Once upon a time, your dog may have been a well-behaved student and, little by little that training has backslid to the point where you’re not calling once or twice, but shouting yourself hoarse and annoying your neighbours.
Like long-time drivers who could use remedial training to bring a halt to rolling stops and kamikaze lane changes, your dog might benefit from a little back-to-school training to refresh its enthusiasm to joyfully respond to its name and proudly prance beside you on walks.
Three commonly-made dog training mistakes include: not teaching your dog to heel properly, praising your dog after you tell it “no,” and having family members sabotage dog training.
Common Mistake #1: Not teaching your dog to heel properly.
The best way to teach your dog to walk properly at your side, without tugging its leash, is to use a choke collar. It’s important that the collar is slack unless the dog pulls away. If you’re not sure how to place it on your dog, ask pet store staff for help. The dog should always walk on your left side. Pat your left thigh and say “heel” to help it understand what you want.
Set up a couple of lawn chairs about 10 feet apart in your yard, or you use a couple of stationary items in the park (a garbage can or a tree). Practice walking a figure 8 around those items, giving a little tug and saying “heel.” Try it in each direction, so that the dog experiences being on the inside and the outside lane. Do this every day until your dog “gets it.” Some dogs are more alpha than others, so training times can vary. If the dog tries to bite the leash, tug the leash quickly out of its mouth while firmly saying “no.”
Common Mistake #2: Praising your dog after telling it “no. ”
One of the worst and most common mistakes is to praise your dog after you tell it “no.” That’s like thanking your dog for not biting you. Maybe Fido was rooting though the garbage or digging a hole. After you firmly say “no” and prevent it from any further misbehaviour, do not praise the dog. It’s best to ignore the dog for a little while so it understands you’re not pleased.
Most puppies need something to chew while teething and if it happens to be your favourite pair of shoes, it can be quite traumatic. The best thing to do in this scenario is to take the shoe away, say “no” while giving it a toy or rawhide to chew, and praise it when it chews the appropriate item.
Common Mistake #3: Family members sabotage training
Whether it’s feeding scraps from the dinner table, or letting the dog lead on walks, there always seems to be one family member who has to do it their way, even if it means sabotaging all the hard work that goes into training a dog. And like children, dogs will play one “parent” off the other–they know who to go to when they want to break the rules.
If any of this rings a bell, it might be time to send Rover, yourself -and maybe the whole family -back to school so that everyone learns the basics and Rover gets a gold star for obedience.