National Train Your Dog Month
I am so thrilled to be back writing my blog again. I hope everyone had a joyous holiday season and a Happy New Year! This month is National Train Your Dog. It is imperative for your furry family member to have the knowledge of some basic commands. In my opinion the most important one is recall. This can come in handy during so many scenarios. Following close behind would be a strong place, sit, down, and leave it or drop it.
I have spent years training our many furry family members and even fosters. Some were a breeze and others like Zelda Sayre had a bit of a stubborn streak. Consistency is the key. Everyone in the household needs to be on board so your dog understands the expectations. Some dogs will learn almost immediately and others will take some time. Do not get discouraged as dogs much like humans learn at different paces.
If you chose to advance their training remember it can take longer as the tasks become more detailed or complicated. I can attest to this situation. Zelda Sayre picked up the basics in record time. However, once we started the service dog training and more detailed tasks it took quite a bit longer. Truthfully, there were days I felt like banging my head against the wall. I had to learn to step back and take a breath so many times. Furthermore, I remember saying to my our Service Dog Trainer, ” I feel like we will never get where we need to be and this is so frustrating.” I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to throw in the towel. However, with the encouragement and tough love from my husband and our trainer we got there finally this past summer.
I look back now and think all the blood ( yes blood a fell a couple times), sweat, and tears(LOTS) was so worth it. Our bond is so strong now it unlike anything I can put into words but if you have had this opportunity to experience this with your canine companion you know that “feeling” I am trying to describe.
You need to find to best ways to reward your dog while learning new tricks or tasks. For Lambeau he is uber food motivated. Zelda Sayre can take or leave it when it comes to food rewards. Her motivation is praise, and playtime rewards. Examples, frisbee, ball or water play. She will literally, spit the treat out or refuse to take it when we are in public training and this happened long before we put the service dog vest on.
There are so many videos and tips online for dog training. Just remember if you choose to use a trainer do your research. I can tell you from experience we had a few horrible trainers who had recommendations from rescues. If you need a superb training company, I worked with a company and it is 100% virtual so it does not matter where you are located. Yes we had our reservations at first but this is the company which helped with Lambeau. Zelda Sayre went their Service Dog Training Program too. If you want the name just comment below and I will give you their name. UNTIL NEXT WEEK……….
Have a Barktastic week. Remember to give your furry family members lots of attention you are their entire world. ~Charley
