Training Tricks That Dog Pros Use To Train Dogs
At some point in time, you’ve probably admired a dog and handler team that works together so joyfully that they are magical to watch. The truth is that when you see this, it’s not due to some dog training trick. What you’re seeing is the result of a strong interspecies bond. If you look carefully, you’ll see a relationship that’s like a positive feedback loop that reinforces both the human and the dog.
It’s easy to spot human/dog teams that have a strong bond because they look like they’re having fun together. A dog that has a strong bond with his human does what his human wants him to do. with a twinkle in his eye and a bounce in his step. Neither dog nor human looks like they want to be anywhere else. The pair are perhaps the truest definition of a team that there can possibly be.
But a truly bonded human-dog team doesn’t just happen. Nor does it depend on your dog’s breed, or what age your dog was when you got him. A strong, bonded relationship can be achievable no matter what your dog’s background is. This bond is always achieved through time, patience and most importantly, having lots (and lots) of fun with each other whether you’re playing or working on a training skill.
6 Tricks That That Professional Dog Trainers Use To Train Dogs
Here are some dog training secrets that the pros use to create strong bonds with adult dogs, whether they’re working with a French Bulldog or a Border Collie. You can use them just as effectively, whether you’re just getting to know your adult dog or you’ve had each other for a long time.
1. Be the kind of teacher that a student wants to bond with.
Be the kind of teacher that creates a bond. Your dog is a “human as a second language” student. You’re his teacher. You’ll teach him everything he needs to know about living in a human household. So be the kind of teacher you’d want to have. Your dog’s basic learning processes are exactly the same as yours.
Imagine If your teacher didn’t explain things to you properly, and constantly nagged at you, Imagine he kept repeating words that you didn’t understand, becoming annoyed and even physically correcting you when you got something wrong. How fast could you learn from such a teacher? How much would you want to go back for another lesson?
Now imagine having a teacher who explained everything you needed to know, teaching you with fun games and walking you through the steps to learn something one step at a time. This teacher tells you what you need to do to win a prize (one that you really value) and then encourages you to try doing it for yourself, without nagging you, acting annoyed, or correcting you if you make a mistake. Instead, the teacher would cheer you on when you got it right.
Most people (and dogs) would learn relatively fast from the second teacher. And learning would be so much fun that working with the teacher would be reinforcing and they’d be happy to go back to “class” to learn more.
2. Ditch the dish.
Hand-feed your new dog or puppy in short, fun training sessions for the first two weeks. These training sessions should be at normal feeding times to help reinforce the behaviour you love. Handfuls of food can become prizes for behaviour you want to see more of, like sitting politely, lying down, or more complex tricks.
3. Always accentuate the positive.
One of the cool things about dogs is that they will do more exaggerated forms of behaviour that get reinforced. So if you start by celebrating and rewarding progressive baby steps toward a behavioural goal, you’ll get much faster results than if you reprimand your dog when he makes a mistake.
4. Never nag or correct.
When you’re teaching a dog any new behaviour, limit his behavioural choices by using a leash attached to the front attachment point of a harness. Start by luring using food and a hand signal, then just a hand signal without food and then add the cue word after your dog is 100% clear on what the hand signal means. If he doesn’t seem to respond to the verbal cue right away, wait patiently for 10 seconds before offering the verbal cue again. If he still doesn’t respond, go back a step to using the hand signal and verbal cue together.
5. Quit training while you and your dog both having fun.
Training should always be regarded as fun by both dogs and humans. Are you feeling frustrated? It happens to the best dog-trainers too. If you start to feel this way it’s time to take a break. Your dog is doing his best. You don’t want him to remember training as being a series of failures. And you sure don’t want to be in that frame of mind either. Get your dog to do something he’s good at and then generously thank him just for being there. Stop your training session immediately. Reassess and revise your training plan and take a break for as long as you need. Click here to read my article in Animal Wellness magazine to find out the 8 reasons your dog doesn’t list
6. Make time to play with your dog.
Explore interactive games with a flirt pole, or play tug and drop with your dog. If fetch is his jam, then play fetch, or hide treats or toys for him to find.
What are the benefits of interactive play?
Interactive play helps to meet your dog’s mental needs. However, it also helps build the bond with your dog that is vital for teamwork. Every dog is born with different strengths and weaknesses that make them better at some types of play than others. For example, dogs that come from long lines of herding breeds or terrier breeds love chasing things
Great interactive play with them could include fetching a ball or other object and bringing it back. Upland gun dogs like pointers obviously love to find birds. Their work is play, so hiding training dummies or toys around the backyard and rewarding your pointer for discovering them is a fun team-building activity for him.
Tug and drop is a fun game that can become highly reinforcing for most dogs. Tug-of-war is fun for most dogs, but should always be interrupted with drop-it, which can then be rewarded by another contest of tug-of-war. This game has the side benefit of teaching your dog a solid release, so he’ll automatically spit out any object in his mouth when you tell him to.
Get A Well Mannered Dog
Greet People Politely – Stop barking and lunging – Come running when you call
