The weather is finally nice. You’re feeling inspired. There’s no better time than spring for a fresh start with your dog! With some focused attention, you can get the dog you can enjoy amazing transformations in just weeks. A little extra practice now, and you can reap the benefits all summer.
5 Steps to a Better-Behaved Dog
1). Clearly identify the behaviors you want to change. Yes, your dog can learn new rules (even if you’ve been slack in the past), but it’s going to take consistency and clarity.
Be specific in what you want the dog TO DO. Please stop embarrassing me so darn much around the neighbors is a perfectly legitimate feeling. But it’s very abstract for a dog, and more difficult to implement than “Walk calmly beside my hip when on leash.” Dogs (and people) thrive on clarity. Have a plan.
2). Build the dog’s confidence and attention, and drain his energy, by having him work for his food. On a busy day, you can use a food dispensing toy instead. The more the dog works for its daily food, the happier they’ll be (and the happier you’ll be!) Would you rather make a living doing great work that you love, or by just having your parents cut you a check each month?
3). Exercise is awesome BUT… Make sure to also teach the dog to relax. (Yes, many dogs need help with this, particularly high-drive working breeds like herding dogs and retrievers.) Otherwise, all the exercise may just get you a super athlete with a gold medal in disobedience.
Things like mat, place, stay, wait, crate. It’s okay to start short and build up duration. But all dogs need down time.
4). Meet the dog where she’s at. You will likely need to practice first in a calm environment, and then work your way up to more distracting situations. If you’re failing around distractions, it does not mean there’s anything wrong with you or the dog.
It just means you’re at the beginning stages of the journey. (And this is something we can speed up!) Training requires reps, just like we need practice to learn new sports or an instrument. Dogs tend to show their worst in high excitement environments (like the arrival of another person or dog). If you’re experiencing frequent failure, make things a little easier for now and then build upon this success. With a systematic approach, improvements will come quickly.
5). If you feel stuck, or want quicker progress, there’s nothing wrong in seeking help. We all can use guidance and additional motivation.
BONUS TIP:
6). Don’t forget to have fun with your dog as well during these beautiful days!
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Nate Hess is the owner of Dogspring Training, which provides dog training and behavior consultation services in Fresno, Clovis and surrounding areas. He is a graduate of the Karen Pryor Academy and Stanford University, a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) and the International Association of Animal Behavioral Consultants (IAABC), and an evaluator for the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC) program. He also consults with dog rescues across the country.