Dog Education In Six Steps

It is often said that one of the most important things about a dog’s education is that it is able to respect certain rules, but it is almost never explained how to go about achieving this goal. In this regard, we want to share with you six basic steps to educate your dog. Educating your dog will mean ensuring a good coexistence between you and your furry friend, as well as the fact that, during this learning process, you will learn to partially control his impulses and prevent him from doing harm.

Your dog’s quality of life will largely depend on how hard you commit to this task and to get good results it is always best to start with the most basic things.

Your dog’s education starts right from his arrival at home

Raising a dog is far easier if it is a puppy, but that doesn’t mean that even adult dogs can’t be educated. What is certain is that the education process must begin right from his arrival at home: it is important, in order to obtain a satisfactory level of coexistence, to set the record straight and establish rules right away.

Although it is fully understandable that each animal has its own adaptation times, it will be of great help for your dog to know what the rules are in your home, which are the spaces to which he has access and which not, the times of the food and of the walk, etc …

Avoid humanizing your dog

Very often those who have a dog, especially if it is the first pet they have to deal with, falls into the error of humanizing the animal. Obviously this does not mean that you cannot talk to your furry friend, cuddle him or give him all the affection and attention you are capable of: not humanizing the dog means that you cannot use educational strategies based on human psychology with him. .

Employing such techniques would be counterproductive because it would create a very large gap between your expectations and what your four-legged friend is really able to understand, generating in the dog only frustration and emotional instability and slowing down the learning process.

Identify yourself with the alpha male

Precisely because you cannot rely on human psychology, your reference will be the canine social structure, governed by a strong hierarchy of roles: towards your dog it will therefore be essential that you take on the role of leader and not his equal. Only in this way will you prevent your friend from unleashing a struggle to assume power and control of both the territory and the pack.

To ensure that your coexistence is healthy, the ideal will be that the dog adopts a submissive attitude, otherwise he could start to feel responsible for the group and later develop behavior problems that could lead to episodes of territoriality, aggression or stress. .

Do not forget that the dog is a very strong animal and having an unmanageable one can not only turn into a bad experience, but could also represent a real danger.

Work on self-esteem and trust

A good technique to have a balanced dog and to avoid future problems of anxiety or nervousness is to make sure that he develops a good self-esteem: to do this, we advise you to offer him games that stimulate his intellect.

For example, you could use toys made by you, through which the dog is stimulated to complete certain missions, rewarding him when he does well the tasks you have given him and when he obeys. Remember that violence, whether physical or verbal, is never an educational strategy.

Affection and love, on the other hand, are two fundamental elements: through cuddles, moments of play and caresses you will be able to establish a solid and lasting bond with your dog.

Socialize your dog the right way

Your dog’s emotional balance also depends on the relationships it maintains with its peers: these animals, in fact, learn from others the typical behaviors of their own species.

If the first rudiments are learned from their mother and their siblings, your furry friend can learn much more with his peers, such as controlling his own strength.

Remember that it is best not to start this phase of socialization before having done all the necessary vaccinations: without the vaccine, your dog is vulnerable and could contract some disease to which other dogs are immune, even if they are carriers.

Socialization also includes contact with other people and with animals of other species: through these relationships your dog will learn to accept strangers in its territory and to walk on the street or in the park quietly without continuously pulling the leash every time it sees a dog more small, in an attempt to follow him.

Its space and its things

You will need to teach your furry friend that there is a time and place for everything. In this way he will know how to behave at home, for example avoiding jumping on people or on furniture and beds, if these are things that you have forbidden him.

This implies the fact that he must learn to play with his things and not yours: a crucial point if you want to prevent him from biting and destroying everything in the house.