When you think about fun activities to enjoy with your dog, obedience training might not be your first thought. Often teaching your dog to “obey” seems more like a chore than happy fun time. However, dog training doesn’t have to be drudgery, it can be fun. Using dog training equipment can enhance the training experience for both dog and owner. Here are four tips that can make training easier in general.
1. Remember That Spoonful Of Sugar
Obviously, we don’t expect you to give your pup a bunch of sugar. However, if you’ve ever seen Disney’s Mary Poppins, you probably remember Julie Andrews assuring us that “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and snap! The job’s a game.” While obedience is a “job,” if you work at it as if it were a game, then you and your dog will enjoy the experience.
Rather than thinking of obedience training as training, always keep in mind that this is a perfect opportunity for you to truly bond with your dog. During training, your dog will learn to trust you and better understand how to please you and fit into the household. Dogs just want to please and be close to their owners, and their natural enthusiasm makes them fast learners. And, back to that spoonful of sugar, a few little treats also can help move training along a bit faster. Just keep the treats small and healthy. Eventually, you will be able to phase the treats out, and the dog will simply behave because he or she knows that what pleases you.
2. Create A Plan
Often people have a tough time with obedience training as well as using dog training equipment simply because they aren’t quite sure what to do or how to be consistent with training. Before you start Day One of your training program, sit down and write up some goals and a daily plan for training.
When it comes to obedience training, you will want to teach your dog essential skills such as to sit, stay, lie down and come when called. You will want your dog to obey these commands at any time and in any situation. This will keep your dog safe and prevent them from running out into the street, getting tangled up in the bushes, keep them safe from wild animals and much more.
You also can train a dog to obey certain boundaries. For instance, perhaps they are not allowed in certain rooms or on certain pieces of furniture. Keeping them from jumping on your guests and barking excessively also can be part of training. But it all starts with teaching just one or two basic commands. For instance, you can begin with either sit or stay or perhaps a combination of these two commands. Then after your dog has mastered these two commands, consider teaching lay down or to come when you call them. Be patient throughout and offer plenty of praise for a job well done.
Be sure to always be consistent and use the exact same commands every time and keep up training during the day. You can have set training sessions, but there is no reason why you can’t also have a one-minute impromptu session during the day. Just ask your dog to sit or stay or come when called at any time, and when the dog exhibits the behavior correctly, provide immediate praise. For dogs, love is generally all the reward they need.
3. Use Dog Agility Equipment To Teach Obedience
Agility dogs are extremely well trained. They zip around courses, following a myriad of signals and commands completely off leash. That didn’t just happen overnight. Each of these dogs spent many months learning obedience skills as well as how to use dog training equipmentThe pause table is a perfect spot to begin as the skills used on this piece of dog training equipment are the same essential obedience skills every dog needs. Dogs learn to sit and stay and to lie down on the pause table, and since you have to teach those skills anyway, it’s a perfect combination of dog agility and obedience. Concurrently, you also could teach a dog how to do a basic agility jump, and they can jump, hop on the pause table, practice their pause table skills, then jump off and do another jump. In this way, they are learning to jump, obey and follow a short sequence of obstacles. By adding the jumps, you add in a bit of fun and excitement for you and your dog.
Don’t forget to think about distance training while using the pause table. After all, whether or not you compete in agility, having a dog obey you while you are standing at a distance is always an advantage. Once your dog has mastered pause table skills with you standing right next to them, take a few steps away and give the same commands. Eventually you should be able to give commands or signals from many feet away.
4. Teach Your Dog To Play & Obey
You might not know it, but any playtime is a great time for a bit of obedience training. While dogs love using dog agility equipment, regular toys also can serve as dog training equipment. Teaching a dog to tug on a toy gently and then let go on command is teaching obedience, but it’s also fun for your dog. Teaching a dog to fetch a toy or to find a hidden toy also is teaching them to obey commands, but this all seems like playtime for your furry friend.
Brad Carlson enjoys dog agility training. To find agility equipment or to find more about training equipment for dog agility equipment, please check out the Carlson-Agility.com website today.
