Believe it or not there is a lot of work that goes into being a good dog trainer, and the majority of it is a mental thing. Just like you and me, puppies have spirits too, that need to be understood, and encouraged in a way that makes sense to your puppy. I don’t know if you know this, but your puppy has bestowed upon you the highest honor, and this is one that you would never receive from another human being. Your puppy has give you a lifetime commitment to respect your judgment and abide by your rules, but he needs you to show him how to accomplish this.
Before you begin training your new puppy there are five key things that you will need to do:
- Accept and modify your own personality.
- Never blame your puppy.
- Recognize and understand your puppies unique personality.
- Understand the role that you (the trainer) plays in the training process.
- Learn from your puppy.
Recoining and Changing Your Personality Traits
Before you begin the training process you need to take sometime to analyze yourself. The first thing that you should do is takeout a pen and some paper and list the three adjectives that best describe your personality. Write down the type of person that you are. Are you demanding? Forgiving? Compulsive? You need to be honest here. Once you have done this you should compare your personality with your puppy’s personality.
If you are demanding , and your puppy is a sweetie, then one of you will to need to change. If you put to many demands on a sweet puppy will only frighten him, and he will shut down or run away when you begin training. If you happen to be a compulsive person and your puppy is laid-back, you are going to be laughed at. I don’t know if you have ever seen a dog that laughs at his owner, it is embarrassing. In order to be a good dog trainer, you need to modify your personality to suite your dogs.
Never Blame Your Puppy
Believe it or not, puppies never react out of spite. Your puppy’s behavior is directly related to your reactions. Like children, puppies crave attention and that will repeat whatever behavior get them attention. They don’t care if the attention is positive or negative. When you discipline your puppy he will interpret your discipline as interaction and he repeat the unwanted behavior over and over again. So then how do you handle the unruly situations that your puppy get into? The first step to becoming a good dog trainer is to stop blaming your dog. You should never yell at, or run after your puppy. This type of behavior will only invoke fear in your puppy and cause him to run away from you, and he won’t have any idea why you are acting the way you are. Instead you should consider other options, like treat cups to reward your puppy for his good behavior.
Recognize and Understand Your Puppy’s Unique Personality
Yes, it is true that puppies do have personalities. If you happen to have more than one puppy I am sure that you know what I mean. Every puppy is unique and before you start training your puppy you need to understand his personality. The personality of your puppy is unimportant as long as you remember that he is going to need you to interact with him and understand him. Most puppies are content staying close to their owners as long as they are included in your daily activities.
Understanding The Role That You Play In The Training Process
Ask any professional dog trainer and they will tell you that training is about getting your puppy to work with you, not against you. When you begin training puppy don’t make the mistake of obsessing over the mechanics of the training process.
Don’t forget that training involves two spirits, yours and the puppy’s.
In-order to understand the role that you play in the training process, you need keep these things in mind:
- Training is about getting your puppy to want to work with you and not against you.
- Your puppy is not a toy or a machine; he is a living, breathing, being that has a sprit.
- Not only are you the puppy’s “owner” and “trainer” you are his social coordinator, and his leader.
- Like humans, each puppy learns at a different rate. Its going to be very easy to get frustrated, but you need to remember to stay calm.
- Last but not least “patience is a virtue.”
Learn From Your Puppy
Training is not about exercising control over your puppy. Training is never a one-way street. Raising a puppy will teach you a number of invaluable lessons that you will be able to carry with you and use throughout you life. Your puppy is going to teach you patience and forgiveness. You are going to come to understand certain behaviors that might have infuriated you in the past. You are going to feel a commitment grow inside of you towards your puppy. If you pay attention, you are going to be astounded by the lessons that your puppy is going to teach you.