The 15 best dog training tips & exercises

 The 15 best dog training tips & exercises

Maybe you've seen how obedient other dogs are and what great tricks they can do. But with you and your darling, it doesn't work that well with dog training. Then you've come to the right place with our tips and exercises!

Sit!... down!... roll!... give paw!.

There are so many tricks you can train your dog to do.  Best of all, you both have a lot of fun doing it.

You can train many different things with your darling. Key skills include obedience 

and impulse control. But you might also enjoy practising a few tricks.

There are many different reasons why dog ​​training makes sense. On the one hand, your fur nose listens better to you.

After practising, he no longer pulls on the leash, listens to every word and may even carry out commands such as "sit!", "down!" and "give your paw!". On the other hand, it strengthens your connection and the trust between you. 

Dog training should be fun for both of you. Your loved one is exercising, gets busy and you spend time together. 

And the good side effect:your four-legged friend has a basic education and therefore reacts correctly in difficult situations.

To ensure that the practice works properly, I will give you a few important tips and tricks here. At the end you will find some exercises that can complement your training.

10 things to consider when training

1. Start training as a puppy

It's important to give your protégé a basic education from the start . Obedience is particularly important. The younger your dog is, the more capable it is to learn.

He has more energy and a great urge to move. Training is twice as much fun for young dogs.

But don't be insecure if your fur nose is already fully grown. You can also teach older animals a lot.

2. Be consistent but not strict

Always remember: During training, you are the pack leader. You give the commands and decide which exercises are carried out. 

If you are not firm enough in the exercises, your dog will probably not react at all. You don't want to appear indecisive.

Nevertheless, a nice tone of voice is very important. After all, you want to deepen your trust in your protégé. And he should also enjoy training.

3. Different tone of voice for commands than in everyday life

If you give the commands in the same voice you always use, your dog probably won't respond. Four-legged friends do not understand our language.

Basically, it doesn't matter which words we use. Our faithful companions can distinguish the commands we give them based on the tone of voice and melody.

Therefore, the words should be short and precise. Make sure, however, that the tone of voice is not too harsh.

4. Hand signals support what is said

Since dogs do not understand our language, they can better distinguish commands through gestures.

Then the trick usually works without words. In addition, the combination of language and hand signals increases the learning factor: your furry companion will remember the commands much faster.

5. Repeat his name

If you keep saying the name of your favourite during training, he will remember it faster.

Over time he understands who is meant by that. After a while he responds to his name. It also strengthens your relationship of trust.

6. Lots of praise

How is your dog supposed to know that he did something right if you don't explicitly show him that? He appreciates any attention he gets from you. 

You are his point of reference during training. That's why it's a special incentive for your darling to make you happy. So, affirmation in the form of praise is very important for success in practice.

Don't forget to praise him later when you've completed the training.

7. Reward with treats

This small bribe is especially important at the beginning of training. If your protégé gets a treat after a well mastered exercise, he associates it with something positive and now does it even more often. 

After all, he has hope that he will get a reward every time. This gives you his full attention during training.

Of course, you can't later give him a treat for every good action . Nevertheless, you should reward him every now and then after training.

8. Follow the sequence

Varying an exercise from time to time is not effective. That would only confuse your darling. He doesn't know exactly what to do and doesn't learn that quickly.

So choose a fixed sequence that you repeat every time . For example, you first give the command along with the hand signal.

When your four-legged friend has completed the exercise, praise him and give him a treat. 

You should praise him right after the trick he's performed, not wait. Otherwise, he does not connect the two actions.

Furthermore, it makes sense to give hand signals and the wording at the same time. Then your dog can clearly assign the command.

9. Avoid distraction

Training is much more effective when your furry friend isn't distracted. Cars, conspecifics or noises are much more interesting than the training. However, full concentration is required for the exercises.

It is best to choose a secluded place such as a meadow or dirt road for dog training.

If your darling can then do everything perfectly, you slowly get him used to distraction. After all, he should also be able to use the exercises on the street.

10. Not too long at a time

Especially with young dogs, it is important not to overwhelm them. It is better to train in short periods of time but more often. Otherwise, his attention will drop and he will lose interest and fun in the exercise.

