How To Keep Your Dog Motivated
Keeping the attention of your dog during training is not always an easy task. Dogs are very easily distracted, and it is important to not allow the dog training sessions to be sabotaged 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.
You should provide random positive stimuli during the day in order to maintain the interest of your dog. Doing things the dog enjoys, like walking in the park, riding in the car, and playing with other dogs, are good methods to keep the dog’s attention, but you must give him rewards for his successes.
For example, 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 leash and begin the treat. This can be either the afore-mentioned walk in the park, ride in the car, or anything else the dog likes to do.
Providing some kind of reward, whether a treat, a special outing, or just a scratch behind the ears, every time the dog does something you want, 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 follows your command, he will be more motivated to please you every time.
Distraction training.
When training any dog, it is important to not let distractions ruin 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 your dog to come when called.
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 garden and call your dog.
When he comes to you, provide lots of praise, treats and other rewards, then immediately allow the dog to return to playing with his pals. Do this a few times and praise the dog every time he comes to you.
Your dog will soon learn that coming to your call results in good things (treats and praise) and not bad ones (being removed from the park).
So-called distraction training is one of the most difficult things to teach, because dogs are naturally social animals, and breaking away from the pack is one of the hardest things you can ask your dog to do. Most dogs will be understandably reluctant to leave their canine companions, but it is important to persist in dog training.
Training your dog to come to you when you call can take some creativity on your part at first. For instance, waving a favourite toy, or a lure, is a good 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 training your dog.
Once your dog starts to get used to coming when called, you can begin to reduce and then stop the visual cues and focus on getting the dog to obey your voice alone. It is important that the dog responds to voice commands alone, since you will not always have a toy or other lure to hand.
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