How to Practice Dog Obedience with Tips (Beginners Level)
We have covered some of the basic dog training commands in previous articles such as Watch Me, Sit, Down (Lay Down) and Stand.
- Basic Dog Training Command – Watch Me.
- How Do You Train Your Dog To Sit?
- How To Teach The Down Command.
- How To Teach The Stand Command.
Next, we will discuss how to practice this material as well as provide you with support exercises that you should practice. This will help you enhance what you have already learned with these basic dog training commands. You can use these tips anytime you are teaching your dog brand new material.
6 Helpful Tips for Dog Training
Repetition is the key to any type of Dog Training. We recommend the following method after introducing new commands to your dog.
1. Start By Teaching ‘Mini-Sessions’
A suggestion would be to keep the training sessions 5 minutes 3 times a day using treats and praise.
For example, we have already covered some of the basic dog training commands Sit, Watch Me, Sit Stay Come, Lay Down (Down) and Stand. Only a few hours after initially teaching these commands you should practice them again. This practice session should literally take 5 to 10 minutes.
Later again during the day, engage in another brief ‘Mini-Session’. Do this 3 or 4 times a day, or more if you have time. Repetition is what makes the lesson stick.
2. Use Treats & Praise
Remember to use treats and praise when the dog successfully executes the commands. For example, when giving the Sit Command in a mini-session, praise the dog for sitting while giving the dog a treat. Giving the dog a treat will condition the dog to want your praise.
3. Keep Mini Sessions Short & Frequent
When conducting these ‘Mini-Sessions’ with your dog, remember to keep them short and do them frequently. You are better off doing 3 ten minute training sessions than one 1 thirty-minute session. The former allows for recall through repetition without exhausting the dog. The latter can create frustration, forgetfulness, and disinterest because the session is too long and too infrequent.
4. Always Change The Order Of Commands
Another tip would be to always change up the order of how you deliver commands. If you always say Sit, Watch Me, and Down, your dog will learn by rote.
Learning by Rote means that the dog is performing a mechanical, habitual sequence. He is not thinking about what you want his next move to be. The dog is merely predicting the sequence. This can create poor learning skills as well as lots of handling errors. For example, if you find that your dog develops a bad habit of laying down immediately after he sits, this means he is Learning by Rote.
The dog knows you always perform Sit Watch Me Down, right in a row. Since he wants to please you and he wants a reward, he is anticipating your next command before you deliver it. This is one of the reasons why we covered the Stand Command.
5. The Stand Command Helps With Transition
This Stand Command helps allow for the transition when performing multiple commands to avoid teaching by Rote. For instance, you could do Sit, Watch Me, Stand, Sit, Down, Stand, Sit, Stay, Come for one round and then do Sit, Down, Watch Me, Stay, Come, Sit, Stand, Watch Me.
It is all the same material but offered up in a different sequence. In short, use mini sessions several times a day using treats and praise. Once you feel your dog understands the commands, he intellectually knows what you want him to do, start giving him treats intermittently, but always give the praise.
For example, you can have the dog perform two commands, praise him for each command and then give him a treat. Or you could put the dog through a whole repertoire of commands, being sure to praise him in a high voice for each command and give him an occasional treat.
It almost becomes like a ‘slot machine’ effect. He never knows when he will actually receive the treat. However, he is always getting praise for every command. This falls in line with our goal of conditioning the dog to work off of and seek our praise.
6. Only One Person Conduct the Mini Sessions
Only one person in the family should be doing these ‘Mini-Sessions’, in order that the dog will see a clear leader in the family. Dogs look at your family as a ‘Pack’, so having a leader is important. That does not mean the other family members are excluded from giving commands. How and when they should give the dog commands comes next.
Show Who Leader of the Pack Is By Practicing Commands
Once your dog understands these basic dog training commands, which should only take a day or two, all other family members can and should be giving commands to the dog. Yes, the family member who is giving the Mini -Sessions is showing that he or she is the ‘Leader of the Pack”.
Now the rest of the family needs to show that they are higher up in the “hierarchy’ or chain of command than the dog is. This can be done as follows for the whole family.
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How To Use Dog Training Commands in Real Life Examples
Once your dog understands the commands you should start to incorporate them into Activities of Daily Living.
For example, don’t just feed your dog dinner. Make him perform these dog training commands Sit Stay Come to get his meal. Or have him Sit and Watch Me to put on his leash to go out.
In short, make him earn everything based on what he knows. Make him Sit and Down before you throw the ball. And you won’t throw that ball unless he sits and lies down.
Have your dog Sit Stay to go out of the front door. If your dog realizes anything he wants and needs is given to him for good behavior and not by him demanding it, your dog will become very obedient very quickly. Basically to get good at dog training commands your dog needs to earn everything he gets.
Also, once your dog understands the commands, which as we have established is only a matter of a day or two from learning them, perform the commands at random.
For example, you walk into the room and see the dog, tell him to Sit. Just randomly throughout the day, for no reason at all, give the dog a command. Just because ‘you said so’! Don’t forget to give praise! Once again, the whole family should be doing this.
Further Training
Having a well-trained dog will most definitely make for a more enjoyable life together. You and your household will benefit greatly from training a dog as it can help solve many of the canine behavioral issues such as being aggressive, biting, barking, jumping, etc. We’re not saying life will be total bliss after you train your dog but it will make things easier in the long run and lead to a more harmonious existence for everyone and who doesn’t want that.
If you are looking for a common-sense, down-to-earth approach to dog training that gives great results then check out the Secrets to Dog Training – Stop Your Dog’s Behavior Problems. It’s well worth it.
