Basic dog training is something that virtually every pet owner will want to go through with his or her pet. Some of the most basic tenets of a training program include housebreaking your pet and teaching him simple commands like "sit," "stay" and "come." Most pet owners find that a bit of effort early on in the pet's life will dramatically help to influence his behavior toward the positive side and will help to prevent him from engaging in misbehavior throughout the rest of his life. While training with food treats is a very popular method, there are a number of other ways of training your pet that don't involve treats as well.
Praise Training for Dogs
One of the things that your pet will respond to best is praise. Dogs sense praise in a number of ways. You can show your encouragement or praise by the tone of your voice, the words that you say, and by your physical actions. Petting a dog, scratching his belly or nuzzling him are excellent ways of showing praise.
Dogs respond well to praise when they complete a task as commanded. They also respond to praise when engaging in behavior that isn't bad. For instance, if your pet avoids a misbehavior, praise him for what he's done. When praising a dog, a high pitched and emotive voice is typically the best one to use.
Praise training has several benefits over treat based training. With treats, your pet will oftentimes come to rely on the presence of a food treat in order to complete a task. This obligates you to hold on to treats at all times if you wish for your pet to obey you. With praise training, on the other hand, your pet will rely only on your praise, which is much easier to provide at any time.
Dog Discipline Training
Discipline training is also an important part of teaching your pet about how to behave without using treats. The crucial element of discipline training is to admonish your pet for misbehavior as soon as possible after the act is committed. If even a couple of seconds go by, your pet will no longer associate the discipline with the misbehavior. A sharp shout is a good way to admonish your pet. In many cases, if your pet is misbehaving while playing or interacting with you, you'll find that it's best to give a loud, firm "no" and then walk away immediately from your pet. He'll eventually learn that the misbehavior is equated with an end to his interaction and playtime, and he'll adjust his behavior.
Physically disciplining your pet is not a good option. It can cause your pet pain and will also encourage aggressive behavior in your pet. It can also train your dog to be physically afraid of you and other people in your household, which can lead to social problems of a number of types.