Common Training Mistakes
You don’t train your dog often enough
I was so very guilty of this with Winston. Once he’d “learned” his manners, I stopped the training. Now that we’re working with a professional trainer, and she pointed out that the constant training keeps Winston interested and earning a reward is fun for him, we have training sessions every day.
You repeat commands
The owner repeatedly asks until, after the sixth or seventh attempt, the dog halfheartedly sits. This stalling becomes a learned behavior, one that’s hard to break.
Doodle owners have brilliant dogs, and the resistance to following commands at our first request is probably a misunderstanding. Make sure the reward for behavior is immediate. Ask once, wait for it to happen, reward immediately.
Your training sessions run too long or too short.
Time spent on a training session should reflect some positive result; as soon as you attain some obvious level of success, reward, then quit. Remember that ten one-minute sessions in a day trump one ten-minute session every time.
Your dog’s obedience behaviors are not generalized to varying conditions
Begin by teaching a new command at home with no distractions. Then, gradually increase distractions: with noise, other dogs, cars, and people. Are you like me assuring the trainer that “he does it at home!”?
You rely too much on treats and not enough on praise, esteem, and celebrity
Treats are a great way to initiate a behavior or to reinforce that behavior intermittently later on.
But once your doodle learns the behavior, replace treats with praise, play, or whatever else he likes. The trainer has me hold the reward in the hand signal command hand initially, then move the treat to the other hand. Eventually, we aren’t there yet; the treat is occasional.
You use too much emotion.
Excessive emotion can put the brakes on training. When your doodle doesn’t focus in class and does something wrong or isn’t paying attention to your commands, don’t get frustrated and get upset; try again. Likewise, if the dog gets something right, just calmly praise, smile, then move on. The dog will gradually imprint on this relaxed attitude and reflect it.
You are inconsistent
Dogs need to feel that their owners are consistent in behavior and rules. Set rules and stick to them.
You lack confidence
- To avoid this, work the dog more and attain some training successes. Remember always to begin and end each training session with a victory – “sit” followed by a treat will get the dog’s interest at the start and leave you both feeling happy at the end. Attending a class with the dog can work wonders to increase your confidence. Practice!
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