Avoiding Stress in Training Your Puppy
by Evan Davis, Admin
Filed under Dog Behavior, Dog Talk Tips, Dog Training
As adorable as your puppy is, there can be a certain degree of stress–for both you and the puppy–involved in training. We want to avoid that as much as possible.
Keep in mind that the main point in puppy training is to establish a communication system between you and your pet. You are teaching your dog how to learn. In this regard it is unfortunate that many obediance classes and people in general take a punishment oriented approach to training. That is, there may be a lot of leash jerking and rebuke involved. This is so not necessary. Think about it–do you really want to set that kind of emotional tone in your relationship with your dog?
With a young puppy, if you are forcing him to perform perfectly and punishing him even mildly if he does not, you may be asking for trouble later on. After a puppy is six to eight months old, he can usually begin to handle corrections and accept much more firmness in his training but not at three, four and five months of age. With a young puppy, you will get much better results with persistant repetition combined with kind and gentle firmness.
Stress should not be a specific part of puppy training. That comes later when the pup is six to eight months old and ready for a more formal training. But keep in mind that there is difference betweened planned stress and rebuke. We never want to employ anger or rebuke as a strategy. Of course, it is not always possible or necessary to completely avoid stress because there is often a small amount in any of a puppy’s activities. However, stress should be eliminated as a planned part of the actual training.
For more information, feel free to see Sit, Stay, Fetch right now!
[tags]puppy training,avoiding stress,stop puppy stress,teaching your dog to learn[/tags]
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