Welcome to 2025! During the holidays, you may have gotten a new puppy or adopted a rescue dog. You may have hosted over the holidays and realized that counter surfing resulted in less turkey for your guests or that Grandma did not appreciate an 80-pound Labrador’s ambitious greeting at the door. It’s a new year, and calmer holidays in the future are just one reason to focus on training now.
Relationship Building
Training your dog allows you to work together on new activities and reinforce old ones. Positive training reinforces good behavior and strengthens the bond with your dog.
Building Your Dog’s Confidence
Positive training means your dog will be rewarded for choosing the right behaviors. This in turn will boost your dog’s confidence as they will make better choices in the future that they will continue to benefit from. A confident dog is a happy dog.
Clear Expectations
Owners often think they are being clear with their dog when this is not always the case. In addition, terms like “stubborn” are often used to describe a dog who does not respond, when in fact, he may just be confused. In the event you don’t know this already, training is as much for the human as it is for the dog. If you are clear about what you want your dog to do and positively reinforce the right outcome, you will develop an open line of communication with your dog.
Mental Stimulation
Training provides great mental stimulation for your dog. They have to focus on you and what you are asking to learn new activities, all while processing stimuli the environment. Mental stimulation contributes to a tired dog, which we all know means a good dog.
Safety
Teaching your dog commands will help keep him safe in a variety of situations, whether it’s opening the door, walking in public, or off leash hiking. Think Stay, Come, Drop It, and Leave It.
Socialization
Whether it’s getting your dog into a group class and/or taking the training out and about, you will have plenty of opportunities to further socialize your dog while testing your dog’s obedience in a variety of situations.
Acceptance
Having a dog with reliable commands allows you to confidently take her into many different environments. These interactions will further strengthen her obedience and help her experience more positive interactions.
Fun Activity
With the darker days lingering for several more months, what better way to spend your evenings or weekends? Taking a class or having private in-home lessons can be a great way to break up a dismal evening. Do you feel like your dog has basic manners under her belt? How about a class in agility or scent work? It’s also a great way to get yourself off the couch and get those extra holiday pounds off!
Whether your dog is a new pup or a more seasoned soul, training is always a benefit. So, when making your New Year’s resolutions, why not add training to the list? Your dog will thank you.
