words Alexa Wang
Humans association with dogs dates back to several years ago even before civilization, but it seems like we haven’t mastered the best dog training tricks. Dogs have been referred to as ‘human’s best friend’ for centuries, but the long interaction is still witnessing costly mistakes. Making your dog learn commands and change behaviors isn’t a walk in the park. It even gets worse if you’re administering wrong training to your faithful friend.
The mistakes we commit while training our dogs could be why most dogs take longer to respond to commands. Sadly, most pet owners and dog trainers are ignorant about the mistakes. This article has identified some of these dog training mistakes.
Inconsistent Training
Have you ever figured how hectic it can become if your Mathematics teacher introduces a new topic in every lesson without exhausting one? Well, that is the situation that most pet owners subject their dogs. A pet owner wakes up one day and wants to teach the dog five concepts, then the next day, he/she comes with more ideas.
Like human beings, our dogs need training programs that mirror school syllabuses. It’s important to teach your pet a single command without confusing it with more. Dog trainers from www.treehousepuppies.com often insist on the importance of consistent training. Consistent training requires the use of a guided training program. With the program, your dog is likely to correct its behaviors instantly.
Meaningless Harsh Punishments
While punishments administered after committing a mistake work in humans, the result is different in dogs. A recently done research in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior established that negative punishment during training harms your lovely pet’s physical and mental health. The study never found evidence that decisive penalties are as effective as other proven dog training techniques. Therefore, instead of being too harsh on your dog, you should try positive reinforcement. Read more about dog training from professionals who offer advice on how to use positive reinforcement and reward systems effectively. Not only do they work, but also help you build a strong and trusting relationship with your pet. If you can’t think of any other way to handle the situation, it might be smarter to just leave it up to professionals. Lots of owners have decided on PSD training with Pettable as they assess your dog’s unique needs and create a customized training plan. This ensures that your companion is learning in a way that’s best suited for them.
Teaching it When it’s Already Late
Forget about the old saying that asserts that old dogs cannot learn new skills. Dogs are compassionate learners, and their age doesn’t prevent them from learning new systems. However, your training should begin immediately when you bring the barking pet at your place. The problem is that most pet owners attempt to teach their dogs new commands after years of living together. For instance, potty training a dog after letting it use your floor for two years is always going to be a high mountain to climb.
Being Too Repetitive
Most people believe that repeating an idea for an extended period makes the learner grasp it. It’s one of the dog training mistakes that pet hobbyists continue to commit. Well, it’s right in the human situation, but dogs have limited attention to cope with such learning. If your dog fails to learn a command after ten trials, you should give up the lesson and proceed to the next item. It’s usually challenging for dogs to discover aspects that they have little information about. Besides, repeating a training model makes learning boring, especially when it runs for more than an hour.
Reinforcing Negative Behaviors
Like children, our dogs often learn from what is exposed to them. It becomes worse when we teach them negative behaviors. After training your pet an adverse reaction without noticing, your dog gets used to the habit and becomes swift in learning unwanted behaviors. For instance, scolding your dog for barking at a stranger may make your pet watch a burglar without giving you signals.
It’s worth noting that dogs don’t learn like humans because the language they understand isn’t similar to what humans speak. With their short-term memory, reinforcing a negative behavior can have long-term effects on your training efforts.
Abusing the Use of Treats
If you’re corrupt, don’t teach the vice to your innocent pet. The treats that we offer to our pets are meant for appreciating them for doing the right thing. Treats are also provided to pets after learning new systems and commands. However, we should be cautious not to use treats as bribes while steering away from reinforcing goals.
Providing your pet with a treat after performing a bad behavior will inspire it to repeat the action. When you offer treats too often, your dog may lose the interest and the appetite that they usually develop for the delicious meals. How else can you train your pet after rendering treats irrelevant?
Dogs behave the way they do because those are the lessons we have taught them. We must expose our dogs only to positive commands and habits. While identifying the mistakes associated with dog training remains challenging, it’s crucial to provide only proven lessons that positively impact your friend’s life with paws.
