Housebreaking Puppy Training
February 24, 2010 by Wayland Royce
Filed under Dog Training
Positive reinforcement is a fancy phrase for what’s essentially a very simple theory: using positive reinforcement entails rewarding the behavior that you wish to see repeated, and ignoring the behavior that you don’t. It has long been recognized as a way to change children’s negative behavior into positive behavior. Now it has been proven to have the same effect on non-humans.
Recently, I was impressed at the training two girls had done with a Killer Whale. Watching them take the huge animal through the routine I realized that the techniques used in positive reinforcement training would be about the only way that the whale could have been trained. An animal that size could not be forced to perform; willingness on its part was necessary. You can use the same technique to train your new puppy. Positive reinforcement training is the method of choice for most of the current expert dog trainers.
Some of the popular dog training techniques of the past are completely opposite from today’s preferred method. Some of these outdated methods are now considered abusive and are avoided by all who wish to treat their dogs in a humane manner. Using the more humane positive reinforcement method you can have a puppy that is a well-trained and a loved member of the family.
Your puppy’s natural instinct is to please you, but she has to know what you want her to do. Puppies are easily confused; for this reason it is important that you be consistent in the language you use in giving commands. Before teaching your dog a command, decide ahead of time what verbal cue you’re going to be giving her, and then stick to it. So, when training your dog to not jump up on you, select one word or phrase such as “no jump”, and use it every time. Dogs learn through consistent repetition the appropriate actions associated with a particular phrase.
Dogs respond well to meaningful rewards during training. Patting on the head is not such a reward for most dogs. They like to have their backs and chests rubbed and some like their ears played with. Play with your puppy in a very gentle manner to determine if she gives a positive response to physical affection
Using tempting rewards will help maintain the quality of your puppy’s training. Most dogs will respond in a positive way on a consistent basis to physical attention and food treats. Just be sure you give your puppy something for a food treat that you already know she likes. The same goes for physical attention
Rewards work when training your puppy, but they must be given at just the right time. When your puppy responds to a command with the correct behavior, is the moment to give the reward. She will soon make the connection between her response to your command and the reward she receives
Your verbal response can also mark the appropriate behavior and then give her the treat. You must be consistent in this too. If you say “yes” in a happy voice and then give her the treat, you must do this each time she follows a command. Saying “yes” to her response to commands only occasionally will not mean anything to her..
Training your puppy will be very frustrating for you and your puppy if you don’t structure it in such a way to be gratifying for both of you. Be sure to engage in training when you feel up to it and have found the incentive program that works for your puppy.
Learn more about The Absolute Best Puppy TrainingStop by my-puppy-training.info/where you can find out all about Positive Puppy Training and what it can do for you.
