Dog Training Secret Sauce Recipe
If you're looking to cook up a better relationship with your dog, this is the article for you. Dog training can feel so
daunting when your dog is misbehaving. It is easy to look at the negatives in your relationship with your dog instead of finding what they are doing well. While there are many facets to training a dog, the secret sauce can help you work with your dog on another level. Let's look at the ingredients needed to create your dog training secret sauce.
Ingredient list
Patience
Positivity
Creativity
Fun
Patience
Patience is an ingredient that we see most people struggle with above all else. It's human nature to want fast results. Humans want to fix problems quickly; we want our puppies to become potty trained and socialized yesterday. People want their dogs to know all the standard cues to perfection in a month.
However, dogs are as imperfect as we are! Many of us need some time to learn new skills and behaviors. While some people are great at solving math equations, many take a while to learn that skill. Some people can naturally play the piano easily from a young age, while others take years to become skilled pianists. This same logic can be applied to our dogs. Some dogs will take to specific skills faster than other dogs.
Your dog is intelligent in its own way. It's up to you to nurture them through a patient, positive reinforcement training approach. Take their training 1 step at a time. Don't jump to step 4 right away. Find the little victories, celebrate them, and slowly build a higher criteria. If you push your dog too fast, their knowledge foundation of that skill will be weak. If you show them patience in training, you will see a strong foundation build on their knowledge of the skills you're working on.
Going into training with patience on your mind can also help you stay more positive. Which in turn plays into our next ingredient.
Positivity
Positive reinforcement training has been on the rise over the past two decades. Scientific research shows that reinforcing the behaviors we desire through rewards like food, toys, and praise can do wonders for dogs.
While positive reinforcement training techniques play a vital role in training dogs, this ingredient is more about your mindset while training. You need to approach every dog training session with your dog with a positive patient mindset, and this will make your dog want to work with you more!
Would you connect with a boss at work who's grumpy or upset anytime you make a mistake? I think we've all worked for someone like that in our lives, and it wasn't a great experience. Instead, you'd probably enjoy working with a leader who builds you up and guides you with a positive mindset. Do the same with your dog!
Creativity
Sometimes no matter how positive we are and how much patience we show, the skills we work on with our dogs don't seem to improve. This is where the creativity ingredient plays such a vital role in our dog training secret sauce recipe!
Is there anything else you can try to get to where you want to go in your dog's training journey? Is there a different food you can use for a reward? Is there another toy? Can you improve your dog's motivation to work with you by ditching the bowl and feeding only through training? Can you find even more minor things to reward to build your dog's confidence and understanding more?
Fun
If you continuously work on the same boring things every time you train with your dog, you and your dog will start getting bored. Mix in teaching your dog new tricks! Tricks can be a fun gateway to building a stronger relationship with your dog.
Jump on YouTube, or check out our Let's Get Tricky online course to learn a ton of fun new tricks to work on with your dog.
There Has to be More Right?
People and dogs who train with the secret sauce will be happier than those who don't and are more likely to train more often! While there is more to dog training than just patience, positivity, creativity, and fun, these four ingredients make up the secret sauce that many people are missing to succeed with their dogs.
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