Dog owners typically tend to feel helpless when their dogs don’t listen to their commands or do the exact opposite of what they tell their furry friends to do. However, what they don’t realize is that just as it is unfair to expect too much from any human, similarly, it is not fair to expect an unrealistic level of obedience from your dog.
In fact, some dog owners even expect their brand new pets to be obedient from the very start. This isn’t right, however. A new pet won’t know the rules and codes of conduct of your home beforehand. Everything your pup learns is what you teach him, and it takes time for your new pet to settle into his new home. Finding himself in unfamiliar surroundings can be pretty overwhelming for a dog, and it doesn’t help if, on the first sign of unresponsiveness, you label your pet as ‘stubborn.’
However, there are situations where dogs just want to be stubborn and will not listen to you despite their training. In these cases, there are tips and tricks you can follow that can make even the most stubborn dog obedient. Here are 5 tips on how to train a stubborn dog.
Never make the mistake of underestimating a dog’s need for training. What we mean by this is that you shouldn’t expect your dog to exhibit ‘good’ behavior if you haven’t exactly specified what that behavior is. A new pup will not arrive in your home with prior knowledge of how they’re supposed to behave, nor will it know the rules, boundaries, and codes of conduct of your home – teaching your dog these things is on you!
Therefore, you cannot label your dog as stubborn if you are the one who is not taking out time to properly train him. When training your dog, it’s important to remember that your training sessions should ideally be short and sweet so that your pet doesn’t get frustrated.
Be patient and calm throughout the training sessions. If you get frustrated, your pup is likely to get anxious or frightened, and this works against both you and your pet.
Remember that sending mixed signals to your pet will only confuse him and won’t teach him the right way and wrong way to behave. For example, if one dog parent rewards the dog for jumping up to greet him while the other rewards him for sitting, the dog is going to be left very confused about which behaviors are ‘good’ and which are not.
Inconsistent and mixed signals from dog parents are the number one contributors to a dog being stubborn or disobedient.
First things first, you have to know what your dog is allowed to do in the house. Can he sit on the sofa? Can he sleep in bed with you? Once you’re clear about your own rules, you can let your dog know just what is expected of him, begin training him so that he behaves accordingly.
You can even let everyone else in your home know what these rules are, and all of the family members can together train the dog. Just remember, too many cooks spoil the broth, so don’t let everyone in the family reward the dog when it does something it’s supposed to do.
Training your pup isn’t going to be easy. You may have to repeat the same process over and over again until you get the desired results.
Ideally, you should train your dog in a calm setting, such as a bedroom. Once your pup has picked up the skill that you were teaching it, you can then repeat the same process in the backyard or the porch outside. The more you repeat the entire process from start to finish, the more likely it is that the skill in question will be drilled into your dog’s head.
Your pup is most likely going to want to do whatever he feels is right, even if you train him to do what is expected of him. Remember, while dogs are extremely intelligent creatures, their minds work in a totally different way than ours do. As such, you have to nurture their instincts so that they align with your training.
Ideally, your dog should come to you every time you call out to it. However, this isn’t always the case. As mentioned earlier, dogs sometimes do what they feel like, which means if your dog isn’t in the mood to listen to you, it’s not going to come to you when you call it.
The best way to ensure that your dog listens to your call is by teaching it to come to you inside your home, while he is on his leash. You can then use your cue word to begin addressing your dog whenever required. For example, you can use this cue word whenever you want to take your dog on a walk or each time you want to call your dog for food.
You can reinforce these recalls with good food such as a nice, juicy piece of meat whenever your dog does come to you.
You should call your dog to you at least 7-10 times each day to enforce the fact that he’s supposed to be attentive and make his way to you whenever you call him. Make sure to praise and reward him whenever he does come to you, or in the least, at least show him affection. However, do NOT punish your dog if he doesn’t listen to you or takes too long. Doing so will only demotivate him and will derail his training.
If you keep in mind these five tips on how to train a stubborn dog, you can easily train even the most disobedient dog. Happy training! 🙂
by Bobby J Davidson || You can’t buy love, but you can rescue it™ .
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