Everyone faces a lot of unknowns when first starting to teach a dog.
First of all, even if you know the breed of a dog, there may still be variations in how that breed will respond to training. Your chosen method of dog training is another unknown. Owners must learn as they go since some dogs respond well to food-based reinforcement while others do not.
While most dog training unknowns may be easily overcome, many owners make some fairly typical blunders while they are teaching their dogs.
It’s crucial to be aware of these frequent dog training blunders that every owner has made or will make in order to prevent them, and that’s precisely what I’ll be doing in this essay.
First error: failing to establish clear and consistent rules. One of the most frequent errors made by owners has little to do with the actual physical act of teaching a dog; rather, it is a regular event that typically takes place in the background.
Children need rules, as any parent can attest, and dogs are no different. The minute a dog is brought home, regulations should be established. This implies that regardless of how adorable a puppy is, if you have a rule prohibiting dogs from being on furniture, you must uphold it.
If you don’t set such boundaries early on, your puppy will rapidly learn that he may disobey them and ultimately just ignore you, which can cause long-term behavior issues.
To guarantee the greatest success with your dog’s training, it’s critical that you stay away from this dog training error from the outset and ensure that everyone in your home will adhere to the same guidelines.
Mistake #2: Repeat, Repeat, Repeat: This could be a bit perplexing since dog training entails repetition of an activity, yet repeating a command is not acceptable but repeatedly doing an action is.
This is the largest error owners will make when it comes to teaching their dogs, and I have myself been found guilty of this little infraction. Although repeating a command to an unresponsive dog is only natural, you should discipline yourself from doing so.
By giving the same order more than once, you are teaching your dog that he is not need to obey you every time. A command will no longer have any effect on the dog as a result, and you will need to retrain with a new command. This will take time, and it will be frustrating for both you and your dog.
Third error: rewarding unruly behaviour Although there are many other methods for training dogs, most owners and trainers choose positive reinforcement training, which involves rewarding your dog—typically with food—every time he behaves well.
Although this is a great technique to educate your dog, many owners make the error of rewarding the incorrect action, which reinforces the undesirable habit. Anything your dog does that you don’t want them to is considered bad behaviour in dog training.
For instance, when you are preparing a supper, your dog is in the kitchen. When you drop your first bite of food or give him a little snack, he may not appear to be doing anything other than spending time with you at first, and that may have been the case in the beginning, but he will soon learn to beg anytime you are in the kitchen.
After a year, you have a full-grown dog that follows you around the house anytime you go to the kitchen, all because you made it clear that begging in the kitchen is acceptable. Don’t soothe, encourage, or praise your dog when he exhibits undesirable behaviour to prevent him from repeating it.
Therefore, if he barks at the door, don’t compliment him on being a good guard dog, and if you spill food on the floor and want to offer it to him, pick it up yourself and put it in his dog dish. You may rapidly prevent yourself from rewarding his poor conduct being in charge of the situation.
Saving it for a rainy day is mistake #4. The temptation to delay training is the last typical dog training error I’ll highlight. Many dog owners believe that training should begin after the dog reaches a specific age, but research has repeatedly proven that the longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to educate your dog.
As soon as you bring your new puppy home, you should start teaching him. Setting up rules and housetraining come first, and then basic training like sit, down, and stay are soon introduced. Around 11 weeks of age is often when puppy socialisation classes commence, after which you may start dog training right away.
Never wait until your dog is 6 months old or older to begin training them; by then, many undesirable traits have already developed. Ultimately, if you are aware of the errors that may be made while training a dog, you will find that you are less likely to make them and your dog will react to training swiftly and with little fuss.
Author Bio
I am Zoya Arya, and I have been working as Content Writer at Rananjay Exports for past 2 years. My expertise lies in researching and writing both technical and fashion content. I have written multiple articles on Gemstone Jewelry like moonstone jewelry and other stones over the past years and would love to explore more on the same in future. I hope my work keeps mesmerizing you and helps you in the future.