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Persistence and Consistency - The Secret to Dog Training Success
Each day would be a challenge to find out what rules should govern your behavior.
Chances are you would be confused and inadvertently break rules for which you would be unjustly punished.
Dogs are often subjected to that environment of changing rules of behavior.
They become easily confused by contradictions and suffer unjust punishments as a result.
Eventually, they become unresponsive, even aggressive.
Training and disciplining must be consistent.
Dogs need to feel secure in an environment with predictable rules of behavior.
Humans have logical minds, and can discern the similarity of the commands stop, hold it right there, and don't move.
To a dog, however, such differences make about as much sense as apple, sunflower, and hubcap.
Dogs must be taught to recognize commands that refer to specific actions, and must not be given different commands referring to that same action.
Consider a simple command, "down.
" If the dog has been taught that down means to go from a standing position to a prone position on the floor, the dog will be totally bewildered is he is given the same command when the owner wants him to get off the couch.
If he's lying down on the couch, he's already "down.
" The command "off" would be more appropriate and understandable.
Before beginning a training regimen, the owner should make a list of commands for each specific behavior that he wishes to train the dog to recognize.
This consistency will make the training experience easier for both owner and dog, and eliminate future problems in communication.
Once these terms are defined, the owner should be persistent in their use to enable the dog to recognize each command instinctively and behave as expected.
Consistency is a characteristic expected from the owner.
The dog does not share this behavioral characteristic.
Persistence, however, is a behavioral attribute that is shared by both dog and owner.
Many owners are defeated by their dog's persistence, and give up on trying to change behaviors like constant barking or jumping up on people.
The dogs are more persistent that the owners.
Dogs learn as well from owner's behavior.
If an owner is not persistent, and gives up on a component of training, the dog will quickly learn that he simply has to outlast you to enjoy life his way.
With determination and persistence, you, as owner, can overcome your dog's persistence and effect permanent and acceptable behavioral changes.
Once the dog learns that your consistency and persistence is unrestricted, he will become less difficult to train.
For example, if you are training your dog not to jump up on people in general, but allow him to jump up on you and other family members, you'll be confusing the dog by your inconsistency.
If you are consistent in training him not to jump up on anyone, but give up before the behavior changes, you'll fail with future training attempts through your lack of persistence.
You must become your home's alpha dog.
Persistence and consistency are the keys to successful dog training.
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