Dog Training

There are two types of reinforcement in dog training; positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Wait. What about punishment? Proper training does not have room for punishment. In this post we attempt to clarify the differences.

One of the most important concepts that every new pet owner must learn, if they want to become an effective dog trainer, is how to motivate their dog to want to follow commands and participate in training.

Finding a good trainer is a very personal thing, because trainers will essentially be teaching you how to teach and communicate with your dog. A good trainer can work with a variety of people and dogs, will give you honest feedback about your chance of meeting your goals, and will use a range of methods and tools to help you achieve those goals.

Dog training is simply shaping the animal's behavior to conform to what is acceptable to people. When training, it is important to teach each new skill or exercise to the dog in three stages - the Teaching Stage, Correction Stage, and the Proofing stage.

Most dogs, not all, like food treats. New dog owners quickly learn that using food works well to reward a dog for doing something they ask the dog to do. That's why using food as a motivator is as old as the domestic dog.

A well trained and healthy dog is one of life's great pleasures. If you're an ordinary person who loves dogs and has one or would like to have one, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of information on dog ownership, training and nutrition available to you online and elsewhere.

Relationship-based trainers have realistic expectations. When training animals, we use lots of patience. They understand that animals are not born knowing how to fit into our human lives. Most adult animals are not adequately taught how to be part of a loving human family. Even if they have been in a loving home, they may still lack the social skills to be comfortable around strangers and in new situations.

Relationship-based dog training is based on trust. When you have a trusting, cooperative relationship with an animal (whether a dog, cat, parrot, horse, or another animal), you have his respect, and he'll want to spend time with you and work with you. Relationship-based trainers do not train with methods that use excessive force, threats, fear, intimidation, pain or dominance. Training based on such aversive methods damages any trusting relationship you might develop with the animal.

When you correct and praise, the dog interprets it as relating to the last thing he did. This can sometimes cause problems. This articles discusses inadvertent training relative to dog training.

Want to teach your dog to wait at the door? Or get your cat to jump into her carrier on her own? You can use positive reinforcement to teach them how to do the right thing. Positive reinforcement training means that you reward your pet as soon as they do something you like. The reward reinforces the behavior, making it more likely to occur again. Positive reinforcement is a powerful tool you can use to change your pet's behavior.