How To Plan For Training Your Dog - Motivation

September 16th, 2007 | Dave | General Dog Training

Now that we’ve established a good understanding of how the relationship between you and your dog should work, let’s take a look at the motivating factors behind most dogs. For example, many dogs will resort to chewing not because they’re difficult and out of control, but because they’re experiencing a degree of separation anxiety. As you can see, identifying the source of a problem behavior is the first and most important step to eliminating the behavior.

The more you work with dogs, the more likely you’ll encounter stress as a contributor to unwanted behaviors. Be aware of the stress in your dog’s life, as well as his or her ability to cope with that stress. The goal of a good dog training program is to help your dog tolerate greater levels of stress without becoming a problem animal.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Am I spending enough time with my dog?

What does my dog do during the day to occupy himself?

What motivates my dog?

Do I have my dog’s full attention when we’re out in public?

Have I established myself as the alpha dog?

Next time out we’ll take a look at how to communicate with your dog.