You just came home with your new best friend. Maybe you went to a breeder, perhaps you went to a shelter, maybe he actually found you- either way, what do you do now? Other than love, food, and shelter, what else could your new pup possibly need? 

 

How about some TRAINING??!!

 

You may be thinking, “Ya well, I went to a shelter and adopted a dog 1 year+ old. Training isn’t for me. My dog is past the training stage. Only puppies can be trained.” 

 

Let me stop you there and tell you that is FALSE. 

 

All dogs, including older dogs, can learn new “tricks”. All it takes is commitment, patience, and consistency on your part to teach any dog, young or old, obedience or a new trick or two. 

 

Besides, training is part of your responsibility as a dog owner. Nobody likes a dog that chews on everything or has poor greeting, table, or leash manners. In fact, this destructive behavior accounts for most dog surrenders to shelters. You don’t want to send poor fido back to the pound because you didn’t want to deal with his separation anxiety and destructive chewing, do you?

 

Let’s talk about the benefits of training.

First, training helps provide mental stimulation for your dog. 

Just as we work our brains by doing Sudoku and jigsaw puzzles, learning commands, obedience, and tricks help to work your dog’s brain and help to tire him out. A dog doesn’t need just physical activity to tire him out. Mental exhaustion is just as powerful, if not more, to tire out your pup. And when you combine the two together, you have a perfect recipe for an exhausted pup. It’s true what they say- a tired dog is a happy dog (and a less destructive one).

Training helps to build a positive relationship with your dog. 

What better way to build a trusting and bonding relationship between the two of you than working together daily to accomplish a goal? Your pup wants nothing more than to please you and make you happy. By giving him a way to do this through training, you’ll give him an outlet for that desire that doesn’t include leaving surprises for you around the house ( you know what I mean 💩). Being in sync together creates a lasting bond for the life of your pup. 

 

Training also teaches your dog life skills and coping mechanisms to deal with stress and anxiety.

As we’ve already covered, training helps to tire out your pup’s mind and, therefore, his energy. This in itself can help keep a dog’s anxiety and stress levels at a minimum. However, training can do so much more. If your dog is fearful of, say maybe thunder or fireworks, working with your dog and challenging his mind during these stressors can help to keep his brain from reaching a red zone of destructive and unwanted behaviors (and out of the bathtub). Also, exposure in the right way to these stressors and reactive situations can diminish their anxiety-producing effects. But always make sure to consult a professional before attempting this training. Failure to complete this kind of exercise in a controlled and proper manner could make these fears and anxieties worse. 

Socialization is another big benefit of training. 

Dogs need socialization just as much as we do. Puppies begin the socialization process while still with their littermates fighting for their mom’s milk. Puppies need exposure to other dogs once separated to learn critical doggie social cues, like when play is getting out of hand or proper greeting etiquette. When you allow your puppy to train as part of a group class, your dog benefits from being around a multitude of different dog types, breeds, and sizes. This socialization and training process helps reduce dog reactivity when walking in the neighborhood or when out on a lead in your yard for potty time. Veterinary Behaviorists believe the critical social period for puppies ends at roughly 16 weeks. So if you have the benefit of a class before that age, do it! If you don’t, consult with a trainer to determine if a group class is the best thing to start training, or if it would be more beneficial later in the training process. 

And of course, the obvious, it decreases unwanted behaviors.

Teaching your pup basic obedience commands such as sit, come, stay, place, and heel can reduce unwanted behaviors such as leash pulling, jumping, poor greeting manners, mouthing, and other undesirable behaviors.

 

Here’s how Sit Means Sit can help you accomplish ALL of these training tasks. 

 

Our mission at SMS is to create happy, obedient, and confident dogs. 

 

Through attention-based training approaches, we work to customize the training approach to meet our client’s personality and their desired results. We train you and your pup to ensure lasting behavior modification to ensure your dog maintains a happy and relaxed attitude and lifestyle. 

What kinds of training programs do we offer?

I’m so glad you asked! Here at SMS, we offer several training programs to fit your needs. 

 

Puppy Socialization  

As we stated above, this is a critical time for puppies to learn and socialize to prevent future behavior problems. A study published in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior looked at how socialization as a puppy affected behavior as an older dog. Guess what? It definitely has an effect. If you want to read more about this study and the findings, you can click here.

 

We offer puppy socialization classes in 2 different age groups to allow for vaccination congruity and reduce the risk of unvaccinated pups’ exposure to possibly harmful illness. 

• 8-16 weeks
• 4-6 months 

In these classes, we teach the foundations of training, appropriate behavior boundaries, basic commands, and we have a period for off-leash play. You can click here for more information on class schedules and how to register for these classes.  

Day Training 

This program is the perfect balance of professional one on one instruction and private lessons. It’s a great option for busy families and individuals. We get to do what we are good at – train your dog. You get the benefit of private coaching from us. You get to have all the fun with your dog.

Frequent Fido  

This is a way for our Day Train graduates to keep you and your pup accountable, this program helps to reinforce the skills your dog has learned by attending one full day of training each month for a year. 

Tune-Ups

We all could use a little refresher on things we’ve learned from time to time. Your pup is no different- especially when human life becomes hectic, and consistency in practice has drifted off. With this program, you can send your dog to us for three days to fine tune a couple of behaviors that have gotten a little off track.

Specialty Classes and Seminars

These classes are always changing, so be sure to check-in at the events section of our website for details. Some examples of past classes have been agility and trick training and seminars on pet first aid and yoga. 

If you want to learn more about any of the classes listed here or want to register, please contact us so we can ensure that you are in the appropriate program for you and your dog’s needs. 

 

So, YES! Your dog needs training!

 

We’ve covered a lot here on why training is so important for you and your pup. The bond created between humans and dogs is tremendous when there is a trusting working relationship between the two. 

 

Training to reduce or eliminate unwanted behaviors will help you and fido to live a calmer, happier, more confident life and reduce the risk of him being surrendered to a shelter for undesirable behavior. 

 

SMS is more than happy to help you with any of your training needs or questions, so Call Us today! We hope to see you and your pup in one of our classes soon 🙂.