Picture taken from from www.thedogtrainingformula.com
If you are like most people, you are extremely busy.
Some days, there just doesn’t seem like enough hours to take care of yourself, let alone a dog!
But, the time that you spend training your dog will reward you and your relationship for many, many years to come.
THERE ARE FIVE MAIN BENEFITS OF DOG TRAINING:
- It builds a relationship.
- It corrects behavioural problems.
- It stimulates intellect.
- It encourages inclusion.
- It saves time.
Let’s explore each benefit in further detail.
TRAINING BUILDS A RELATIONSHIP
There is no better way to create a bond with your dog than through the process of training. You may think that training begins at the time you decide to try new tricks, but it actually begins at the very moment you acquire your dog.
Your dog is constantly watching you and learning from your actions. He learns from the way you react to his actions. He looks to you for guidance, for food, for warmth, for comfort, and for playtime.
So how do you build a healthy relationship with your dog? It depends on one essential element: mutual trust.
In order for training to be effective, your dog must trust you and you must trust your dog. Without trust, neither one of you can truly depend on the other. Without trust, there will always be a twinge of fear. Without trust, there will always be an element of uncertainty.
On the other hand, a relationship built on trust will instil confidence in each other. This confidence means that you trust your dog will come to you when you say “come.” Your dog will be confident that when he comes to you, he will be rewarded.
When you and your dog are confident in each other, you allow each other to grow. For instance, the more that you can trust your dog to follow your commands, the more likely you are to teach him more and more commands.
When you establish a bond built on trust and confidence, you will need to nourish and strengthen that bond every day. This can be achieved by constantly reinforcing the training lessons. Don’t just train a new command for a single week and then suddenly stop. Make it a habit to continually reinforce the training as often as you can.
The training exercises with your dog should not only be performed often, but they should also be consistent. That means if you teach the “stay” command one particular way, you should always practice it the same way. Using different “stay” commands will only confuse your dog and could even encourage distrust in your relationship.
An interesting thing to point about training is, is that you are not only training your dog, but your dog is training you too! This is important to remember. He is training you how to react to his behaviours. And, he is training you how to be patient!
Without a doubt, the relationship you have with your dog must be based on trust. It may take a while to build this trust, but once you do, you will see the rewards.
Your dog will want to please you with good behaviour, as will you want to please your dog with love, attention, treats, and playtime!
TRAINING CORRECTS BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS
Barking at anyone who passes by the front window, chewing up your favourite pillows, digging through your freshly planted garden, bolting out of an open door…do any of these actions look familiar to you?
The second main benefit to training is that it can correct those pesky behavioural problems that your dog can’t seem to give up. For him, these behaviours are ways to release frustration, break boredom, or even provide entertainment!
When you have developed a trusting bond with your dog, you can teach him how to correct these behavioural problems. He will learn by your reactions whether or not his actions are acceptable to you. No doubt, he will test his limits!
The process of training gives you the appropriate platform to correct his annoying and even destructive behaviour. If training is not a part of your dog’s life, you can expect the behavioural problems to continue. If training is a part of your dog’s life, you can expect behavioural problems to be replaced with desirable behaviour—as well as pillows in one piece and well-manicured gardens!
TRAINING STIMULATES INTELLECT
Yes, it is true that dogs are very curious creatures. With exposure to so many unusual smells, sights, and sounds, dogs can’t help but want to explore. It’s in their nature!
Most dogs have the capacity to be very intelligent. But, they need to be stimulated first, and then they will be motivated to learn. Training is a huge benefit for stimulating your dog’s intellect.
Just think about it from your dog’s perspective. The opportunity to spend time with his owner, learn new tricks, and receive treats! Who wouldn’t want to learn with such yummy rewards at stake?
When you take the time to train your dog, you are giving him a wonderful opportunity to not only pique his curiosity, but to expand his capacity to learn, and to increase his knowledge about his livelihood.
The more you train your dog, the more you will be surprised by his amazing intellect. Just see for yourself!
DOG TRAINING ENCOURAGES INCLUSION
The sense of “inclusion” is very important to a dog’s security. From the earliest days of being a part of a litter, your dog feels comfortable being a part of the pack. That includes the pack of your household.
You may be the primary dog trainer, but everyone in your family or household should take the time to train your dog. When he receives this undivided attention from everyone, he feels like part of the pack.
It was earlier mentioned that consistent training is required to ensure the trust of your dog. This not only means consistent training from you, but from everyone in your household. If everyone is going to take part in training, everyone should use the same methods.
When everyone devotes training time with the dog, the dog will be happy and more eager to learn and please his family!
TRAINING SAVES TIME
Another huge benefit of training your dog is that it saves you time. Taking the time to train your dog now, will actually save you time in the long run. For example, if you take the time to train your dog to behave properly inside the house, you will actually be saving time cleaning up mischievous messes that he could create in the future—if he didn’t have the training.
You do not need to spend several hours a day training your dog. In fact, if you spend too much time training without a break, your dog could get easily distracted or bored, making it less effective.
Training for 30-60 minutes a day is adequate. You can break up this time throughout the day. Shorter sessions are actually better for optimum attention span. Plus, it is better to end the training session while your dog is still having fun. This way, he will anxiously await his next session.
So, by simply scheduling time into your day, you will find that training your dog will be time well spent. These will be times that you and your dog will look forward to everyday! Know more about dog training tips so you can be well guided.