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Tips & Tricks

Helpful Tips & Tricks

Figuring out where to start when it comes to training your dog can be daunting with so many areas to tackle. We have put together some tips and tricks that cover common training areas to help you get started. All of our tips & tricks are covered in more detail in our courses

TIPS & TRICKS Enrichment Enrichment is allowing your dog to exhibit natural behaviours. Dogs have been bred to do a job and can become bored now as pets. Giving your dog a job and making them work for their food makes a happy dog! DSPCA Dog Training Team LEARN MORE Stylized image of a happy dog eating

TIPS & TRICKS Play Biting Young dogs and puppies are little biting machines. They bite things that move, things that don’t move, each other, your hands, anything. Not only is this normal, it is an important part of their development. When puppies play, they learn from their playmates’ yelps and body language when a bite is too hard. Over time, a puppy figures out how to use her mouth more gently (inhibit her bite) to keep play going. DSPCA Dog Training Team Learn More Stylized image of a puppy nipping

TIPS & TRICKS How to teach a dog to love his/her harness! This technique uses classical conditioning, which is learning through association. This helps desensitise dogs to things that they are afraid of. We expose them in very gradual stages to the ‘scary thing’ and give them VERY tasty food after exposure, this way they make a mental association that the ‘scary thing’ predicts something very good, and they soon lose their fear and actually start to like the ‘scary thing’! DSPCA Dog Training Team LEARN MORE Stylized image of a dog wearing a harness

TIPS & TRICKS Getting your dog
used to the car Puppies like small children are prone to car sickness. This can be a nasty experience for them and may lead to a fear of the car. The best way to prevent this is to get the puppy used to travelling in small, incremental steps. DSPCA Dog Training Team LEARN MORE Stylized image of a dog in a car