Train Your Dog with MJ's Fluffy Friends Dog Training

There are many crucial points to note before we get started. First, consistency is key! This means it is better to work for 5-10 minutes once per day than 60 minutes once per week. No, you don’t have to work every single day, but the more often you practice in these short bursts, the quicker your dog will learn. Remember, not every training session needs to be formal. Even a casual walk around the block with you rewarding check-ins is a form of training.

Second, whatever you are working on should be achievable for your dog. For example, if you want to teach recall, you should start in a small, quiet space without distractions and reward your dog for any movement they make towards you rather than starting at the dog park. Similarly, it’s always a good idea to move slow, so that you always set your dog up for success. With the recall example, that means moving from a small room to a larger room; from a larger room to your entire house; from indoors to a quiet space outdoors; etc. If your dog is failing to respond, that’s a good signal that you are asking too much and need to scale it back.

Lastly, timing is everything. Make sure you mark the moment your dog does something desirable. For example, if you want to teach the trick “beg,” you should mark and reward any time your dog lifts their front paws off the ground, even if they don’t perfectly sit back and hold it. At the same time, you don’t want to just mark and reward when your dog does nothing. This timing helps shape behaviour