“How come your dog responds to the sit command and mine won’t?”, “How do you get your dog to heel so easily?”, “Wow! Your dog comes right over when you tell him to come.” – Are any of these statements sounding familiar? If they do, then now is the time to invest in basic training for your dog.
Training your dog at a very young age is vital given that the first several months of your pet’s life represent a time when you’re going to have the greatest level of influence; after all, dogs tend to be the most malleable during their formative stages and this is when they can be shaped into the pets that they’ll be once they’re fully grown.
The most basic form of training for dogs is getting them to come and sit. Teaching these commands to your pet is vital. There are many reasons why these commands might need to be used such as if your dog is in a competition if he starts jumping up and you want him to immediately sit, and if you need him to come for a variety of incredibly important reasons.
When you take your dog out for a walk, you expect him to come right to you after you’ve taken him off the leash, rather than running all around the park as you chase after him while shouting “Get back here now!”. This is incredibly embarrassing.
Teaching your dog to come is a very basic training technique, but it does require a considerable amount of repetition. One of the easiest ways to get a dog to come is by holding a treat in one hand, a toy in the other, and then when you’re inside of the house, walk away from your pet while calling him to you and holding out the toy – when you’re dog arrives, hand over the treat but be sure to consistently use the command that you intend to use going forward.
If you do this several times per day, this should do the trick, but remember to build lots of breaks into your training so that your pet doesn’t grow bored or stop liking training, and always have plenty of treats to pass out.
Teaching your dog to sit may be a bit trickier but this all boils down to basic dog training. Once you’ve mastered the command of getting your dog to come to you when you call, put your hand at his tail end and say “sit” as you lightly press down on his backside, once your pet sits down, give him plenty of praise and a tasty treat. If you want your dog to remain sitting for a bit longer, simply hold off on giving out the praise and the treat by taking your time to bend down and pass the snack on.
These basic training tips are incredibly simple and very effective. This process should be fun for both you and your pet – it shouldn’t take multiple hours every day but just five or so minutes. Just be sure to reward yourself and your dog for all the work that the two of you put in.
In case you didn’t see it: Here’s an online dog training program that can STOP your dog unwanted behaviors!
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