Dog Behaviorist Advice: Give Your Dog Jobs

Stimulating Dog Obedience Training

When dogs aren't adequately occupied or stimulated, it can lead to behavioral issues. A large portion of dog breeds were bred to perform certain jobs and work alongside humans, and utilizing these instincts can not only be helpful at home but has many benefits for your pet. Especially beneficial for high-energy dogs, you can give them "jobs" around the house as an additional avenue of training to increase the bond between you, provide structure in their daily routine, and offer an outlet for their physical and mental energy.

If your dog likes to play fetch or have things in their mouth often, you can teach them to hold or carry things around the house. Ensure that their commands for "fetch" and "drop it" are mastered (or whichever verbal cues you have chosen to communicate those requests), then channel the instincts they already possess and put them to work! Another skill you can teach them that is highly impressive and helpful is training them to clean up their own toys. Some dogs are extremely toy-motivated and love to play with them, getting bored of one after a few minutes and getting out another until all their toys are scattered around the floor, several times a day. Rather than having to constantly pick them up just for your dog to take them right back out again, it can be incredibly helpful (and fun for them, dogs love stimulating activities) to train them to do it themselves. You can even teach them identify and retrieve toys by name to designate a specific toy to clean up or bring to you.

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Stimulating Dog Obedience Training

If your dog likes to play fetch or have things in their mouth often, you can teach them to hold or carry things around the house. Ensure that their commands for "fetch" and "drop it" are mastered

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Training Expert

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Useful Jobs for Dog Training Corpus Christi

It may be surprising that all dogs can do this rather than only highly-trained police or search dogs, but you can train your dog to find lost items such as car keys or toys! Through their strong sense of scent, they can be taught to not only know where the item is but to also indicate the location to you or retrieve it. At the beginning you can hide items out in the open for them to find, and slowly increase the difficulty of the hidden locations. Another job for them depending on the size of your dog and the weight of your doors, after you have trained them to "nose target" objects you can teach them to close doors behind you on cue, which is just a cute trick and can be useful when you're carrying too much to easily close it yourself.

Finally, you can train them to "Search the House" to check the perimeter and let you know if there's ever an intruder. Especially for dogs who already have the tendency to bark at people entering, this can be a fun game for your pet and is relatively easy to train. It may sound unnecessary, but you should never undervalue safety and if you live alone and have been absent for several hours this could come in handy. Start by placing a plate with a treat in each room of your home, then walk them with the leash from room to room to each target plate with the cue "look" or "patrol". When you return to the front door, remove the leash and treat them again. After a few repetitions, you will no longer need the leash or targets and can treat them once they finish their rounds.

We hope this information is useful for giving your dog jobs around the house and getting their energy out through stimulating activities! If you need help getting started on training these skills or determining which jobs best suit your pet, Elite-K9 dog training Corpus Christi is more than happy to meet a new furry friend!