Teaching your Dog Life skills

Sylvia Koczerzuk Koczerzuk Author

Mar 23, 2023 |

Why is teaching your dog life skills important in dog training

Dog Training is about teaching life skills and foundations for life to your dog, why this is important for several reasons:

1. Safety: Dogs that are well-behaved and know basic commands are safer for themselves and the people around them. For example, a dog that knows "come" can be recalled quickly in a dangerous situation, such as when they are about to run into traffic.
2. Socialization: Teaching your dog life skills can help them become more socialized and better able to interact with other dogs, people, and a variety of environments. This can reduce the possibility of aggression or fear-based behaviour, and make your dog more enjoyable to be around.  Make life comfortable for your dog.
3. Bonding: Training your dog creates a strong bond between you and your pet. It builds trust and mutual relationships, which can help your dog understand what you are communicating, and builds your dogs motivation and that connection and desire to work with you.
4. Convenience: A dog that knows basic life skills such as " auto sit," go to your bed","auto down", "parking",  "wait", "follow me", "auto easy/calm" and "come" are easier to manage and communicate with. This can make your life as a dog owner much easier and builds that communication highway in your dogs brain.
5. Mental stimulation: Dogs that are trained regularly and have a range of life skills to practice are mentally stimulated and engaged. This can prevent boredom and destructive behaviour.  Working the brain can have a much bigger effect on your dogs behaviour in a positive than exercise alone.

Overall, teaching life skills to your dog is an essential aspect of responsible dog ownership. It can help keep your dog safe, happy, and well-behaved, and create a strong bond between you and your pet.  Lets look at how we can get success.

Dog Training fundamentals

There are several ways to categorize or create layers of learning, but here is one possible way to organize them:

The 5 levels of difficulty

Your dog's ability will vary for different skills.

1.  Familiar indoor environments with no distraction/distraction

2.  Familiar outdoor environments with no distraction/distraction

3. Real-life location with far distractions

4.  Real life - bring those distractions closer

5.  Real life

LEVEL UP YOUR DOG TRAINING

• Make sure that your dogs basics are rock solid at lower levels
• Plan your practice sessions: time, location, distractions, reinforcements
• Supercharge your release cue!
• Take breaks
• Don't push your pup - go at their own pace
• Allow your dog the opportunity to get it right - this means that you have to take a step back, and give them some responsibility in challenging situations.

FACTORS TO CREATE SUCCESS IN YOUR DOG TRAINING

• The 3-Ds - Distance, Distraction, Duration: increase the difficulty one at a time
• When you first bring your dog into a new environment or plan to increase one of the D's, start as if they had never learned the cue (this makes them feel like a rockstar when they get it right!)
• When you get 1 or 2 correct responses - stop there!!
• Make sure that they are very good at this level, then add in another one of the D's, or change the environment again.

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