Dog Training Advice
Provide Enrichment
Dogs are clever animals that require some level of mental simulation. Some breeds will require more mental stimulation than others and if this requirement isn’t met, you will find your dog will become bored. Bored dogs will find an outlet for their boredom, you might find your dog will become destructive, steals items, open doors, escapes etc.
Dogs, as we know like to work for their food and problem solve. Providing food puzzles, kongs, treats balls and snuffle mats which do this are a great way to give your dog the mental stimulation they need. There are other ways to provide enrichment to your dog, you can teach them something new, take them out for walks or even play search games with them. As we know dogs love to use their nose. The more creative you get when it comes to thinking of fun ways to provide enrichment to your dog the better. If you get stuck for ideas you can always check out Youtube for fun ideas.
What to do before you call a Dog Trainer
Before calling a dog trainer for help there are a few things your should do first.
1) Take your dog to a vet. There are many behaviour problems that are linked to medical conditions. Our dog’s can’t tell us what’s wrong with them and often some of their behaviour which we see as a problem can be caused by a medical condition or injury. 50% of dog bites in the UK are from dogs that were suffering from an injury or condition. Some of these will require scans and x-rays, a simple check over will not get to the route of the problem.
2) Changing your dog’s diet. A lot of us think we know what we are feeding our dogs. The packaging says “A rich meaty taste”. We then assume the dog food contains a lot of meat, this is not always the case. In fact it is the first 3 ingredients that need to be looked at. All pet food labels must list their ingredients in order of weight, starting with the ingredient that makes up most of the pet food. If your dog food doesn’t start with either: meat (beef, lamb or fish), poultry or meat meals, then it is less likely your dog’s food is a nutritious one. A dogs problematic behaviour has been linked to, too much sugar in the diet, high levels of protein and unhealthy additives. Please check the labels on your dogs food.
Think Positive - Train Positive
When it comes to training your your dog into the perfect pooch you have to think positive. It’s easy to get caught up noticing naughty behaviours like toileting on the rug, jumping up at guest or tugging on clothes. But instead of just seeing the bad, you have to think of how can I teach my dog to do something good. It’s not all about stopping the behaviour, because then what? Your dog has stopped, but that won’t mean they’ve learnt not to do it and it doesn’t mean they won’t and go and do something else. You need to think “what can my dog do instead?”. For example a dog that jumps up at guests, instead of this you could teach your dog to sit. If your dog steals items, you could teach your dog to fetch and retrieve. This comes from thinking positive and rewarding the good behaviour you want. The more you do this the less you will find yourself shouting or getting frustrated with your dog. Think about what your dog likes and use that to motivate them to do what you want them to do.