Secrets to Training Your Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Part one)
Secrets to training your Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Part one) Content posted by forum member Ben(Staffinating)
Outlined below are the critical techniques that you MUST use when training your dog, no matter what training method you follow?
Adhering to these techniques will aid the training process immensely and ensure that you get the most out of your relationship with your dog
Bonding
Perhaps the most important aspect of building a successful relationship with your dog will be your rapport with him. If you make your dog into a close friend by doing such things as talking to him, playing with him and taking him for long walks, he will be much more responsive and attentive when you are training him.
Spending QUALITY TIME with your dog is the key.
Consistency
Delivering consistent messages to your dog will help him to view his world as black and white rather than various shades of grey. By consistent messages, I mean the commands that you decide to use to train, praise and reprimand your dog with should always be the same.
It is important that all members of the family are aware of this and use the same commands themselves, as you would not want to undermine the hard work that you have put in to training the dog by having other people confusing him.
For your dogs early training sessions it is worthwhile having one person train him, whether that person is yourself or another family member. The reason for having a sole trainer is that while the commands may be the same the body language can be quite different between different people, which just adds another layer of confusion into your dogs mind.
Timing
By timing I mean the amount of time that passes between your dogs action (or inaction) and corresponding praise. This time should be no more than two to three seconds. If the time is any longer, the chances are your dog will not associate your words with his actions.
Remember that your dog only has the mental capacity of a toddler (maximum 5 year old). In the same vein, it is important that any physical correction to your dogs response to your training command occurs within the same time frame.
For example if your dog is not responding well to the command to sit then reissue the command as you touch his back end or hold a treat over his nose to force the sit. Do not push hard down on the back end any force you use with be met with an equal amount of force from the dog, so your dog will resist.
Do not fall into the trap of calling your dog to you to reprimand him. As mentioned above, by the time he gets to you he has long forgotten what he has done wrong and now thinks that you are telling him of for coming to you!
Always praise your dog when he comes to you.
Never use his name to reprimand him his name should relate to pleasant experiences.
Repetition
Dogs are creatures of habit and learn by repetition. It will take several repetitive training sessions for your dog to get the response you require implanted into his brain and for the action to become automatic.
Dogs do not have an elephants memory and will require refresher sessions throughout their lives so that the conditioned response that you want is not lost.
As part of this, note that you should always praise your dog when he has correctly done what you have asked of him.
It makes sense not to introduce any bad habits into your dog right from the start; otherwise you could be in for a hard time trying to rectify those habits later on.
An example would be that having your puppy on the couch is cute but when he becomes a fully-grown dog, it probably will not be! Remember prevention is far better than having to correct the action at a later stage.
‘Four on the Floor’ is a guide to follow.
Tags: staffordshire bull terrier training, dog training, staffordshire bull terrier, dog training secrets