February 14, 2010
What Sort Of Dog Training Equipment Do You Need?
Some of the frequently asked questions are – What kind of equipment should be used when training your dog that is new? Is having stern voice and using plain old methods of treats more than enough? Or does one need specialized items for training their dog? All this is dependent on how earnest you are in teaching your dog and how much is it that you want teach the dog.
If you’re just trying to teach your dog to sit, you probably don’t need a bunch of equipment. However, if you have trying to teach your dog to do tricks as well as run around a track for something like a dog show, you’re going to need a little more than just plain old dog treats.
Sit, Stay And Roll Over
One can teach their dog a lot of things to do. Some of the usual tricks that are taught to dogs apart from being housetrained are to sit, roll over and stay. There are tricks apart from the three basic ones that are much more difficult to teach such as playing dead, paw shaking and others. Even if you are looking at just teaching a very few tricks initially, you should have proper equipments that have been specially designed for training dogs such as choke collars.
That’s a collar that’s made of chain that loops through itself. When the dog pulls on it, it sort of chokes them. It doesn’t hurt the dog but it does teach it not to pull on the leash. You’ll also want to get dog training equipment such as a leash, some treats and a clicker or a whistle. These will be used to reinforce the dog’s behavior.
How to train the dog?
When teaching your dog with your dog training equipment, you want to focus more on reinforcement as opposed to punishment. If your dog isn’t listening to you, that’s your fault; it’s not the dog’s. When your dog does something you like, reinforce that behavior. Give it a treat when it sits like you want it to, give it a pat and tell it good boy or girl when it rolls over like you want.
These tricks will help to keep the interest level of the dog and communicate and make them understand what exactly you want it to do. On the other hand if you punish your dog it may not understand the reason for punishment and might get confused. That is exactly why one should use reinforcements that are positive along with equipments that are used for teaching the dog for better training.
Training the Dog
Start with the choke chain and the leash as the basic learning process of the dog training. Set up some goals with it, so that your dog knows the boundaries and does not stray away. Not letting it out of the training ground is the first lesson to be taught to a dog. The whistle does the job of catching the attention of the dog towards you. The clicker also sends the message to your dog about what you would like it to do. Instructing becomes easier with the use of whistle or a clicker. After doing the trick successfully, remember to treat him regularly so that it encourages the dog to perform better and better and obey your orders. The vital aspects of training are to be consistent and determined. Training a dog takes time; it cannot be achieved in a day or two. The training can last about a few weeks or more depending on the dog’s nature, after such vigorous training you can say that the dog is trained.
At the end of the day you will also be able to use agility training gears which will help in training your dog to perform tricks such as that of circus or police dogs. But this can be achieved only in the long run. For the time being it is better to stick on to the fundamentals so that you don’t confuse your friend.
seeking for dog training supplies? Learn the tricks of finding bargain priced and used dog training equipment from the comfort of your house.
Filed under Dog Training by Christopher James