So. You got yourself a dog. Now what? I know that at the beginning we are all so excited about the dog that we simply do not even begin to learn him commands but rather spoil him, let him go to our bed at the beginning, and so on, because he is a puppy. And that is the biggest mistake. Of course you need to cuddle him, but in the same time you need to learn him commands.
Learning tricks can be fun and relaxing. The possibilities of what we can all learn are endless, we just need ideas.
Just like any teaching, learning tricks can be done in many different ways. Whether we are going to learn an individual trick with bait and lure, maybe with clicker or any other way is really irrelevant. No matter what type of schooling you choose, some general rules needed to be applied to each exercise.
Timing - Especially when learning tricks, we really need to accurately capture the moment when our dog does something right, because we can reward the dog for a completely different behavior than we wanted.
So, if a dog brings a ball we reward him in that moment and not when he drops it, because then the dog thinks that we have rewarded him for dropping the ball and not for bringing it.
Rewarding your dog - The prize must always be adjusted to our dog. To some, our emotionally colored voice means much more than a piece of cookie . To others, the toy is the center of fun. Nevertheless, rewards can always be varied according to the complexity of the tricks or the suitability of the moment. If we're working with a clicker, we need to accurately mark the right moment and then reward the dog anyway. The click itself is not a prize yet! But the reward must always be very tasty when it comes to food, our voice full of joy when it comes to verbal command, and above all, that word must be short and clear. Make the game fun and not too long.
Be patient - Sometimes we get caught up in our own desire to succeed and exaggerate the complexity or number of exercises. We start with simpler tricks and always end with the exercise the dog adores. Learning tricks should be fun for the dog. When he repeatedly fails, you should always take a step back. We need to be thorough and patient with one trick and only then proceed to the next exercises.
The key to success in learning any trick is patience. Sometimes the dog will not immediately understand the exercise, which may disappoint you. But don't give up, we need to be persistent and perform the exercise consistently and correctly.
Go slow - The fast pace of life sometimes can causes us that we become intolerant in other areas. When we're learning different exercises or in training, we are rushing with certain things. We need to let the dog develop, and we need to take the time. Sometimes he will quickly understand what we want from him, and other times he won't be able to do the same trick for a month or more. Let's take as long as we can to teach a dog a lesson. Of course, pay attention to the gameplay. Observe the dog and remember to distinguish between misunderstanding the exercise and disrespecting the exercise that he already know and understand.
And most important - Love your dog no matter what, because it was your decision to have one.
This is Ari - my parents dog. She is so smart and obeys all commands. They did a really good job, maybe better than with me 😂
“A good dog trainer must have a short term memory and long term patience” - Steve Reider
Thanks guys for reading, and till next time 🐾❤
With love, 