Most dog owners train their dogs to understand basic commands like sit, stay, and heel. While these are certainly important, there’s more to dog training than just these. Make sure you aren’t glossing over other important behavioral training for your four-legged friends.
Bark Training
Dogs bark, it’s simply how they communicate. Whether it’s to get your attention when you’ve forgotten dinner time or a response to someone ringing the doorbell, it’s a natural behavior. Some dogs, however, can bark excessively or at inappropriate triggers. This can be particularly troublesome in public, where it can be interpreted as aggression, and in private, where it can be a nuisance to you or to neighbors within earshot.
Anti-bark collars are helpful tools to assist in bark training. These devices are worn around a dog’s neck and release a negative stimulus to the dog when triggered by its barking. This stimulus might be a small shock, an unpleasant smell, or an irritating noise. These triggers are annoying but not strong enough to be inhumane. They simply discourage your dog from barking as it beings to associate barking with the irritant overtime.
Proofing Training
Basic obedience training often takes place in the home. A dog may respond perfectly to commands like sit, stay, and heel at home, but may struggle with the same commands in another setting. Proofing is a continuation of basic training to guarantee that dogs’ behaviors stay the same both in and out of the home.
Start by training your dog on commands in settings different from ones where it first learned them. This could mean taking the dog to a different room in the house or outside to a park. Once the dog has shown they understand the command regardless of setting, start adding distractions like other people or food that they may want.
Speech Button Training
Have you ever wished that your dog could tell you exactly what it is they want? A new training method has emerged recently that allows exactly that to happen. Using programmable buttons, dogs can now communicate everything from a request for a treat to asking to play with a specific member of your family.
Teaching a dog to use the buttons is easier than you’d think. If one of the buttons is used to ask to go on a walk, record yourself saying “walk,” then make sure to hit the button any time you start putting on a leash and go outside. Eventually, a dog will associate the button and the audible word with the activity and will press the button itself to ask to go on a walk.
Introduce buttons one at a time, only giving new ones once older ones have clearly been mastered. Buttons can be placed anywhere a dog has access to, but when you first start button training, it may be best to place them near where the activity or reward a dog is asking for is located.
Having a dog trained well can make a considerable difference in its quality of life and its relationship with its owner and other people. There are many different training methods available to achieve different behavioral goals, so don’t be afraid to try them all out to find one that works best for you and your dog.
