The Lazy Way To Train Your Dog: My Top 5 Tips To Having A Relaxed Well Socialised Dog

The Lazy Way To Train Your Dog: My Top 5 Tips To Having A Relaxed Well Socialised Dog

We’re all busy, life is hectic. Fortunately, we can do a lot of training with our dogs without putting in extra time. By incorporating some simple yet effective techniques into your lifestyle, you can build a strong bond with your dog while instilling good behaviour. Here are five easy tips to encourage the attitude you want but minimising the effort.

1. Calmness

Want your dog to be calm and relaxed in the house? Then reward calmness and relaxation. Don’t reward high energy. When your dog is chilled out lying on their bed that’s the time to pet them, give them some calm affection. The key word is “calm”. If you have high energy and excitement you’ll transmit this to the dog. The point is to reward your dog for being calm but not excite them. For most dogs this means a gentle stroke and softly spoken word, not food. The more often you reward calmness inside the house the more your dog will get into the habit of being calm when they are in the house. Generally speaking, this makes even a lively dog easier to live with. Don’t play with your dog in the house, take them into the garden for that, outside is for excitement, inside is for relaxation.

2. Engagement

Always, always, always acknowledge when your dog pays attention to you. This doesn’t mean you have to reward with food, although you could. It’s enough to tell your dog “good job” when they look your way. When you’re out walking you want your dog to be focussed on you, not the things around you – when you’re dog is checking out the wider world that’s when they’ll chase the cat, dog, bike or whatever else that takes their fancy. If they are looking at you then you have already won the battle. The more you reward them for paying attention to you, the more engaged they will be with you, it will become a habit to check-in with you.

3. Socialisation

Everyone thinks that a well socialised dog is a dog that wants to run over to every dog in the park and play with them. Absolutely not! This leads to fights and stress. A well socialised dog is a dog that sees other dogs, or for that matter people, and feels neutral towards them. You don’t want your dog to run over to them, or to run away. You want them to stay with you and continue the walk. This is best started when your dog is a puppy but can be done with older dogs as well. Allow your dog to see another dog or person at a large distance and if they stay still reward them. Over time reduce the distance. If they stay with you, don’t move forwards or move back, that’s your moment to reward. Reading their body language here can be useful too, but the short of it is that you are rewarding the dog for making the right decision which is to stay with you.

4. Free Shaping

This is the lazy man’s dog training. What it means is that when you are with your dog and without prompting they happen to sit you then say “sit” and reward. If your dog happens to lie down, you say “down” and then reward them. Whatever your dog does, give it a name and offer them a reward. You’re playing a word association game with them. They start associating the command with the activity they just did and getting paid, it’s that simple. So imagine the scenario: you’re sitting on the sofa and your dog comes into the living room and lies down on their bed. You can say “bed” and give them a stroke. Do this a few times and they’ll not only figure out what the command “bed” means but they’ll be very happy to do it because when they do nice things will happen.

5. Play With Your Dog

This is all about relationship building. If you have a good relationship with your dog then life with them will become easy. Dogs are social creatures, and at the heart of any social group of animals is their interlinking relationships. If you improve your relationship with your dog you will improve every interaction you have with them. It doesn’t matter what sort of dog that you have and what sort of play they like to do, whether it is tug, chasing a lure, playing tag or wrestling, put a little time aside each day to play. It is the best bang for your buck time-wise that you can spend. And it’s fun!