Hello fur parents! A lot of my friends and relatives are asking me how I trained my dog - Mochi. Training a dog requires a lot of patience, because it is not an easy task or project. I started his training as soon as I got him, luckily he was really smart. By the way, I am not a professional dog trainer I watched videos on YouTube and read blogs to give me an idea on how to do it. Giving positive reinforcements is very important in dog training: giving food treats, praising him, giving him his favorite toy or petting him.
Video taken : October 2020 during our first training session
- The first thing I did was to let him know his name (who he is): I repeatedly called him Mochi and he gets a treat every time he looks at me whenever I mention his name.
Video taken: December 2020 - tricks training session
- Dog tricks : Sit, shake hands, down, spin, high five, fetch and etc. I started with "sit", he was 2 months then. Whenever he does the trick correctly I praise him by saying "Yes, Good, Mochi!" or give him positive reinforcements. Then when he was already familiar with the command, I will try to teach him a new one. I allot 15 to 20 minutes a day and I made sure that there are no other distractions around and I try to contain him in a small space so I will get his full attention. I also taught him the word "YES" if he is doing something right and vice versa for "NO". If he tries to play bite I tell him "No, bite bite.." and I also set boundaries for him not to go to places he was not allowed to. When he tries to go there I will command him - "No Mochi you are not allowed to go there.." he stops... (*wink). Other trainers or pet owners use a clicker (it is also helpful) but in my case I did not use one for Mochi.
- Potty training : First, I bought a potty trainer/tray at Shopee and a pack of potty pads at the mall. It's actually my decision to potty train him inside the house, I don't want to bring him outside every time he needs to do his deed. Potty training is quite challenging, it did not happened overnight. Accidents still happen once in a while, especially when he's too excited. But I always remind him that he should do it on his potty tray. So how did I trained him? At 2 months, I put him on the tray and tell him okay Mochi potty now or go wee wee/go poo-poo... whenever he does it right I give him a treat and praise him. I do that on routine every morning before I feed him and at night after his meal. Please note that : during the first few weeks, I just wash the tray with water (only) I don't use soap or any cleaning agents so the scent of his urine and poop will stay on the tray. Remember that dogs sniffs in order to find their spot before they do their business. When he turned 5 months (when he was officially allowed to roam around the house) he can do it on his own, I need not bring or lead him to his potty area.
Dog training needs a lot of dedication, effort and like what I have said earlier patience. During the lockdown I was able to regularly train Mochi. Now I can only do that on weekends (because I need to go to work), sometimes he is a bit stubborn and just like to be cuddled. Aside from new tricks training, I also want to train him to socialize with other dogs. Maybe now that we are slowly shifting to the new normal and allowing people to go out, I plan set a dog meet up/play date with my cousins and friends for Mochi's dog socialization training.
Mochi at 1 year and 7 months, here are the tricks that he can do:
- Sit
- High Five
- Down
- Shake hands
- Wait
- Spin
- Come
- Fetch
- Get your toy
- Give / Leave it
- Speak (he barks) & Sssh (he stops barking)
- Drink water
- Up-up (to go up the stairs)
- Boop
- Shoot (he shoots his face/head when I form a circle with my hands)
- Kiss
- Yes and No.
I also use hand gestures for some of the tricks, sometimes I need not say the command I just use my hands and he does the tricks too.
I hope you learned something from this. If you have other tricks to share, please write it on the comment below.
xo,
Chiq♥
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