Training anyone is challenging, whether it’s for a job, or as an educator – and that’s if you speak the same language as the person you’re training! Training your dog is even more challenging, because it is a meeting of minds between two entirely separate species! So how do you bridge the gap between human and animal to train your dog?
Psychology has all kinds of great studies about this. It is called operant conditioning, and it means we buttress behaviors with positive (adding something) or negative (taking something away) reinforcement or punishment. Further studies have shown that positive reinforcement works better than any other kind of training or learning. So how can you train your dog in a completely positive way?
Positive reinforcement includes all the fun things we love! Treats, hugs, and petting can all do far more to help your dog learn tricks and positive behaviors than yelling at it or punishing it when it does something bad. Furthermore, once you have taught the dog the behavior, verbal cues will suffice most of the time to ensure the dog continues the behavior whether you reward it or not!
It’s an unfortunate situation, but one which many dog lovers have to accept – puppies can bite. It can be a major challenge trying to control biting behavior, but there are some ways in which you can teach your dog to reduce and eradicate this behavior. 