How to Obedience Train Your Puppy.

So, you got the perfect puppy for yourself, but what is the fun if it doesn't listen to you? It is very important to start obedience training while your dog is still a puppy. There are several methods of training your puppy, but you should not trust all these methods. While some may work on some dogs, some may not. Therefore, depending on the personality of your dog, you should select the training method that works for him.

Remember that each dog is unique and has its own unique emotional makeup. This means there is no universal formula to train your puppy. However, there are several steps that you can try out and which are likely to succeed.

The first thing you must remember before you obedience train your puppy is that punishment is not the way to go. This is the old thinking about "spare the rod and spoil the child" and is today shown to be ineffective. This kind of treatment mars your relationship with your dog forever and can make your dog aggressive and less affable - traits that you would certainly not like in your dog. Therefore, avoid punishments at all costs.

Instead, go for positive reinforcements. For example, instead of punishing your dog when it does something wrong, reward it when it does something right. All dogs have an intrinsic desire to please their owners and therefore if the dog knows you are happy with its behavior, it will try to act in that way. This is an important principle to know because using this, you can train your puppy to perform a variety of tricks as well.

Your dog's favorite food can form the reward when it acts accordingly. Also, a good massage and a loving hug also work wonders, so these should be tried out too. Once you understand your dog better, you will better be able to use this technique to train your puppy in the way you want.

Now, when you want to obedience train your puppy, start with the simplest commands - sit, come, fetch, etc. are easily taught and should be done first. This is because, in the beginning, your dog may not understand commands very well, and it is better to keep it simple. Once you are done with this preliminary stage, you can try out many different and more complex tricks as your dog grows.

When you want your dog to sit at a command, say the command and make your dog do that. For example, if you want your dog to sit, gently hold its legs and make it sit. This action should always be preceded by the command to sit. Eventually, your dog will understand what you want it to do and will act accordingly on simply hearing the command.

Another important training exercise your puppy must have is not to chew on stuff at your home. This happens with most puppies as they love to chew on whatever they can find, which can be quite damaging and annoying at home. Therefore whenever you find your puppy chewing, say a firm NO and move it away. After time, your puppy will understand that this behavior is unacceptable and stop chewing on everything.

Always remember to be loving and patient, but firm, while dealing with your puppy. Each puppy has a unique personality, so you should adjust yourself accordingly so that your puppy listens to you.

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Written by Phillipa Goldcoat from DogTrainingMadeEasy.co.uk

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