Training your dog is part of daily life when owning a pooch and here at Good Boy we call ourselves the “dog-sperts” when it comes to those all-important hints and tips for making pet parents lives easier. We know just how important it is to make sure that your pup starts some simple training whilst they’re young. This will help them get to grips with simple commands and put you on track for the more complex training throughout their life.
We’re here to make your life easier when it comes to training. Whether it’s toilet training tips or even advice on how to get your dogs used to travelling in the car, Good Boy’s top 5 simple tips and advice for training your dog will teach you everything you need to know!
5. As we’ve already mentioned, make sure to start your puppy off with training at a young age.
A great example of this is to start rubbing their body gently with a towel when they’re still youngsters. They don’t necessarily have to be wet for this, but if you can get your fur-babies used to this early it will definitely make cleaning those muddy paws and filthy coats much easier in the years to come.
This can also be done for the use of collars and leads. To avoid your doggy having a tantrum when you first put their collar and lead on to head out for walkies, get them used to this at a young age. Put a collar on them as soon as possible and walk them around the house on a lead a few times a week. This will get them ready for once they’re old enough to bound out the front door!
4. Get your doggy used to be being in the car.
A fantastic way to get your dog ready for car journeys is to start by letting them sit on the back seat or in the boot with a toy or treat whilst the car is stationary. The next steps are to start the engine, but still make sure that the car isn’t moving. This means that eventually when the time comes to actually move and travel somewhere getting in the car will be seen as fun!
Also, doggy travel sickness can not only cause distress for your dog, but for us pet parents too. A fantastic natural remedy for motion and travel sickness is ginger – if you give your pooch a ginger biscuit 10 minutes before travelling it will help to relieve your dogs’ car sickness symptoms.
3. Train your dog with the extremely clever “hand touch trick”.
As all of us pet parents know, those doggies of ours are naturally curious animals. This means that when you hold a closed fist out near them they will touch your hand with their nose. The technique is fairly simple for this training tip – simply hold out your closed hand near your dog and when they touch it with their nose say “yes” and give them a small treat with your other hand.
Your dog will learn soon enough that if they touch your hand with their nose they will get a treat. You can advance this trick by either moving your hand higher or lower, or simply request that the dog touches your hand multiple times before getting rewarded.
2. Incorporate some dinner time fun into your dogs’ routine!
We all know that dogs can be extremely greedy when it comes to meal times – and even more so at treat time! This fun tip can help to slow down your dogs eating whilst also giving them a fun game at dinner time. Try putting their dinner into a clean and empty milk carton or a container with a small opening. Your doggy will then spend ages knocking over the carton to free their dinner.
Another exciting dinner time tip is to create a game for your dog so that they have to hunt for their food. Try scattering your dogs’ dinner across the garden and have a laugh as they hunt to find their food.
1. Keep your pooch occupied on a rainy day.
Walkies in the rain is no fun for us humans or our furry friends. So before either of you go a little stir crazy, why not teach your dogs a few simple tricks inside. Get a handful of their favourite training treats and teach them a “twirl” or develop the “hand touch trick” into a high five by holding the treat above their nose until they sit on their hind legs. Put your hands up and reward them when they touch your hands with their paws.
All you need is a small indoor space at home and you can even play gentle ball games, search and find games or work on basic training. You can do this with your dog whatever their age and whatever the weather.
We know just how important your dogs are, so when it comes to training there’s no better way to make your life easier whilst keeping your dog active, occupied and entertained – the Good Boy way!
