25 Dog Training Facts

Read about 25 dog training facts. Learn how to train a dog the easy way. From basic obedience to dog tricks, you can train your dog with help from your dog training assistant.

Dog training facts: As the world’s most popular pet, dog training has long evolved from its roots as simply a way to get your pet to do the behaviors you want. It has become a full fledged science – one that has been well studied and researched to create several known aspects about the art of dog training. Here is a list of several dog training facts that are interesting to know about dogs and dog behaviors.

1) Dog training helps establish yourself as the alpha in your pack. That is why dog training must be done by you, rather than by a professional dog trainer – for your dog to listen to you, you must be the one that does the training.

2) Dogs learn through two types of conditioning – Classical and Operant – both part of behavioral theory in Psychology.

3) Clicker training is one the most effective form of dog training, because it allows your dog to get rewarded instantly upon completion of the desired behavior.

4) Dogs do not actually age at 7 years per human year. Dogs age according to their size. Larger dogs age faster than smaller dogs (large dogs at 7 years per human year, small dogs at 5 years per human year). However, all dogs age roughly 12 years per year over the first year of life. By 2 years old, all dogs are roughly the equivalent of 24. But at 12 years old, large dogs are 94, while small dogs are only about 74.

5) Dog tricks are more effective when you use a single syllable command (Sit, Stay, etc.) rather than a two syllable command. In the wild, commands would be given by a single bark by the pack leader.

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6) On the flip side, however, your dog is more likely to know its name if its name is two syllables. “Fido” is a better name than “Spike” if you want your dog to know you are referencing it with each name use.

7) When your dog knows its name, training is much easier. As a result, training is double effective when you use your dog’s name before the command, for example “Fido, Sit!” rather than simply “Sit!”

8) With dog training, the size of the reward does not matter. A treat the size of a mosquito is equal in effectiveness as a reward as a treat the size of your fist. As long as your dog wants the reward, it is effective, and dogs will appreciate any reward regardless of its size.

9) For any of the loyal breeds of dog (not all breeds are prone to the same type of loyalty), your affection is considered as much of a reward as a treat. A treat is slightly better for keeping your dog’s attention, but in the absence of treats, simply praising your dog is an effective way to train it.

Dog Training Facts continued

10) Positive punishment (hitting, slapping or yelling loudly at your dog) is the least effective form of training. However, negative punishment (taking away something your dog is enjoying) is the 2nd MOST effective form of training for obedience training. As a result, the best way to train your dog not to bite your socks or chew on your shoes is to say a firm “no” and take them away.

11) Dogs are more prone to focusing and learning behaviors when they have received sufficient exercise. If you want your dog to learn a new trick, make sure you are taking your dog on walks.

12) Dogs also learn in context. As a result, if you only train your dog inside, your dog may not understand the commands if you try to do them outside, because the context of the command has changed. It is best to train your dog in multiple locations to help make the training more context neutral.

13) In addition to context, dogs do not have a sense of what they are doing when they perform a trick. To elaborate, when your dog learns to roll over on command, your dog does not necessarily realize that the trick is “rolling over.” Instead, your dog knows the trick is to bend the left side of its body, lie on its back, twirl, shift its weight, and everything in between. That is why when you are training your dog to do any trick, you must be consistent with the direction your dog is moving. If you want to teach your dog to heel, you must train it on one side of your body, because standing on the other side of your body is confusing. Similarly, if you want your dog to turn in a circle, you must train it to turn either left or right, but not try to train it to spin both ways on the same command or else it will be confused.

14) Dogs learn to recognize gestures better than they learn to recognize sound. If you can make a gesture with your hands your dog is more likely to recognize it and perform the trick. However, if you want your dog to recognize a trick solely by command and not by gesture, it is important that you do not make any obvious gestures when you teach your dog the trick.

15) Dog Training Facts: Dogs that are neutered are easier to train, because they are less likely to fight for dominance in the pack.

Interesting Dog Training Facts

16) The easiest way to fix bad dog behaviors is to completely ignore the dog as well as the behavior. Dogs want attention more than anything else, and while turning towards it in order to yell “No!” may appear to get your dog to stop the behavior, your dog has now learned that when it wants your attention it needs only to do the behavior again. Negative attention is still attention.

17) Varying how often you deliver treats as a reward makes your dog more likely to do a trick even when a reward is not coming. This is known as “variable ratio” and it is the most effective long term training technique. By slowly spreading out how often you give a treat as a reward, you increase the likelihood your dog will perform the behavior.

18) Dog training facts: The easiest tricks to learn are the ones based on behaviors your dog does naturally. By giving your trick a clever command name, you can make common behaviors look more complicated than they originally were. One example is that of “bowing.” Dogs appear to be bowing when they stretch, so by simply training off that behavior, you can create a very popular and fun trick (telling your dog to bow to you) easily.

19) If you own more than one dog, you should know that it is healthier for your dogs if you do not treat them all as equals. Every dog pack has a hierarchy, and dogs that know their place suffer from less anxiety (reducing illness) and exhibit more desirable behaviors. Watch your dogs closely, figure out where each of them appears to fit in the pack, and treat them as such. This significantly improves your success with obedience training.

Dog training facts, submission

20) While it is healthier for dogs to be somewhat submissive, it is possible that a dog suffers from low self esteem due to its place in the pack. Like humans, dogs can feel good or bad about themselves. If your dog is submissive but fearful, shy, or exhibits other behaviors that may be a result of low self image, praise your dog constantly and its self esteem will rise.

21) Certain dog behaviors are necessary in order to reduce worse behaviors, such as biting. The prime examples are growling and showing teeth when upset/angry. This is how dogs communicate. If you try to train your dogs out of those behaviors, or punish your dog for doing them, your dog will no longer see them as a way to communicate and will be forced to skip directly to biting. Showing teeth or growing may be scary, but a dog that is taught not to show these behaviors is more likely to bite when upset.

22) A properly crate trained dog is a happier dog, because dogs are used to sleeping in cages, and crates provide the safety and security of a crate. However, for a poorly crate trained dog the crate can be a prison, which is why crate training is one of the most important things to do correctly.

23) The most common bad dog behaviors are boredom behaviors. These do not require obedience training – they simply require greater amounts of exercise.

24) Staring directly at a dog can be considered a social challenge. Once again, obedience training may not be necessary, rather it may be more important to instruct young children not to stare at strange dogs.

25) Dogs are most energetic between the ages of 1 and 3, when their behaviors can seem strange and erratic. This is the most common time for dogs to be labeled as “bad dogs” by their owners and given up for adoption, which is starting training early and continuing all through these years is very important.

Myth: There is no such thing as a being born bad dog. Dog training facts: Dogs are given up for adoption and killed because of behavior problems that are not due to its genetics, but rather due to poor training by dog owners.

Dog Training Facts: That is why correct dog training is so important. Starting from a young age and continuing long into your dog’s life, dog training is the best way to create a loveable pet that is well behaved and will be affectionate for years to come.

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