Let’s be honest. No matter how much you care and love your furry friend, it cannot always be a positive experience. At times, you must teach them the lesson of discipline and stop their misbehaviour.
Positive reinforcement is one of the best ways to train dogs. This training is most effective at a young age, but that’s not to say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks! Older dogs can be more difficult to train, but this doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
This is why we have put together this guide to positive reinforcement and augmentation for dogs. We explore exactly what positive reinforcement is for dogs, how you can incorporate it into your training and daily routine, and offer expert tips on products that could be useful for the process!
So sit back, grab a brew, and let’s talk through the best ways to approach positive reinforcement when training your dog.
Remember, every dog is different, what might work for your dog might not work for another. Take each tip and incorporate it into your training routine, it should work, but if some take more time than others, don’t sweat it! Your dog will get there too. Just have a little faith, a lot of treats, and a lot of patience.
What is positive reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement is a training process for dogs in which you reward your dog for their positive behaviour and ignore its ill behaviour. It conveys a message that your dog is expected to do a few behaviors while other behaviors are not appreciated. Your dog starts understanding your intent and acts accordingly.
According to the study, Managing the Risk of Aggressive Dog Behavior: Investigating the Influence of Owner Threat and Efficacy Perceptions: “Although positive reinforcement training methods are now considered to be the most effective and humane technique to manage the risk of aggression, punishment-based methods continue to be used.”
This is a huge shame when we can clearly see how well dogs react and are trained using positive reinforcement.
Benefits of positive reinforcement
- It builds confidence.
- Improves a connection with your dog.
- The whole family can get involved.
- Reduces likelihood of aggressive behavior.
- Helps learning.
Positive reinforcement training tips
It is important to know the right way to reinforce positive behaviour—it makes your training easy and helps your pup grow well-behaved. Here are BullyBillows’ tips that encourage positive behaviour in your canine.
Reward your dog when they are well-behaved
Rewards can be of varying types: verbal applause, a loving pet, or a food reward. Reward more frequently as it is more important than correction. Throughout the training, frequent rewards develop good behaviour and an understanding of what type of behaviour is expected in the home and publicly. And, which behaviour results in… treats!
Spend quality time with your dog
Make sure you spend some good time regularly with your pup. When your dog feels that you care about them, it will reciprocate in your gestures. Just like us, dogs also don’t like neglect and being ignored.
Keep positive reinforcement with your dog consistent
Dogs need both reward and correction depending on the situation. Regular correction is a must to train them to avoid certain behaviours. To make your dog adapt to good behaviour, consistent reward is necessary.
Train and reward them consistently to avoid ‘bad’ behaviour and correct their misbehaviour. Remember to maintain a balance between reward and correction.
Challenge your dog
Mental exercise is important for your dog's overall growth. Pat your dog's head with love every time they perform well in a challenge. If reward and affection are involved, your dog will outperform every challenge. Include hiding treats, obedience training, and other such activities to keep your canine happy and excited.
Forgive your dog for misbehaviour
Punishing the dog can make the situation worse. When the pup makes a mistake, show them you have forgiven them. Your furry friend will understand your emotions and also get your message. You need to be patient to reinforce good behaviour in your lovely four-legged friend.
Enjoy the positive reinforcement training process
Involve everyone from your family in positive behaviour training. Use different methods to bring enjoyment and variation in training. Ask other family members to play with your dog in your absence.
Ask them to give similar commands and reward them if they follow the commands correctly. This will develop a sense of familiarity in your dog along with training. Also, the dog will not feel bored when you are not around them.
Treat your dog with BullyBillows
As you will be rewarding your dog for their obedience and using positive reinforcement, you’ll need the right treat bag to do so! Check out our treat pouches – available in black, khaki, pink and two different styles.
Shop Dog Treat Bags
Or perhaps you’d rather look at our doggy blankets? They’re perfect for humans and doggos alike! See our cosy Dog & Human Blanket today for something to cuddle up with.
Shop the best dog accessories
Shop Dog Accessories today at BullyBillows, the perfect accessories for little dogs with a big attitude! Explore our Dog Harnesses, Dog Collars, and Dog Leads with BullyBillows. They are made to the highest standards because we know how important it is that your dogs are safe, comfortable, and happy on every walk, playtime, and snooze.
Discover more with BullyBillows
Thank you for joining us on this journey to positive reinforcement for dogs! We believe all dogs deserve to happy and well trained. But that’s not all! For the very latest canine news, bookmark our Dog Blog. Or check out these articles we think you’ll love…
