Dogs are a welcome member of any household. They keep us company during those long rainy days and long sunny walks. No matter the breed they are guaranteed to liven up our life. However, while our canine friends are friendly they can still be quite stubborn. The usual finger-wagging doesn’t work on these guys because they are slow on learning from their mistakes. This is why training your dog is important. Because most of us aren’t professional dog trainers we seek some easy-to-use gadgets as means of simpler education for our pets. Let’s take a peek at a few of them and the utility they offer.
Table of Contents
1. Treat pouch
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Years of research showcase that every type of training or education progresses better with positive reinforcement. For pets we usually resort to treats, a tasty snack to tell your dog they did well is always a good way to reinforce proper behavior. Even the most stubborn of dogs respond to treats but the issue comes from the fact that it can be cumbersome to take treats everywhere with you and any missed opportunity to reinforce proper behavior can be very detrimental to a dog’s training. Not to mention there’s a chance of them spilling inside of our bag or pocket, causing a mess.
To always keep treats at the ready and prevent spilling, consider getting a treat pouch. These come in many forms and sizes. Their common feature is that they can fit on your person easily, usually being clip-on or easy to mount on your belt. This way even when you and your furry friend are going on a short afternoon walk the treats can be an ever-present reward for their good behavior.
2. Clicker
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While regular treats and constant access to them may be enough for most regular dogs, our more headstrong pals may need an additional measure to their training. This is usually present in the form of additional conditioning. While yelling your dog’s name can work for some it’s also not universally applicable as a signifier to your dog.
To condition your dog to respond to a certain sound as a signifier, we suggest clickers. Clicker training builds upon positive reinforcement training, acting as an additional signifier to your dog that they did something right. The proper way to use it is to “mark” a moment when your dog does something properly. This has the dog connect the sound of the click with proper behavior and treats to come. Even the most stubborn dogs will learn this association, although it will take you more time and effort due to their personality.
3. Potty trainer
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We’ve talked about some overall training gadgets and techniques but let’s home in on something more specific. That being potty training your dog. If you have a large yard you probably never had to worry about this, as your dog will be spending most time outside so he’ll naturally be inclined to do his business there. However, you might not have the luxury of keeping your dog outside at all, requiring proper training to prevent your apartment from smelling weird for a long while.
Although when it comes to pooping you will most often have to resort to taking the dog out and training them regularly, for number one you can quickly teach even the densest of dogs where the bathroom is by utilizing potty training pads. These are usually intended for puppies but work well for any dog. To properly utilize this simple training tool make sure to restrict the dog’s access to the household while training is in session. This gives them fewer chances of missing the mark and having an accident on a hard-to-clean surface.
Point them or carry them to the potty pad. When they do their business, make sure to praise them a lot and offer treats. If you are away from your dog but still want to make sure they are properly conditioned through treats you should look into automatic potty trainer gadgets which can recognize your dog relieving itself on the pad and reward them with a treat.
4. Training collar
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When training your dog it is important to give it signifiers that’ll help it distinguish when it’s doing something bad as well as when it’s doing something good. Punishing it directly will most often lead to the dog doing the thing you are punishing it for when you aren’t around rather than helping correct its behavior. This is why proxies such as a training collar are important, as they can be constantly present without causing the dog to avoid their bad behavior exclusively when you are around.
The training collar has been a staple of dog training for a while now. It’s rather simple to operate and can even have additional functionality, such as a GPS tracker. As time progressed these items became more sophisticated and automatic in their function. While shock training collars are morally dubious, hurting your pet is never nice even if the shock is very small, there are ample alternatives frequently being added.
The most often alternative is vibrations which still offer a palpable signifier to the dog while not injuring it. Your stubborn pal can now be reminded of any wrongdoing even when you aren’t around to properly point it out. Keep in mind that when a dog starts showing proper behavior you should still reward it as this will only speed up the training process. When shopping for a training collar for stubborn dogs we suggest you visit welovedoodles where you can find ample information and reviews.The site can also offer all sorts of tips on keeping your furry buddy at their best behavior and health.
The rest of the training process is on you
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When looking for an item to help you train your dog make sure to establish exactly where your dog’s stubbornness is fully expressed. Some dogs may be very courteous inside the house but get unruly when outside, or the other way around. On top of all that, the training’s efficiency depends on you no matter the number of gadgets provided. The training should be constant, positively reinforced, and approached with a lot of patience. After all, while dogs are very intelligent they aren’t able of understanding human language meaning you have to approach the training sessions from a perspective they can understand.
