Language barriers & training tips

 

Training your puppy/dog is like teaching someone a foreign language. He can already sit, lie down etc. It will be your job to teach him the English words and your hand signals for each action you want to train on request or command, remember dogs do not understand human words but can learn to make associations between our noises, our body language & whether it is rewarding to do the behaviours for you or not. Rewards are praise (strokes, happy talk, pleased tones, rewards & other things they like such as food and toys. We can use these rewards to train behaviours quicker, even more so when we get our timing right! 

The easiest way to build up associations in the early days is to try and work on one or two things a day without over confusing issues, if you repeat the word every time the dog does the behaviour and with a reward the good behaviours increase. Once they learn behaviours are rewarded they learn to offer them over and over in the hope of training us to reward them! So if puppy follows you into the kitchen and sits beside you, repeat several times 'SIT — good dog', the more you can practice this 'natural training' and repeat the word every time the dog does an action, the quicker he will learn the meaning of the words.

•  Practice little and often.
•  Use food, toys and praise as rewards in          training.

•   Don't get frustrated or angry of the puppy makes a mistake or does not do what you want him to do. It is not that he is being disobedient, it may just be that he does not understand what you want, fry a different approach or end the session and try again later.

•   Never ever physically punish the puppy for making a mistake — this is the surest way to problems developing in the future both between you and the dog, within your family home and with strangers. (To a dog, if his owners are untrustworthy' then all other humans must be too).

•   If puppy is doing something wrong — ignore the behaviour and instead try to distract him and encourage a more desirable behaviour. Giving any attention for the bad behaviour (whether good or bad) will only  further encourage the unwanted act.

•   Try to always keep your voice light and cheery. Don't shout at the dog, if he doesn't understand shouting will only make him more stressed and unable to understand what you want.

•   Never repeat a command over and over again, they will just learn to ignore you, we need to work on rebuilding the connection between action word we use as instruction at this time will be introduced when dog is in position so luring them into a sit or wairong until they do one themselves say sit good sit be happy praise and/or reward with toy or treat for example try not to get frustrated if things are working don't get into a battle of wills or force the dog into position, better to end the session and try again later if you walk away if in your home or garden they may follow which allows toubto assert your position as leader if they do nkt try not to go back to them more than they follow you.

•   In the beginning try to never give a command before the puppy has done the action, we have a tendancy to say a command and expect them to comply when we havent even taught them our language or what our words mean its just human nature!  If your puppy or rescue dog does not understand the words yet you will be giving him a quick lesson in ignoring your requests and you will beoth become frustrated so if it's not working just try a different approach or stop the session on a good note and try again later, if you donthis over kots of small sessions things will not seem so daunting. Training should after all be fun!  

THE IMPORTANCE OF BODY HANDLING

Throughout your dogs life there will be times when he must be handled by you or someone else (i.e. the vet). You may need to wipe his feet, give medication, clean ears, eye drops etc. It is therefore a good idea to start gently handling the puppy from day one.

Begin by placing the puppy In your lap, touch his feet, nose, tail, ears, etc., look in his ears, mouth, under his tail whilst praising for good behaviour. All family members should participate in this exercise so that the puppy  gradually learns to overcome any fear he may have about being handled in this way. Any resistance will be overcome through gentle persistence. If they really are not happy about this you need to work on it all the more try distracting them with a toy or game while you continue desensitising them to your touch. If they become aggressive towards you do not push it at this point or you may get bitten, gently ket them remove their feet from your hand. You will have to work on this perhaps while they are snoozing in your lap and are less sensitive or aware but if the aggression continues it is best to get an expert to help you early on so it does not develop into a full blown issue in adulthood. This often means in a veterinary situation dogs having to be muzzled amd/or restrained or even sedated for simple check ups, nail clipping etc which is not ideal so if we can desensitise them to our touch at the same time as we are training then these procedures become much easier - our aim is to prevent problems developing so life is less stressful for both humans and dogs.

MISBEHAVIOUR

When our dogs are being naughty or destructive it can all too easily cause us to become frustrated and angry especially if we are dealing with small children and busy work lives as well and then we have more mess or stress with the puppy as well but every effort should be made to avoid any kind of physical punishment. Walk away if needs be and come back when you are feeling calmer, if they have messed ir chewed something.

If you catch them in the act of doing something naughty all that should be needed is a word or noise which distracts your puppy or dog from the unwanted behaviour and enables you to direct it towards the correct behaviour. For example, 'ah ah', 'oh oh', 'tut tut', clapping hands or other noise work well for distraction but 'No' is not always the best command, as it is used so frequently in our everyday life sontry to stay clear of that word especially if you have young chidren in your home!

Bonding and attachment are critical in the early days and any physical punishment will have a negative effect on your bond with your puppy and may lead to avoidance of family member's altogether. It aksonteaches children to copy and this can be worrying as when puppies mature intonadult dogs and their hormones start to kick in they may not accept a smack from a child they now consider to be beneath them in their pack status - this can lead to children getting 'put in their place' by the dog - these are dog rules inborn pack rules so this is whybwe must be so careful how we teach our children to interact with dogs bith our own and other peoples.

By preventing problems through careful supervision and confinement, punishment should rarely if ever be required. With food training the 'punishment' is simply no treat, with toys no toy until we get a good behaviour we like.

TRAINING CLASSES are highly recommended for continued socialization and training in a controlled environment, you will also meet kots if ither nice dogs and owners while working on building confidence and you will learn how to prevent many behaviour problems before they begin or as they emerge.

Puppy socialisation classes are usually aimed at puppies from 8 weeks to 3 months and providing all puppies have received their first vaccination, and are healthy, parasite free and reasonably well mannered the benefits of attending such classes if available are enormous. Training classes are the most important aspect of making sure you help raise a safe well mannered dogs around both humans and other dogs. We wish you every success in your new and better life as a dog owner.