Motivating Your Dog
Keeping the attention of your dog while training is not always an easy task. Dogs can be very easily distracted, and it is important to not allow the dog training sessions to be ruined by boredom. Making dog training fun for the dog and the human alike is vital to creating a happy, well-adjusted and well-trained dog.
Providing random positive stimuli throughout the day is a great way to keep the interest of the dog. Doing things the dog enjoys, like walking in the park, riding in the car, and playing with other dogs, are great ways to keep the dog’s attention, but you must reward him for small successes.
For instance, in order to reward the dog for coming to you when you call him, ask the dog to come to you, without giving any clues about a walk, a car ride, or other treats.
After the dog has come to you and obediently sat down, attach the lead and start the treat. This can be either the before-mentioned walk in the park, ride in the car, or anything else the dog enjoys doing.
Giving some kind of reward, whether a treat, a special outing, or just a tickle behind the ears, every time the dog does something you want him to, is a great way to keep your dog’s motivation while you are dog training.
If the dog knows something great is going to occur every time he obeys your command, he will be more motivated to please you every time.
Distraction training.
When training any dog, it is vital to not allow distractions spoil the training. The dog must be taught to ignore distractions, such as other people, other dogs, other animals and loud noises, and focus on what is being taught These types of distractions can even be used as rewards when training the dog to come when told.
For example, if your dog enjoys playing with other dogs, whether in a local dog park or with the neighbour’s dogs, let him play freely with those other dogs. Then go into the park or yard and call your dog.
When he comes to you, provide lots of praise, treats and other rewards, then immediately let the dog to go back to playing with his pals. Repeat this several times and praise the dog each time he comes to you.
Your dog will soon learn that coming to you means good things (treats and praise) and not bad ones (being removed from the park).
This so-called distraction training is one of the hardest things for your dog to learn, because dogs are naturally social animals, and breaking away from the pack is one of the most difficult things you can ask your dog to do. Most dogs will be understandably unwilling to leave their canine companions, but it is vital to persist in dog training.
Training the dog to come to you may require some creativity on your part at first. For instance, waving a favourite toy, or a lure, is a great way to get your dog’s attention and put the focus back on you. If your dog has been clicker trained, a quick click can be a good motivator too when you are training your dog.
Once your dog starts to get used to coming when called, you can start to reduce and then stop the visual cues and focus on making the dog obey just your voice. It is vital that your dog obeys voice commands alone, as you will not always have a toy or lure to hand.
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