Top Training Tips
1. Prevent is better than a cure.
If you prevent your pet engaging in behaviours that you find undesirable then they will not practice getting better at preforming these. Like wise if you set your pet up to practice desirable behaviours then they will become well practiced at these!
2. Interrupt unwanted behaviour.
If you allow your pet to practice the unwanted behaviour, how can you expect this behaviour to every stop. Interrupt unwanted behaviour by instructing your pet to do something more desirable instead.
3. NO, NO, NO, NO, Yes!
No doesn’t really provide your pet which very much information! Instead if you instruct them by telling them what you want them to do instead it is far more informative and useful.
4. You get what you pay for.
You really do! If you pay your pet for desirable behaviours such as “generally being good, then your will get more of this.
5. Consistency is key.
Lots of owners have different rules for the times they are training their pets, as oppose to all the other times when they are “just living with them. However they still expect their pets to behave as they would when they were training. It is important to remember that if you want your training to pay off you have to be consistent all the time.
6. Exercise.
If your pets basic needs for mental and physical exercise are not met then training is likely to be slower. Ensure these and other basic needs such as access to food and water are all met adequately before you start training.
7. If it still is not working…
If you have being saying “No or trying to train your pet by doing something repeatedly and it is not changing your pets behaviour then maybe you need to stop and try something else because it appears that doing the same thing another 100 times is not going to change the outcome.
8. Think horses not zebra.
Too much of animal training is overly complicated. Dogs don’t pull because they are being dominant! If they get rewarded for doing something they will probably do it again. If a dog pulls and gets to the park quicker then surprise it will do it again! Most of the time there is often a simple reason for your pets behaviour.
9. Understand currency!
As mentioned above, an animal will do something again if they get paid for it. Knowing what your pet will work for and that different food items, toys or games will hold different values of reward for your pet in different situations will help excel your training.
10. You get what you train not what you think you are training.
This is a complicated one but if you understand it you will be a better trainer! If a trainer has poor timing and or training skills (these can improve with practice) then they may not be teaching the animal what they think they are teaching. They may think they are teaching something but in fact because of their poor skills their animal is learning something else, however they will then get angry at the animal for learning the “wrong thing or accuse the animal of being stubborn, dominant etc…
Chirag Patel, Clinical Animal Behaviourist and Company of Animals Training and Behaviour Centre Manager
