Who says old dogs can’t learn new tricks? An expert used her Instagram profile Instagram to show dog owners how to train their dogs in the most effective way possible. Check it out!
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Juliana DeWillems, owner and head trainer at JW Dog Training & Behavior, shared three foolproof strategies to help dogs learn new skills:
1. Luring
“This is where you have a treat in your hand and use it to guide your dog into specific positions. Luring can be pretty easy for most people and dogs, making it a popular choice,” explained DeWillems.
2. Capturing
In this scenario, your dog does something naturally without being asked, and you reward it. In this way, your dog will learn that what it did is a desirable behavior.
“Capturing is useful because it means the behavior is already in your dog’s repertoire. So you can easily reward it and give a cue under the right conditions.”
3. Shaping
Shaping is when your dog progresses toward the final goal in small steps. Here, you’re building the behavior in small chunks, with each repetition bringing your dog closer to the desired behavior.
It’s important to have a lot of patience when you’re training a dog. While some dogs learn quickly, most won’t learn everything overnight. However, all the effort will be worth it in the end.
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“Often, you’ll find yourself using a mix of all these techniques to get behavior, so it can be really helpful to understand what and how your dog is learning through positive reinforcement. The next step from here would be to add a cue.”
Photo and video: Pexels and Instagram @jwdogtraining. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
