Be Persistent and Consistent in Training Your Dog
by admin
Filed under Dog Talk Tips, Dog Training
I cannot say enough about the need to be both persistent and consistent in training your dog. The rules and routines must stay the same. And if you do decide to change a routine, you must train your dog to recognize the change.
The fact of the matter is, if you change the ground rules on a frequent basis, you are going to confuse your dog. He or she needs to know how to consistently earn reward and avoid punishment or it will give up responding. To be a good trainer, you must be consistent and always use the same command for the same expected result. Most dog owners teach the dog that the command “down” means to be in a prone position. Unfortunately, many dog owners use the same command to mean, lie down, remove thyself from the couch or bed, or stop jumping on people. When a command has many different meanings, the word ceases to have an important message.
Give each expected result–or behavior outcome–its own command. For example, the command “off” can be used to mean paws on the floor, and “down” may remain to define the prone position. After you decide on consistent commands, the next step is to be persistent in using them. Dogs are naturally good at persistent behavior, and even better if rewarded for it.
We will have more to say about this, and we’d like to hear from you–but in the meantime, you’ll find more great information that will have you working you dog like a pro with Sit, Stay, Fetch.
[tags]dog training,consistent dog training,persistent dog training,dog behavior,expected dog behavior[/tags]
Related posts:
