Training your pup to do the right things can be tricky, especially if you’re a new pet parent. Most beginner pet owners don’t understand how their puppy thinks and listens to their owner.
Unfortunately….
It doesn’t matter how much you love your doggo; they aren’t human! That’s why most people fail because they treat their doggo as some little kid.
Yes, puppies are technical “kids”. However, their brains are wired very differently from humans’ – and therefore from human children. Their perceptions of the environment around them and how they communicate with it and benefit from it are vastly different.
Before you look for the best dog training collars online, know some fascinating and helpful facts about dog behaviour or psychology. I’ll give you 4 tips before your start training.
#1. Use Nonverbal Cues in Place of Verbal Commands
Some owners prefer to use only verbal commands. Puppies cannot understand the nuances of a series of phrases, so it’s best to stick to a small number of special instructions and limited to one or two words at most.
It’s worth noting, however, that dogs are susceptible to visual and olfactory cues. That’s why integrating these into your puppy’s instruction and commands will significantly increase its learning rate.
Instead of depending entirely on verbal orders, pair them with visual signals such as hand movements and specific body language to help your puppy discern between commands more quickly.
#2. Leveraging Their Own Instincts
Puppy activity is dictated mainly by innate instincts, whether it’s biting or scratching at sneakers and other household items (hunting) or peeing in various locations (territorial marking).
If your puppy has an especially good “herding” nature, you should use a type of catch-ball, and games involving chew-toys, long walks of playful tracking and chase in the forest, and so on.
#3. Do Not Reward Too Frequently
This is a typical blunder new owners create as they reward and pamper their puppies with almost any instance of positive behaviour. This will cause problems later on if the dogs get addicted to the rewards and fail to obey or react to commands until they get their “reward.”
So just praise your dog with excellent conduct, great reactions to, or success in a new training exercise, and don’t do anything too often. You don’t want to be left hostage because of goodies!
#4. From The Start, Establish Yourself As The Alpha
Regardless of whether they’ve been in a family or not, all pets have a “pack ethic” rooted in them.
As a result, unless owners develop and affirm their function as the alpha from the beginning of the partnership by performing and monitoring training and discipline, their puppies can ultimately assume that role for themselves. Besides, people become interested in using dog training collars for their dogs.
Over time, this may contribute to severe issues of violence, indiscipline, and defiance.
Make sure to prove yourself! Things about how strict and in charge you are on hikes, how specific you are with your feeding routine, and how strong you are with orders for order and obedience are essential for maintaining control and demonstrating that you are the alpha.