Dog training made simple with the CPR method. The number one thing you have to remember when training a dog is Consistency. This is one of the main reasons people have problems with potty training their pup, lack of consistency. A puppy cannot be permitted to run around the house unsupervised and ultimately relieving itself on the floor. The next time the pup squats you interrupt, pick him up and take him outdoors. Lack of consistency is a big issue if you don’t come up with a way to watch your pup in the house. I recommend tying yourself to the dog with a leash. Use a quick link to attack the leash to your belt buckle. This way they don’t have the opportunity to wonder away from you to pee.
Jumping issues are another one. Letting the dog jump up to say hi every time you come home. After two months as they grow you no longer want them jumping. Jumping up on guests is very annoying to your guest. Teach your dogs to sit to get attention and not jump. Consistency is the key. They cannot be allowed to jump some times and not others and the whole family has to be on the same page when training a new pup.
Next, is persistence and praise. Raising a puppy or training an older dog that was adopted can be challenging. You have to win the battles and not give in. You have to be the persistence on no the dog. Persistence is the key, don’t give up and don’t let the dog get their way. Follow up a behavior you want with praise. Praise is the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you were a child and an adult told you what a good job you did. Praise following a behavior will make the dog want to repeat that behavior. Praise the dog for a sit, step into him and say off if they jump. I often use food rewards when teaching behavior. Food is a another form of praise.
Reinforcement is the final key to dog training. Reinforcement can be positive or negative. Interrupting a pup when they squat to pee in the house is negative reinforcement, and praising the pup for going outdoors to pee is a positive reinforcer. Animals learn from the good things and bad things they feel during or immediately after a behavior. With Animals they don’t think like people and we cannot reason with them. Please don’t bark anymore because you are giving mommy a headache doesn’t mean anything to a dog. If anything they consider it praise because you are giving them attention. All the dog hears is, “blah blah blah blah blah Mommy, blah blah blah”. The better thing to do if you have a ton of patience is to ignore the dog if they are barking at you. No attention should eliminate the bark. Personally I don’t have the patience to ignore unwanted behavior to eliminate it. I normally will interrupt the behavior and give the dog something else to think about, like; sit, down, place. Dogs are not good at multi-tasking.
So there you have it, the basics of dog training with the CPR method. Consistency, persistence, praise, and reinforcement.
