Dog Obedience Training.
by Dennis Fisher.

 

PRAISE


by Dennis Fisher.

This article is one of a great many articles written by Dennis Fisher about a very wide variety of subjects concerning different  dogs, such as obedience training, breeding, showing, health matters, training problems and other subjects.  All these articles appear on Dennis Fisher's websites.   Visit  http://www.allaboutgermanshepherddogs.com the site that has been set up specifically for German Shepherd Dog enthusiasts, or http://www.freedogadvice.com  if you interested in a breed   other than German Shepherd Dogs

 

Praise has been mentioned continually in these dog training notes .It is a very powerful weapon in your training and you should make use of it to the full.

 

Dog’s respond to praise just as much as little children.    Be lavish and unstintingly generous in your praise at all times.  

 

Although the practice of rewarding the dog with little tidbits can be very effective indeed in certain aspects of training, but  this practice should be used far more sparingly than praise.

 

When you enter obedience competitions you’ll often find that there are restrictions on the use of food as a reward, but there are no restrictions on praise.

 

Even though some trainers believe that praise should be limited to occasions when the dog has  done really well – and there is a certain logic in this practice – nevertheless if you are going to make an error by being over-generous in your praise.  It  is certainly not a  serious mistake that may have repercussions like reprimanding too harshly.

 

Of course you can adjust   the degree of your praise depending on the particular circumstances.  A simple “That’s a good boy” in a matter of fact tone, may be quite sufficient on  certain occasions.

 

If you are going to praise excessively for a relatively minor accomplishment, what are you going to do as an encore when the dog does something really special.

 

Don’t be stingy with your praise, but perhaps it is best to reserve your wildly enthusiastic praise for occasions when the dog  perform really well and does something exceptionally praiseworthy.