How to encourage a puppy

Owners who have started training a pet often ask the question: “How to encourage a puppy during training?» After all, it is very important to choose the right encouragement in order to form and develop the puppy’s motivation and instill in him a love of activities. How to encourage a puppy during training?

How to encourage a puppy during training

The choice of reward when training a puppy depends on what stage of mastering the skill you are in, as well as on the preferences of the baby. A universal rule: a new command is learned for a treat, and the learned skill is consolidated using a toy or a game with the owner. However, it is important to take into account your puppy’s predominant motivation, as well as what he wants most at this very moment. 

How can you encourage a puppy during training? There are four main options:

1. Delicacy. This is a very popular type of promotion and at the same time very effective. However, it is important to choose a treat for which the baby will really want to cooperate with you.
2. A toy. It is important that the toy you use as a reward when training a puppy is loved by the baby, but at the same time not given to him at other times. This is the thing that a pet should deserve.
3. Games with the owner. To do this, choose toys that two can play with – for example, not just a ball, but a ball with a string that you can hold, or special tug-of-war toys.
4. Verbal praise and strokes (social motivation). Remember that in the initial stages for most dogs, praise and stroking is not so valuable, social motivation must be developed.

 You can also combine or alternate rewards so that the puppy does not know what you will please him next. This further increases the dog’s motivation and strengthens the bond with the owner.

Puppy training food

Sometimes owners feel that it is enough to use, for example, dry food for puppy training. You can use regular puppy training food, but it’s not as effective as giving out other treats that are rarer and more beloved, and therefore more valuable. So instead of the usual puppy training food, it is better to choose a more attractive “yummy”. It could be:

• Cheese.
• Boiled chicken stomachs.
• Sausages.
• Prepared treats for dogs.
• Handmade delicacies.
• And other options.

It is important that the pieces of puppy training food are small (no more than 5×5 mm for puppies of medium and large breeds) so that the baby does not have to chew the treat for a long time. In addition, small pieces will last you for a long time, because the task of issuing food during training is not to saturate the puppy, but to motivate him.