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Any dog owner wishing to enjoy a well-rounded dog whom they have control over in all situations should consider training. Training can be helpful for obedience, recall, socialization, and overall positive behavior. It is also great for keeping your dog safe for a dog who will obey commands can stay out of danger.
Yet, only some dog owners are successful in this critical task. As a result, some dogs maintain complete control over their owners and behave poorly around other people and pets. While dog owners can fail at training for many reasons, it can often happen for these reasons:
Not Getting Professional Help
Reading a dog training book doesn’t make you a professional trainer. If you’ve read a book and failed to translate it into positive training sessions, it’s all too easy to give up and admit defeat. However, you may experience luck with the help of professionals.
You can type your location and ‘dog training’ into a search engine, such as Houston dog training or Austin dog training, and find experts in your area willing to help. Most reputable dog training experts have years of experience and can guide you toward being the best dog owner you can be.
Not Being Consistent
Dogs learn through repetition, and if they receive the same training methods in the same way repeatedly, they stand a good chance of retaining the information they learn. For example, if you repeatedly make a dog sit before crossing a road while walking them, they’ll know you expect this of them during your walk and will likely take this action without fuss. However, if you only expected this of them every third walk, the inconsistency would mean they may be less likely to sit.
Not Enough Patience
Learning new skills takes time. Just as we don’t master something immediately, our dogs won’t either. A lack of patience can be one of the main reasons why some dog owners fail at training. They give up if they don’t get the desired results within a few tries. Set a training schedule, such as one or two weekly sessions, and give your dog time to show you what they’re capable of.
Not Working On the Basics
Most pet owners understand that you need to master basic commands before working up to more complicated ones. Basic training cues can lay the groundwork for harder ones later on.
However, not everyone knows that. Instead, they try to teach their dogs complicated training cues and get frustrated when they fail. Master sit, wait, stay, and come, and you may experience success with others.
Using Punishment-Based Methods
As frustrating as dog training can be for owners, resorting to punishment-based methods is not in anyone’s best interests. In fact, studies show that punishment-based training is stressful for dogs. You may experience more success by using reward-based, positive training.
Reward-based training is fun, builds positive bonds between dogs and owners, and can make training something dogs look forward to rather than feel anxious or stressed about.
Beginner dog owners may not experience success with dog training right away, but they can with time. Be patient, seek the help of professionals, and use tried and trusted training methods. You may then enjoy a well-trained and well-rounded dog.
