How to Motivate Your Dog to Train

Dog training is a great way to mentally stimulate your dog, spend quality time and strengthen the bond with your friend. However, it takes dedication and motivation not only form the human as well as from the dog. Some dogs are keen learners and people pleasers. In this article, we would like to review the ways of how to motivate your dog to train.

Play

Show your dog that you are fun to be around! Once the puppy comes to you don’t start immediately with obedience training. Spend a lot of time together, playing, running, rolling on the floor together. On many occasions in life your dog will have to choose you over other temptations like sniff a bush for an extensive time, chase squirrels, dig the deepest hole in the park. So your dog has to know that coming back to you is always fun, they will get rewarded with food or play.

Attention

If your dog prefers strolling around the house to spending time with you, then get rid of a food bowl. The food bowl is a lazy way to feed your dog without your dog really “earning” it. For a week feed your dog from your hands, giving piece by piece. If your dog already knows some commands, practice and integrate them in the feeding time. Slowly your dog will learn to concentrate attention to you and recognise that hanging around with you pays off.

Rewards

You don’t have to and should not reward your dog only with food.  There are different things that motivate dogs to train – food, toys or your attention. If you know your dog is crazy about a ball or toy, ask for a “sit”, “paw” or “down” and only when your dog performs, toss the ball. 

Also, use real-world rewards, before you let your dog go through the door, jump out of the car, take off the leash ask for a “bow”, “spin” or “sit&stay“. Once your dog performs, reward with the real-world experience 🐕 🌎.

Choice

Your dog is a free individual and they have a choice to do something else instead of following you or agreeing to your schedule. When starting training it is your “duty” to set up the environment and meet the prerequisites, so your dog offers the behaviour you wish.

Environment

Start in a quiet, distraction-free environment. So your dog will not be disturbed by other pets, cars or food cooked on the oven.

As your dog becomes more comfortable with training, you can gradually increase the level of distraction in the environment. This can help your dog to learn how to focus in more challenging situations. For example, you might start by training your dog in a quiet room with no distractions, and gradually move to a more noisy and busy environment. This can help your dog to learn how to ignore distractions and focus on your commands.

Exercise

If you just came back from work and your dog was alone for quite a few hours, offer them a walk or a game of fetch. Otherwise, your dog might be so excited and full of energy that concentrating and listening to you will not be the top priority.

It’s important to remember that exercise is just as important as training when it comes to keeping your dog happy and healthy. Regular exercise can help to reduce stress and anxiety in dogs, and can also help to prevent behavior problems. Make sure to take your dog for daily walks or runs, and provide plenty of opportunities for play and exercise. This can help your dog to stay mentally and physically healthy, and can also make them more motivated to train.

Food

Have you ever skipped lunch and came back home in the evening with the only goal – FOOD?! Make sure, you feed your dog at least a small portion. So their brain can concentrate on you and not the treat that you hold in your hand.

It’s important to remember that food is not the only reward you can use when training your dog. In fact, using a variety of rewards can help to keep your dog engaged and motivated during training. Make sure to choose rewards that your dog really enjoys, and use them consistently during training. This can help to reinforce good behavior and make training more fun for both you and your dog.

Dogs like humans are motivated by similar things: fun time, friends, rewards, food, etc. Make sure you approach dog training with a positive note. Build up the training intensity and commands step-by-step, so your dog doesn’t lose the motivation to train. We advise you to download Dogo App. With the help of the app, you will be able to track your dog’s progress, film video exams and receive feedback from dog trainers, participate in weekly challenges and even win prizes. Dogo App uses positive clicker training method, so you and your dog will love it!