Training and Health

Smart Training - How does it work?

admin • 20 Jun 2023

Puppies or adults, dogs can be extremely messy and drive their owners crazy for lack of obedience. However, the pet world discovers new techniques for teaching commands and behavior to animals every day, and intelligent training is becoming more and more popular among swashbuckling dog owners.

Having positive reinforcements as a base, intelligent training works on top of the correct actions performed by the pets, avoiding any type of violence when the dog has a reproachable attitude. Beneficial for the dogs' learning, this type of training also positively influences their owners, who learn to deal with pets in a calmer and clearer way, generating increasingly positive results.

Puppies that are 50 days old or older can already start learning with intelligent training and, as there is no age limit, it is possible that even elderly dogs understand commands through this technique – totally focused on rewards for good behavior.

Find out, below, some of the main characteristics of this type of training for dogs, and understand why the use of violence in training can cause trauma and even greater difficulty in teaching animals.

How smart training works

As described earlier, positive reinforcements are the main basis of intelligent training, which values ​​the correct attitudes of dogs to influence their learning. Anyone who has a four-legged friend at home already knows that most of the teaching techniques for animals involve rewards, and it is precisely through them that this type of training works in dogs, who start to associate the learning experience with good feelings. And hot for affection and approval.

In addition to helping the animal assimilate the commands, it receives more quickly, this training also gives pleasure to the animal, which understands the benefits it can receive by obeying the owner's orders and behaving properly. As in other types of dog training, the clicker and treats are fundamental tools in intelligent dog training, since, in this process, the teacher must be able to show the animal the exact action that earned him a reward.

Equipment

Other equipment such as whistles and horns can also perform the clicker function in this work, however, it is important to remember that the sound of the tool used must not be loud (so as not to damage the dogs' hearing, which is extremely sensitive) nor too long, since training is called “smart” precisely because the dog can perceive the correct behavior for which it is being rewarded – through the noise it hears while performing the action.

Due to the lack of experience in training animals, the most recommended thing is for owners to be able to count on the professional help of a trainer during the beginning of the process – who must be accompanied by the owner whenever possible – being able to understand the techniques and continue to apply them. In practice. This accompaniment of the owner in training helps both in the evolution of learning and in the formation of an even greater emotional bond between dog and owner, which greatly facilitates the process.

Basically, intelligent training defines that the owner (or the trainer) activates the clicker during the exact moment that the animal is executing the command that was requested - indicating which is the adequate behavior for him - and, after that, offers some kind of reward he likes, such as a treat or lots of cuddles.

Constant barking, peeing out of place, entry into prohibited rooms, bites and scratches from strangers, and pulling on the leash when walking are some of the problems that can be solved and alleviated through intelligent training; a process that, when carried out correctly, allows you to efficiently teach the most basic commands to dogs in about six months - and this period can vary greatly according to the number and frequency of classes, in addition to the dog's personality.

No violence!

Entirely based on rewards, intelligent training avoids any type of violence and reprimand, preventing animals from developing aggressive behavior due to the way they are treated by their owners. Furthermore, this type of training ensures that the animal does not associate its learning with a bad and unpleasant scenario; since this can contribute a lot to the animal's unwillingness to learn or even go through any teaching process - considering that violence, when used, will be the main factor in the dog's mind at these times.