Dogs are one of the most popular pets to have, and for a good reason. They’re loyal and friendly, which makes great companions.
However, having a dog also entails a lot of responsibilities. And training your dog is one of the most crucial tasks you have as a dog owner.
So, how will you train your dog? What are the five golden rules of dog training? It includes the following,
- Teach Your Dog to Obey Commands
- Teach Your Dog to Control Its Food Aggression
- Be the Pack Leader
- Walk Your Dog with Healthy Dominance
- Reward Your Dog from Time to Time
Every pet owner hopes to see a dramatic difference in dog behavior by the end of the training sessions. All it takes are five simple guidelines that work.
It is also critical to make dog training sessions fun so your pet does not experience any discomfort and can rapidly adjust to the lessons he is taught.
So, are you into learning more about dog training programs? If yes, let’s dive in!
Know Your Dog Before the Dog Training Sessions!
Every dog shows a unique temperament and learning style. You must know your dog before you know the five golden rules of dog training. Here’s how you go with the process,
Obedience
Try some simple training methods to determine its obedience level. For example, you can lift its leg in the air and look at its eyes to see how it responds.
Generally, an obedient dog responds by bowing or lowering its gaze. However, training will take time and patience if it doesn’t react and flees away.
Curiosity Levels
Not every pup or dog has the same curiosity level to learn. Some puppies respond efficiently to events or changes, whereas some don’t.
For instance, if you notice your dog responding or reacting quickly to a new game you try playing with him, it indicates he is indeed curious to learn it.
And curious dogs are not only easy to teach lessons to but also fun to play around with.
Dog’s Social Skills
It’s super easy to get along with a friendly dog. But unfortunately, some dogs are hostile toward new people; it mainly happens to rescue dogs more than other dogs. So, how are your pet’s social skills? Is he ready to get along with anyone?
You must know your dog’s social skills before starting to train him. It will help you better understand him in terms of friendliness and build a good bond, which will help you conduct a healthy training session.
Five Golden Rules of Dog Training: Coach Your Curious Dogs Now!
With patience and consistency, you can coach your curious dogs into being the well-behaved companion you always dreamed of. Here are the five golden rules of dog training:
Rule 1: Be Strict With Your Commands
The first rule is to be strict with your commands. Dogs are intelligent, but they need to know what you expect from them to obey. If you’re inconsistent with your orders, they’ll get confused and won’t listen to you.
Even if you are training aggressive dogs, be consistent and strict even when they don’t listen. Don’t show any reaction when they act up. Instead, give off an angry vibe. But never shout at them or punish them.
They will eventually understand that – you won’t tolerate their nonsense. Once they realize your authority over them, they will stop crossing their boundaries.
Rule 2: Teach Your Dog to Control Its Food Aggression
Among the five golden rules of dog training, control of food is the most important one.
Dogs generally show mild, moderate, and severe food aggression whenever they feel hungry. Some dogs may just growl, while aggressive dogs might even attack you for their hunger strikes intolerance.
So how to control its food aggression?
- Consistent Feeding
Dog owners should feed their dogs on time every day. Due to their excellent internal clocks, dogs prefer a consistent daily routine. It will ease up their tension towards food.
- Train The Dog to Behave
Train your dogs to stay in their place when you prepare or serve the food. It shouldn’t act like a spoiled puppy and jump on the meal. Instead, they should start eating only after you release the command to eat.
- The Owner Will Eat First
Before serving your dog, you must take your meal before him first. Irrespective of your love towards it, you shouldn’t respond to any pleading. Instead, finish up your meal and feed him his share afterward.
Establish it as your usual routine and repeat it. You will eventually become the alpha in his eyes.
- Own The Bowl
In the case of aggressive dogs, providing a separate bowl won’t be a good idea. They might growl at you when you approach them. Then, if you back away, it will win a point of dominance.
You can start hand feeding instead. You two will develop a solid bond as a result. Thus, he will believe that – you won’t run away with its food.
When you are a puppy is having its supper, you can toss its favorite on the bowl as well.
Rule 3: Be the Pack Leader
In most cases, dogs don’t disobey their owners on purpose. It’s just that they always pay heed to their master’s body language first before learning wordy commands.
Some dogs may also behave desensitized if they find their master using the same verbal or physical cues too frequently.
So, as a dog owner, you need to keep these things in mind to be the pack leader. But how do you do so? Below are a few tips that we shared. You may also check out an online dog training program.
- Drain Their Energy
Even well-trained dogs don’t listen to their owners if they are too energized. Take it on a stroll to check if it has cooled down.
- Take Consistent Actions
Start with gestures and use the exact same cues during the training session. For instance, move your hands in a particular motion or use certain words when you feed them. Eventually, they will take those cues as basic commands.
- Be Calm
You can’t be a pack leader if you don’t show calm and confident body language. Like a wolf pack, dogs will only take you as their alpha if you behave like one.
- Teach Him the Basics
You have to work on both the verbal and physical cues repeatedly to train your dog until listening and understanding your commands becomes second nature.
Besides, you should know when to call it a day. Otherwise, the dog will be bored and will lose interest. So just teach him for 15 to 20 minutes daily, and that’s it!
Rule 4: Walk Your Dog with Healthy Dominance
When you are out for a walk, you should be the one who will walk your dog. It should never be the other way.
You must show dominance whenever your dog tries to move as he paces. Yes, you need to let him enjoy. But show him that you won’t tolerate him moving ahead of you.
Walk at a steady pace as per the capacity of your dog. Never push him too hard or abruptly pull his leash.
It should be a fun dog training session instead.
Rule 5: Reward Your Dog from Time to Time
Even if your dog is hard to teach, never punish them. Instead, reward them fairly for their excellent behavior. Just pat them, and give them a belly rub. Even a verbal cue like ‘Good Boy’ from their master will be enough to inspire them.
Conclusion
A dog’s behavior is a reflection of how dog parents train them. Therefore, if you want a dog to be a well-behaved dog, you need to teach him to be one. And only quality training can promote your dog’s behavior and social relationship.
In this article, we elaborated on the five golden rules of dog training, which we believe have been helpful in terms of understanding how a quality training session should be conducted.
If you can follow these crucial rules, it will not only teach you how to deal with dogs but will also make you more likable to everyone you meet because everyone loves a happy dog. Just remember that it is essential to be patient and consistent when you are training your dog.
