Train your puppy yourself

Obedience training is not only good for you as the owner, but also for your dog. Obedient dogs are less likely to run into traffic, attack or be attacked and bitten by another dog, or eat the neighbor’s cat.

Owning an obedient dog will therefore cut down on stress, vets bills and worry about your pet’s safety. Pet insurance is another way to alleviate these worries. With good pet insurance you can rest assured that your pet will be in safe hands and well cared for should the worst happen.

Professional dog trainers are available and with some breeds which are harder to train owners may need a professional help, but most dogs will learn the basic commands with relative ease.

Before you attempt to self train your new puppy, take into account that each dog has a predisposition to certain types of activity. For example German Sheppard’s are predisposed to be guard dogs, while collies are known  herding dogs, and setters, pointers and retrievers make excellent hunting dogs. All dogs are trainable, and all dogs can learn many tricks.

It is important to stay consistent when training your puppy and to reinforce your training often. Training sessions should be short, between ten and fifteen minutes each, and at least twice a day. Time your sessions according to you and your dog’s attention span as a distracted dog, or owner, will not learn correctly.  Start lessons in a quiet space, and then as your dog learns his manners, take him into public spaces to practice.

Most dogs respond best to the reward method of training and will quickly obey commands when they know there is a treat coming. Reinforce the praise for a correct response with a moment of play and petting, before continuing with the lesson. Before long you and your pet will be a team to be reckoned with…

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