Dog Training Mistakes You Should Avoid

If you're new to the dog training community, you may encounter lots of recommendations on what to do when you trying to train your dog. Sometimes, you can't even tell if you're doing it right. But don't worry, we're here to point out some most common dog training mistakes you may be making.

#1 Waiting Too Long To Start Training Your Dog

Training should begin the moment your dog comes home with you, regardless of his age. Don't wait until he gets older and develops bad habits. The goal is to shape your dog's behavior and teach your dog how to respond to specific phrases.

#2 Not Training Your Dog Enough

You will get the best results if you train your dog regularly, even once he has mastered an action. Pick one thing to work on at a time and hold short, productive training sessions at least two to three times per week. Find fun new things to teach your dog, but occasionally revisit the old basics.

Dog Breeds That Are Hard To Train

#3 Reinforcing the Wrong Behavior

Our dogs are social creatures who seek our attention. Giving attention of any kind can tell your dog that his current behavior is good and should continue. To many dogs, even negative attention is better than none at all. If your dog is doing something undesirable, like jumping up on you, whining, or begging, the best thing you can do is to deny attention until the behavior stops.

(Source: The Spruce Pets)

#4 Bribing Instead Of Reinforcing

Reinforcement is a desirable consequence of a behavior that makes that behavior more likely to happen in the future. It is a fundamental part of dog training. Bribery, on the other hand, is a promise of something good if behavior is performed. Dangling a treat to get a dog to do what you want is bribery, and often results in a dog who will only do what’s asked if she’s shown the goods upfront.

An especially problematic but common error is to ask a dog to do something, such as give a high-five, then, when she doesn’t do it, to pull out a treat and give the high-five cue again. When the dog responds, she gets the treat. This practice results in a dog who will only offer the behavior if she sees the reward. The difference between reinforcement and bribery is huge, and only the former will lead to a well-trained dog.

#5 Delivering Treats Too Slowly

You ask your dog to lie down and she does, but by the time you give her a treat, she’s jumping up toward your face. What does she think earned her that treat? Jumping up at you. Similarly, if you call your dog to come and she heads right to you and sits, she may think sitting in front of you is the behavior you’re so pleased about. Sitting is a lovely behavior, but if you’re working on her recall, you want to make sure it’s clear to her that coming when called is the behavior you want.

(Source: The Bark)

Want to learn more about dog training? Join our online platform GogoDogo and be a part of the dog-training and dog-handling community. Register for FREE on gogodogo.com.