Day 2: Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at.
This is a hard one. Is there any one thing that I am really good at? It took me a while to come up with a good topic, one that might be interesting. I'm really good at finding things out. I'm really good at figuring out what song is playing on the radio just with a few lyrics. I'm really good at finding random things that may be lost. But none of these things are really interesting.
So what is one thing that I know a lot about and am quite good at?
Training dogs.
I realized I had a little talent for training dogs when I trained my first Pug, Katie. I've never had any professional training or anything like that but for some reason I was easily able to train her and our other two dogs.
They can all do basic commands like sit, down, stay, come, and speak. The males can high five and the black lab can respond to all of these commands via sign language. He is probably the most trained out of all of our dogs but that's because he was supposed to be a hunting dog. He retrieves on command, which is a plus when you're pregnant and drop things non-stop.
Our dogs are also trained to stay on our property and not go out onto the street without us. They learned this at an early age because we didn't have a fence. The female knows what it means when we say 'do you want your butt smacked?' She drops her butt and runs.
There are a few key things to remember when training a dog:
1. Repetition is key - you just have to keep doing it over and over again until they understand. My female pug, Katie, learned to sit in ten minutes. We just tried and tried and tried until she got it. The more you say something over time, the more they will understand.
2. Positive reinforcement is best - I've never seen one of my dogs react positively to negative reactions or treatment. They prefer encouragement and positive reinforcement for training. No shocking them, no hitting them with sticks or anything like that.
3. Keep yourself calm - Dogs can sense your irritability and that only makes things worse. If the dog isn't responding the way you want him to, walk away for an hour and come back to it with a fresh attitude. This will help you and the dog.
4. Rewards are OK - It's OK to give your dog a treat when training him. I would always break one treat up into tiny little pieces so as not to give the dog too much. Don't be surprised, though, if the dogs looks for treats after every command for a while. My dogs still do!
5. Keep up the praise - Even if your dog is ten years old, you should still tell him he's a good boy when he listens. Dogs don't tend to forget commands but they can be quite stubborn and might ignore your commands if they choose to.
6. Dogs regress - Moving? Having a baby? Don't forget about your pooch! Dogs generally will regress a bit when big events occur. Just remember that they are just adjusting to the new situation and will get back on track in time.
I think that's it. It's not the most interesting topic in the world but it can be fun. I would never pay someone to train my animals because I know that with a little patience and work, I can do it myself! Doing it yourself also helps to show the dog who the leader is so that's another plus. I would love to work at an animal shelter and help train dogs but I know that I would probably take too many home with me!
This is a hard one. Is there any one thing that I am really good at? It took me a while to come up with a good topic, one that might be interesting. I'm really good at finding things out. I'm really good at figuring out what song is playing on the radio just with a few lyrics. I'm really good at finding random things that may be lost. But none of these things are really interesting.
So what is one thing that I know a lot about and am quite good at?
Training dogs.
I realized I had a little talent for training dogs when I trained my first Pug, Katie. I've never had any professional training or anything like that but for some reason I was easily able to train her and our other two dogs.
They can all do basic commands like sit, down, stay, come, and speak. The males can high five and the black lab can respond to all of these commands via sign language. He is probably the most trained out of all of our dogs but that's because he was supposed to be a hunting dog. He retrieves on command, which is a plus when you're pregnant and drop things non-stop.
Our dogs are also trained to stay on our property and not go out onto the street without us. They learned this at an early age because we didn't have a fence. The female knows what it means when we say 'do you want your butt smacked?' She drops her butt and runs.
There are a few key things to remember when training a dog:
1. Repetition is key - you just have to keep doing it over and over again until they understand. My female pug, Katie, learned to sit in ten minutes. We just tried and tried and tried until she got it. The more you say something over time, the more they will understand.
2. Positive reinforcement is best - I've never seen one of my dogs react positively to negative reactions or treatment. They prefer encouragement and positive reinforcement for training. No shocking them, no hitting them with sticks or anything like that.
3. Keep yourself calm - Dogs can sense your irritability and that only makes things worse. If the dog isn't responding the way you want him to, walk away for an hour and come back to it with a fresh attitude. This will help you and the dog.
4. Rewards are OK - It's OK to give your dog a treat when training him. I would always break one treat up into tiny little pieces so as not to give the dog too much. Don't be surprised, though, if the dogs looks for treats after every command for a while. My dogs still do!
5. Keep up the praise - Even if your dog is ten years old, you should still tell him he's a good boy when he listens. Dogs don't tend to forget commands but they can be quite stubborn and might ignore your commands if they choose to.
6. Dogs regress - Moving? Having a baby? Don't forget about your pooch! Dogs generally will regress a bit when big events occur. Just remember that they are just adjusting to the new situation and will get back on track in time.
I think that's it. It's not the most interesting topic in the world but it can be fun. I would never pay someone to train my animals because I know that with a little patience and work, I can do it myself! Doing it yourself also helps to show the dog who the leader is so that's another plus. I would love to work at an animal shelter and help train dogs but I know that I would probably take too many home with me!
This is great! I was SO bad at training my dogs...I have to remember this if we ever get another one!
ReplyDeleteCan you train my Shih Tzu? I have been terrible at training him.
ReplyDelete