Having a well-trained, obedient dog is the wish of every responsible dog owner. Dogs are companion animals, and can be very sensitive to the needs of their owners. However, having a well-trained dog is not simply reliant on the temperament of your dog. As a responsible dog owner, it’s your duty to become your dog’s instructor as soon as they come under your care. Dog obedience training has a long history, which is founded on giving commands to be obeyed by a canine companion. Here is a guide to how to train a dog to be obedient.
What is Obedience Training
As a general phrase, obedience training for dogs may refer to the overall act of training a dog to be obedient. However, obedience training may also refer to a high level competition that is run by the American Kennel Club. Either way, dog obedience training ranges from simple commands (such as ‘Come’, ‘Down’ and ‘Sit’) to more complicated commands (such as ‘Stay’, ‘Roll Over’, ‘Speak’ and ‘Drop It’).
History
Throughout history, dogs have been trained to obey the commands of their human owners. In previous centuries, herding dogs were taught to move a flock of sheep by listening to specific directions given by their owner. Dogs have been trained for law enforcement, as rescue animals and even for the military. All of these jobs required that a dog be taught to effectively obey commands given by their human owners.
Teaching Commands
When training a dog to be obedient, it’s always best to start with basic dog training commands. This may include commands such as “Come”, “Sit”, “Stay” and “Down”. The command “Come” is also sometimes referred to as your “Recall” command. This command is very important, since it can help to provide the foundation for more complicated commands later in your dog’s training program.
Understanding
To be able to effectively train your dog, it is best if you have some amount of understanding about your dog’s temperament, intelligence and behavior. Not all dogs are able to learn commands at the same rate. For example, Labrador Retrievers are well-known for being intelligent, being able to understand a command after only a few repetitions. A beagle, on the other hand, may require from 80 to 100 repetitions of a specific command until they are able to understand it. Be patient with your dog, and adapt your training program as needed for their rate of learning.
