that, when she gets that
treat in her mouth, she understands exactly what behavior it was that
earned her the reward. Some people use a clicker for this: a small
metal sound-making device, which emits a distinct "click" when pressed.
The clicker is clicked at the exact moment that a dog performs the
desired behavior (so, if asking a dog to sit, you'd click the clicker
just as the dog's bottom hits the ground). You can also use your voice
to mark desired behavior: just saying "Yes!" in a happy, excited tone
of voice will work perfectly. Make sure that you give her the treat
after the marker and remember to use the marker consistently. If you
only say "Yes!" or use the clicker sometimes, it won't have any
significance to your dog when you do do it; she needs the opportunity
to learn what that marker means (i.e., that she's done something right
whenever she hears the marker, and a treat will be forthcoming very
shortly). So be consistent with your marker. - Be consistent with your
training commands, too. When you're teaching a dog a command, you must
decide ahead of time on the verbal cue you're going to be giving her,
and then stick to it. So, when training your dog to not jump up on you,
you wouldn't ask her to "get off", "get down", and "stop jumping",
because that would just confuse her; you'd pick one phrase, such as "No
jump", and stick with it. Even the smartest dogs don't understand
English they need to learn, through consistent repetition, the
actions associated with a particular phrase. Her rate of obedience will
be much better if you choose one particular phrase and use it every
time you wish her to enact a certain behavior for you. How to reward
your dog meaningfully All dogs have their favorite treats and preferred
demonstrations of physical affection. Some dogs will do backflips for a
dried liver snippet; other dogs just aren't "chow hounds" (big eaters)
and prefer to be rewarded through a game with a cherished toy, or
through some physical affection from you. You'll probably already have
a fair idea of how much she enjoys being touched and played with each
dog has a distinct level of energy and demonstrativeness, just like
humans do. The best ways to stroke your dog: most dogs really like
having the base of the tail (the lowest part of their back, just before
the tail starts) scratched gently; having their chests rubbed or
scratched (right between the forelegs) is usually a winner, too. You
can also target the ears: gently rub the ear flap between your thumb
and finger, or scratch gently at the base. As far as food is concerned,
it's not hard to figure out what your dog likes: just experiment with
different food treats until you find one that she really goes nuts for.
When it comes to food, trainers have noted an interesting thing: dogs
actually respond most reliably to training commands when they receive
treats sporadically, instead of predictably. Intermittent treating
seems to keep dogs on their toes, and more interested in what might be
on offer - it prevents them from growing tired of the food rewards, and
from making a conscious decision to fore go a treat. How to correct your
dog meaningfully The great thing about positive reinforcement training
is that it doesn't require you to do anything that might go against the
grain. You won't be called upon to put any complex, weighty
correctional theories into practice, or be required to undertake any
harsh punitive measures. When it comes to positive reinforcement
training, all you have to do is ignore the behavior that you don't wish
to see repeated. Not getting any attention (because you're deliberately
ignoring her) is enough to make just about any dog pretty miserable,
and thus is a powerful correctional tool. Contemporary belief in dog
training states that we should simply ignore incorrect responses to a
training command - that, with no reinforcement from us (yes, even
negative attention - like verbal corrections - counts as reinforcement:
to some dogs, negative attention is better than no attention at all),
the dog will stop the behavior of her own accord. The bigger the fuss
you make over her when she does get it right, the clearer the
connection will be between a particular behavior(s) eliciting no
response at all, but other behaviors (the right response) eliciting
massive amounts of positive attention from you. Recommended Reading
Hopefully this newsletter's given you a good basic insight into the
more helpful attitudes and techniques to use when training your dog.
However, the subject remains pretty complex, and it's a good idea to
learn as much about effective training techniques as possible. One
excellent resource for dog training is Secrets to Dog Training: visit Pets R Special 2 for your copy and view many other relevant articles for dogs.
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