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There’s an idea that sooner or later comes up to those minds of whom have or have had a dog, and thats the idea of educating them. We can be the educators or otherwise we can also do it through a dog trainer. It’s up to you. Normaly the aim on this, more than getting our dog to bring us the newspaper or our shoes, is his protection and security: do not cross the street, do not get into fights with other dogs, obey us If there is someone who is afraid of you, do not eat any food that is out there…
Of course, as in everything else, there are different levels, and so you’d have to carry out a canine training according to your goal. For example in HANNIKO we’re very clear about one thing: When it comes to confronting how to educate our dog, we need to take into account what kind of dog we’d like to have, a police dog, a medical assistant, a dog that will take care of pastoral works or any other specific job, that as you will see in the next video, you’d like to take him to a canine competition. If that’s what you want then you better hire a profesional dog trainer or what happened to this girl and her friendly dog could may happen to you too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMzXYK4zhz0
Teaching a dog how to obey
With patience. With love. With enthusiasm. With illusion…
Those are the key words. If you read it again, you’ll soon realize that those are the words that mark the daily life with you dog. ¿Why would education be different?
In HANNIKO we’ve no magic wand. But the experience of living with three complete different dogs has showed us that the education of a dog is about attitude. So here are our 10 tips for educating a dog:
1. Do not humanize your dog
This is a classic mistake of those who approach the dog world without much conviction. The fact of thinking that a dog is like a human but with hair and a waggily tail will only bring us dislikes. Our first tip is very simple: you need to know, as soon as possible, that a dog is an animal with a complete different brain from humans. This necessarily implies educating them on a different way.
2. Better of if you start when he’s still a puppie
Here, however, dogs and humans share a mammalian truth: the sooner learning begins, the better. If your dog is a puppy when you start his education, his brain will be more inclined to fix the basics of the instructions you’ve been giving to him.
3. Let him know who is the boss
There’s nothing bad about assuming, on the human side and on the dog side, who is in charge over who. We insist, it is not about authoritarianism but about pure logic. Your dog needs to know that you are the boss, and he has to obey. Would anyone consider a different starting point in the relationship between parents and children? What’s really important is the way of giving the orders. Keep reading until the end, these tips work better if they’re understood as a global concept.
4. From less to more
We’re pretty sure that the Olympic marathon champion didn’t run a 42K the day he realized that he wanted to become an athlete. Learning is a process, and it must flow from less to more. Make a list of what you’d like your dog to learn and then try to level your list by difficulty and start from the easiest step. Each step, no matter how small it is, will be a victory for your pet and for yourself.
5. Be clear in your instructions
If you want your dog to learn, you must learn to be understandable too. Before facing the teaching process, find out about the best ways to achieve what you wish. Think about how you’re going to give instructions to your dog (and yes if your dog obeys you it simply means that he obeys your orders) and, once you have it clear, don’t ever stop being clear.
6. Be constant
Like everything else in life, constancy is a value that always wins. It may take you more or less time, you can hurry up or go step by step, but if you’re constant, there will be a moment when you’ll start to see the results. In moments of doubt, don’t think about it too much and move on. We guarantee that it will be worth it.
7. Team work
If you live with family, you should all be together in this. If you’re the responsible on educating the dog then the rest of the family should also be aware about the instructions you’re thinking on. Or else, all of your effort will be in vain. It is necesary to share the education given to our dog and it’s a whole family team task.
8. Don’t you ever physically punish him
Not only while the teaching process. Don’t you ever practice free violence against your dog. Ever. Not even in a single moment, under no circumstances.
9. Aknowledge your limits
Let’s see it this way: You don’t need to be Einstein (or Maria Montessori, now that we’re talking about education) nor your dog needs to the the dog in the movie The Artist. Each dog has a limit. Each trainer too. Aknowledge it and try to enjoy of what you achieve.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvfvyuKlEhA
10. Have fun with your dog
Don’t frustrate when you don’t achieve your goals. Maybe he’s not able to understand you, maybe you’re not making your self understandable… Chi lo sa? What’s really important on this process is to enjoy each second of life with your dog and to realize how lucky you are because of your love for dogs. Who don’t do so, have no idea of what they’re missing, don’t you think?
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Vídeo source: The Weinstein company and Puppi Pirate