You are viewing entries tagged 'obedience'.
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Try to keep the same tone of voice when you give a command to your dog – the tone of your voice is as important as the command word itself. Keep in mind that your tone needs to be consistent in order to get a reliable response from the dog. Change the tone of your voice and you may be changing the whole meaning of the command.
Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter and be sure to check out her website. |
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Never take your dog off the leash if you aren’t sure of his response to the word “come.” You’ll be setting yourself and your dog up for failure if you allow him off the leash when you do not have a rock-solid recall to “come.” You need to practice it dozens of times in a variety of situations every single day with a good treat reward before you can begin to experiment off the leash in a distraction-free area.
Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter and be sure to check out her website. |
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While a puppy is in the learning curve he needs to be encouraged, not startled or frightened. For any living creature, learning takes place in a safe and supportive environment – which is what positive reinforcement is all about.
Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter and be sure to check out her website. |
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Quitting while you’re ahead is good advice for any learning situation. When you’ve hit a high note – had a breakthrough or gotten a great response twice in a row – hang it up for the day. Let the learned lesson sink in.
Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter. |
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If your dog pees when you come home, you can help break him of this overly emotional reaction by completely ignoring him for about 10 minutes. That means literally acting as though he is not there: no talking, touching, eye contact or patting. This gives him time to collect himself so that his emotions don’t have a chance to overflow. Once he’s settled down, THEN you can turn on the love!
Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter and be sure to check out her website. |
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Each thing we or our dogs learn builds on the foundation of what has come before. You have to start small and simple and build on that. Until certain concepts and commands are so well ingrained that they cannot be compromised, you aren’t ready to move forward.
If your dog is doing well on recall (“come”) from a short distance but then ignores you if you try to recall from further away, either put the long line on him and use that for reinforcement or go back to the shorter distance and practice that.
Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter and be sure to check out her website. |
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If your dog is a digger, try to set aside part of your garden area as his designated place to dig to China. Dogs can learn the difference between acceptable and unacceptable digging areas if you make the boundaries very clear.
Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter and be sure to check out her website. |
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The very moment that a dog starts to respond to “come,” you want to verbally celebrate his response – and to use verbal encouragement all the way back to you from wherever he was and whatever he was doing.
Then when he reaches you, make a big fuss over him. If you don’t make the payoff pleasurable for the dog, then why would he give up independence and another activity to return to you?
Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter and be sure to check out her website |
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Do your best to use command words that only have one intended meaning. The word “down” is a good example. People use “Down!” to mean “Don’t jump up,” even though they’ve already used it to train the action “Lie down.” It can also be mixed up with “Get down off the couch.” All of this can be very confusing for a canine. Take care to pick one command word for each desired action.
Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter and be sure to check out her website |
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With some activities, like teaching your dog to come to you, use short, repetitive, energetic sounds. Pick a tone that conveys both enthusiasm and encouragement and keep it up once you see a response from your dog.
Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter. |
