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10 Dog Training Myths to Ignore

Rattled by the myths about dog training? These are the ridiculous dog training myths that you should start ignoring now.

By Jennifer VioletPublished 6 years ago 7 min read
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When it comes to dog training, there's a lot of work to be put into it. Doesn't matter at what age; small pup or senior, training a dog takes a lot of patience and dedication to have your dog learn a bunch of new tricks and skills. If you're willing to properly train your dog, you have to be on top of it. This doesn't mean slack and refrain from supporting your dog. It's all about being on top of your game and allowing your dog to be exposed to really cool tricks!

However, many of us are held back from training because of the many myths about dog training. There's actually a lot of myths out there that people do believe are true. And unfortunately, these are also the reasons people don't try or even consider training their dog to learn new things. If you want to start training your dog, but are held back from the many myths people came up with, these are the most absurd dog training myths you should stop believe now.

Rewarding with food is basically bribery.

Many people believe that giving our dogs treats as a reward while training is bribery. In fact, it's not. It's just a reward! Wouldn't you want to be rewarded with something you love after accomplishing a tough task? So does dogs! Bribing and reinforcing are two separate things. While bribing is persuading, reinforcing is supporting.

Therefore, rewarding our dogs with treats when training is more on the support side. We want our dogs to accomplish tasks and learn new tricks, and giving them a treat is a way of saying "good job" and that they deserved it.

Your dog is way too stubborn to be trained.

From the dog training myths out there, there are actually certain breeds that can be stubborn when it comes to training. However, they're not stubborn for no reason—there's most likely a cause for their stubborn attitude. Either your dog is dealing with a medical condition, feeling anxious, is in fear, doesn't fully understand, and anything else can be holding your pup from cooperating with you.

With the right tactics and rewards to motivate your dog, there are certainly ways to train your dog. Starting off slowly in the beginning can bring your dog to be more comfortable and adjust to your way of training. It's still possible to train even the most stubborn of dogs!

You can't start training your pup until six months old.

Training your dog at a certain age is among the ridiculous dog training myths existing. So many people say that you should start training your dog after six months. This couldn't be any more false, because puppies are immediately learning the second they're born.

While their minds are absorbing everything like sponges, starting to train them at a young age is the best idea. Once you begin training them during their earlier years, they'll grow up to be masters in all of the skills and talents that they learned. So it's never too early to start training your pup slowly!

Do everything first so your dog knows that you're the leader.

Okay, so this myth is based off of how a wolf pack works. In a wolf pack, the alpha wolf is seen to be the leader and everything they do is always first. While these wolves are acting out first, this makes them the head of the pack. However, this definitely doesn't apply to dogs because... dogs aren't wolves.

So it doesn't matter if you do something first to establish yourself that you're the leader. In fact, showing your dog that you're the leader through building a bond and earning your dog's trust is the best way. This results to a more loving relationship than putting fear into your dog.

Positive reinforcement won't train aggressive or fearful dogs.

Positive reinforcement can train aggressive or fearful dogs, without a doubt. Why would you forcefully train a fearful dog with aggression? This would cause more fear to grow within the dog and you're not building a proper, loving connection with your furry friend. Even if your dog is aggressive, compassionate training sessions can certainly encourage your dog to ease down and learn the skills genuinely.

Always use love and positivity when training your dog. This will surely motivate and support your dog to do his best and never become stubborn. Aggression is never the case, and this can actually make matters worse. This is among the dog training myths that you should look past.

Playing tug-of-war is teaching your dogs to be aggressive.

Among the absurd dog training myths out there, playing tug-of-war with your dog doesn't teach your dog to be aggressive. In fact, this way of playing and training is used to train service dogs, working dogs, and even dogs who compete in sports. Plus, dogs love to play a game of tug-of-war with anyone with their toys!

Yet, there is a certain limit to this. If your dog is putting his teeth on your skin while he's tugging on the toy, he's supposed to know that that's not right. And by this, you should train him to understand the "drop it" command to stop.

Dogs only work to be praised.

Just like offering treats, dogs find praises to be just as rewarding! When they've accomplished a task or learned a new trick, they get a kick out of being praised by their owner. But that's not entirely what dogs work for.

While it's mainly seen as just a reward, so many dogs work because they believe that it's part of their duty—their purpose. And that's true! Dogs believe that their purpose is to succeed in certain tasks. So being praised is just a reward for them, it doesn't entirely get them going in learning new skills and commands.

Dogs work in order to please us.

This also comes back to the previous one. From the dog training myths existing to this day, dogs don't only work just to please us. Yes, dogs really enjoy being rewarded with praises and treats after completing a task, but that's not their main priority when it comes to doing tasks.

Like I've mentioned before, dogs believe that they have a certain purpose to them and it's by working. So for dogs, working is a natural instinct to them. They work hard because they believe that they genuinely should. They don't entirely do it to please their owners or receive rewards.

Training is simply a phase.

No, training isn't a phase in their life. Training should definitely be consistent all throughout their life. If you're training your dog in their earlier years, and completely stop for a long period of time, your dog can develop bad behaviors if their not on top of their behavior training. So, it's really important to always train your pup as the days go.

If you stop training your dog as a whole, they'll basically be rusty, and even acquire bad behaviors. This goes to show that training isn't a "phase." It's something that should be consistent, no matter the age of your dog.

Your dog isn't among the intelligent breeds to train.

Lastly, from the ridiculous dog training myths out there that you should start ignoring is that your dog isn't among the intelligent breed. And this means that your dog won't be able to be properly trained. This is very... very wrong. Even though there are the easiest dog breeds to train out there, all dogs can learn and understand commands. Their breed isn't what's getting in the way of their training.

Sure, it can be a challenge to certain dogs, but it depends on their personality. All dogs are designed to fulfill specific jobs and have the intelligence to do so. This means that literally any type of dog, age, or breed can be properly trained.

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About the Creator

Jennifer Violet

Bakes sweets ever Thursday and donates them to her local homeless shelter. Is an owner to five pugs and can count to 500 in French.

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