Training your dogs involves teaching them specific commands, tricks, and behaviors. This is like training your baby to live comfortably. Training could involve: Sit down, Run, Walk, Stop and other related commands or Toilet training, eating, sleeping behaviors, or even some tricks like catch, jump, and everything playful.

A dog learns the most from the surrounding environment (meaning, like your child, if the dog is with aggressive parents he/she can be aggressive too).

Why is it important to train your dog?

Routinely working with your dog in sessions and training them positively, can help you understand their needs better. Training your dog can also engage your dog in a playful workout which is good for your dog’s health. The better the dog behaves the easier it is for you to take the dog anywhere. In a way, training makes you a better owner.

A well-behaved dog is sociable, less stressful, more playful, more energetic, and happy to be with the owner.

What are some methods that dog trainers use?

There are many methods of training your dog, and every owner should at least know these methods before training their dog or choosing a Laguna Beach Dog Trainer, some of these methods are:

1) Alpha or Dominance training: This includes training your dog to understand that you are superior (not in a bad way, but in a disciplined way). The training can be to train your dog to walk behind you at all times or eat after you’ve eaten or got out of the door after you.

2) Positive Reinforcement training: This is pretty simple (or rather cute). It involves rewarding your dog with a treat (anything he/she likes to eat) every time they end up listening to your orders. Treats can also include stuff your dog likes to do, for eg: playing catch, a hug, pats, words of affection, etc.

3) Clicker Training: It is pretty much similar to ‘positive reinforcement’, this involves associating your treats with a ‘click’ (electronic clickers are available in the market). Similar to Pavlov’s method, you can teach your dog to sit down and then give him/her a treat, now, whenever you give a treat press the clicker with it.

4) Model-Rival Training: Remember how your parents used to give you examples of studious children whose parents bought them a video game when they got a good score in exams? Same. Make your dog look at other dogs who follow orders and receive treats. This will make him/her do the same too.

5) Science-based Training: This approach is based on already-proven results. This includes studying various research articles by animal behaviorists to observe your dog and even studying your dog’s habits, response to treats, the effectiveness of training, etc to enforce a scientific approach towards training your dog.

How to choose a professional dog trainer?

A good trainer is a must. Like a good teacher, a good trainer will not enforce values in your dog but teach your dog those values playfully. Some points to keep in mind while choosing a good trainer are:

1) Trainer Reviews: A review can help you judge your trainer on the basis of customer opinions. If others like, maybe he/she is good at educating dogs. Also, try and ask your local vet about a good trainer.

2) Trainer Accreditations: Always make sure that your trainer has valid certifications to your dog. Not only a valid certification, but also some amount of field experience.

3) Class or sessions format: Every dog has different needs, some may have triggers and need personal one-to-one classes, while some may need socialization with other dogs.

4) Specialized dog training: You need to research and keep in mind the aim to train your dog, whether you are training your dog basic obedience or agility or tracking etc. Discuss this with your trainer and analyze whether he/she can do the needful.

To conclude, training your dog is important and a dog trainer might help you with it. However, investing in a dog trainer wisely and carefully is a must, and dog owners should not ignore the needs and wants of their dogs.