Work hard, play harder; keep this on repeat in your head. Training shouldn’t be a task, it should be something you look forward to! As we come to the end of our National Train You Dog Month mini blog,
we take the time to ensure you are enjoying your training together! Training shouldn’t be a chore, negative, frustrating, or stressful, but rather the most bond building and great moment with your companion. We know that it does become negative, but why? Many times we create the stress and frustration. It is not healthy for your relationship or the goals you have set forth. Check out our five steps to making it fun!
1. Make it Routine. Creating and reinforcing good behaviors in your dog’s every day routine helps with consistency and management of good behaviors. You can do this by simply asking your dog to sit before going outside, having them wait for their food, or even with play! Sit down and look at your daily routine and determine what you can create!
2. Keep it simple. Goals can be short term and long term, but either needs to be realistic. There is no quick fix, there is no overnight training. Start with one simple goal such as I want my
dog to sit at the door to get their leash on. Work through this as a team, creating it as a daily routine. It isn’t about setting time aside to accomplish your training goal, but finding the accomplishment in a new learned behavior that you have now created in your daily routine.
3. Work hard, play harder; keep this on repeat in your head. Training shouldn’t be a task, it should be something you look forward to! As we come to the end of our National Train You Dog Month mini blog, we take the time to ensure you are enjoying your training together! Training shouldn’t be a chore, negative, frustrating, or stressful, but rather the most bond building and great moment with your companion. We know that it does become negative, but why? Many times we create the stress and frustration. It is not healthy for your relationship or the goals you have set forth. Check out our five steps to making it fun!
4. Know When to Stop. Let’s be honest, when our dogs succeed we want them to continue to have success. This can also be a disadvantage to your dog. The “One more time” effects our dogs in such a negative way. Why? Because we tend to take it to the extreme. For example, the dog could have 3 great recalls in a row, we then want to push for another…and another….and another. What we are doing this, waiting for the dog to fail. Get those three AWESOME successes and call it a day!
5. Always End on a Good Note. End your training with play sessions, fun tricks, a game, anything that makes the dog want to come back for more!
We hope you enjoyed our mini blog in celebration of National Train Your Dog Month. Next month we will return to our monthly blogs! If you have any further questions please feel free to email us.