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Training Your Silky Terrier

Posted in Dog & Puppy Training | April 28th, 2008

Each breed of dog needs a different type of training. Your silky is more than likely very bright and very determined. He wants things his way and not yours. You may want to lay the law down while you dog is still a puppy so that he/she gets to learn early who the boss is and what rules they must follow.
Before you can star to train your terrier you must understand whether your dog has a dominate or submissive personality. The information below will help you decide.

A submissive dog normally:

•    avoids eye contact.
•    rolls on its back.
•    crouch down, ears back and tail lowered.
•    is comfortable on its back in your arms.

On the other hand, a dominant dog:

•    maintains eye contact.
•    is unwilling to move from his place on the couch.
•    dislikes grooming and petting.
•    is possessive of dishes and toys.

Training your silky terriers requires kindness and consistency. Generally Silkys respond actively to praises and to rewards. In addition, they become harsh and unresponsive towards punishments and animosity, respectively. If you have a submissive dog you must be extra gentle and have patience since you don’t want to upset your dog. On the other hand if your dog is dominate you must stand your ground and be stern, yet gentle.

Here are the recommended ways of training silky terriers:

1. Reiteration or Repetition

Reiteration is the name of the dog training game. In here, dogs are asked to do a task over and over again to achieve mastery. Dog tricks are best learned when reiterated and reinforced through rewards.

2. Persistence

Patience is a virtue that requires you to tolerate hardships. Persistence is trying to be patient for a longer time until a goal is achieved.

3. Praise and Scold

Simply put, if a dog does the right thing, it should be said aloud. Otherwise, the dog should hear, “No, that’s not it!” when the trick is not complete or appropriate for the command given. These words reinforce correct responses and diminish the unwanted ones.

4. Rewarding

Bits of cheese would really be good treats for dogs who responded correctly to a given command. Other food can be bought at pet sores. However, if you are able to get the respect of your pet, commands will be executed even if there are no longer involved treats. Likewise, these things reinforce warranted responses.

If your lifestyle permits being in charge of training your own pet, you can do the training as long as you have gathered enough patience and commitment by:

1. spending time grooming your dog.
2. having regular training times on the leash.
3. stroking its belly and toes and rolling it on its back
4. hand feeding some food to ensure that the pet is taking treats gently and slowly.

In asserting dominance, always practice consistency and firmness. Afterwards, you can be a master and a dear friend to your own pet.

Training takes a lot of time, patience and most of all love. When you dog knows that you love them, they will often want to please you by obeying.

If you find that you don’t have the patience or the time then it’s best to get the dog professionally trained or go to training classes with your dog. Many classes are held at the larger pet stores or your vet can recommend one.

A trained dog is a joy!

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Dog Training Tutor – Dog Training to Stop Behavior Problems…