Bonus: 5 essential training exercises

Now you know exactly what you should consider when training a dog. But which exercises can you do and how do you approach it?

There are so many different ways to train your dog or teach him tricks. In the following I have selected a few that are easy to carry out even for beginners.

1. This way your dog stays close even without a leash

You should always keep your dog on a leash near roads and people. The risk of something happening is otherwise too great.

But if you're walking down an empty dirt road, your dog will be happy to explore the area on its own. This only works if he listens to you and doesn't stray too far from you.

This exercise is easiest to do with puppies. Older dogs often have habits that are difficult for them to break.

It is especially important to train in remote locations. If there are people or other animals nearby, the temptation to just run after them is too great.

If you are sure that nothing will distract your dog, you can let him off the leash. Then you can go for a walk as normal. 

The situation is of course new and very exciting for your four-legged friend. And because he's so curious, he'll either run much faster than you or sniff something interesting and stay behind.

Keep calling his name so he comes near you again. If he still doesn't come, just keep going. Don't stop and don't look back at him. 

You might even be able to hide somewhere and then call his name. Your darling will immediately start looking for you. Alone, he feels insecure and he desperately wants to be near you again.

When he finds you, he'll be even happier. praise him for it. He will remember this experience and won't run so far away next time.

2. Command "Stay!"

The prerequisite for this exercise is that your dog already reacts to the commands "Sit!" or "Down!". Most dogs learn these commands very quickly.

Walk a few meters with your protégé and then stop. First, tell him to sit down. 

Alternatively, the command "Place!" also works. If he then persists in this exercise for a few seconds, you reward him.

The next time you try, you give him the command “Stay!” afterwards . Extend your flat palm forward.

Now carefully walk a few steps backwards and repeat the command. If your dog stays seated and doesn't jump up right away, be sure to reward him.

At first, your darling will probably not listen to this command. He doesn't understand why he should do this. 

After all, he wants to be with you. But if you practice it with him over and over again and reward him afterwards, he will quickly get used to it.

Over time, you can increase the distances. It's best to practice this step by step and don't go too far away at first. 

After a while, your dog will sit still even if you are no longer in his sight.

3. Break the habit of starting

What is not really a problem with small dogs looks completely different with a Great Dane or a Boxer. 

Your visitors are probably not happy about being jumped on by a 50kg dog. It is also a form of obedience that your four-legged friend refrains from jumping at people.

Young dogs in particular, which are still full of energy, love to jump. If you meet your pup in a crouch from the start, he won't have to jump up at all. 

If he tries anyway, just gently push him away. If that doesn't help either, you should walk away. This shows him that his behaviour was wrong.

For older or larger dogs , step aside when he lunges at you. So he jumps into the void. 

Always turn away from him or ignore him. If he jumps at your visitors or strangers on the street, you should put him on a leash to be on the safe side.

Over time, your darling will realise that jumping is of no use to him. He has a bad experience with it because he is then ignored. After a while he stops doing it altogether.

4. Fetch

This exercise takes more time than the previous ones. But your furry friend makes it all the more fun.

The difficulty with retrieving is that your dog must not see the object as a toy. His job is to bring him back to you and also give him away. 

You probably know it when your dog retrieves the throne toy, but then won't let go of it, if not even runs away again. That's not the point of fetching.

Suitable objects are, for example, wood, toys or the food bag. Of course, the latter offers a special incentive.

Initially, you put the items down some distance away. You can also throw them later. Then you ask your dog to get it. 

If he doesn't yet know what you mean, you can walk to the object with him and show him. You practice this until it no longer causes him any problems.

It is a good idea to practice fetching indoors first and then outside as well. If your dog is already a pro at it, you can also hide the objects. This will be a lot of fun for him.

5. Train the resolution signal

An important element in dog training and yet most people do not know it. If you said a command like sit, down, or stay, then your dog should now obey that command.

But then what? If you don't resolve this command afterwards, he will eventually stop sitting in his seat or stay in place on his own. You should therefore cancel each command after a certain time. Preferably with a word like "okay". The main thing is that your dog learns that you give a command and also determines when it is resolved.

So heed this tip and it will make your dog's life a lot easier in everyday life.