Why is dog training important? This is a question that may have an obvious answer for some dogs owners if their dog is out of control, pulling on the leash, or maybe excessively barking. Aside from the obvious answer of fixing behavioral issues, there are so many other benefits to dog training that owners should consider. Even if your dog doesn’t have any behavioral issues, it is still important to do some form of training due to the many advantages that training can provide our dog. Not only do we train dogs for our benefit as humans, but more importantly training is always going to benefit the dog in more ways than one.
Thinking
The most important gift we can provide our dog through training is the ability to think. When we say think, we mean to really critically think. Most dogs prior to formal training go through life very impulsive and reactive to situations. Let’s take a random event that could be anything the dog experiences in it’s daily life such as the doorbell ringing, greeting a friend on the street, or going to the park to play. These events influence our dogs behavior in one way or another. Event A always causes behavior B to occur, whatever that may be. A common example is the doorbell rings and our dog barks, almost reflexively. These impulsive behaviors become emotional events for the dog and can lead them to develop anxiety and other emotional responses to events such as extreme excitement. When engage the critical thinking response in our dog through training it can suppress the emotional part of the dog’s brain. This is great to prevent or even fix undesired behaviors such as aggression or reactivity. No one wants their dog to have anxiety and by making our dog think more, we can reduce their emotional response to a variety of situations.
Exercise and Stimulation
When we train with our dogs whether it be practice reps or live situations, we are moving with our dog and engaging them. If we as owners make training fun for our dog, it can be very stimulating and even rewarding for the dog. Training can become just as fun as playing at the dog park or playing with a favorite toy. Certain forms of training will provide more exercise than others. Sit stays won’t necessarily be the best exercise for the dog but are nonetheless stimulating if your criteria is high enough. Other behaviors such as recalls, loose leash walking, and off leash heeling can provide great movement for your dog. Using toy rewards for completing tasks or commands like throwing a favorite ball, can greatly increase the amount of exercise your dog gets from training. Making sure your dog gets proper exercise is very important for their health and sometimes walks alone won’t do it, so by supplementing with training we can make sure our dog stays happy and healthy.
Bonding
Having a strong bond with your dog is something all owners aspire to have and the stronger the bond, the better. When we do training sessions with our dog we are essentially showing them how much value we can provide to them. Dogs are animals and animals are motivated by physical rewards such as food, water, affection, toys, etc. If we hand feed our dogs during training sessions we are showing them that we provide the things they love and need. This will naturally lead your dog to give you more attention and increase the feelings of affection they have for you. The more rewards that come from you vs a food bowl, the more your dog will want to listen and be around you. Not only does the relationship improve on the dog’s side, but on the owners as well! If your dog is not trained, it can be very frustrating leading some to become annoyed by their dog, getting in the way of the relationship building. Training can be fun for both dog and human, making your time together much more enjoyable.
Fixing or Preventing Bad Behaviors
Correcting bad behavior is the most obvious benefit of dog training. If your dog pulls on the leash that is not fun for anyone so training can teach your dog useful commands like loose leash walking or coming when called. Commands are great at providing an acceptable alternative to undesired behaviors. We can also use training to modify behavioral issues such as dog aggression, human aggression, resource guarding, and many other problematic behaviors. If you think your dog could benefit from training, sign up for one of our programs today so your dog can benefit from all the things that dog training provides for your pup!