Common Dog Training Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Your four-legged pal quickly becomes a beloved member of your family. With that comes is a plethora of responsibilities such as training, which may lead to some common mistakes.

Below, we’re sharing some dog training advice and tricks to help you avoid the pitfalls that come with this journey as you learn how to take your dog training skills to the next level.

When training your dog considering time is important. This will vary depending on the age of your dog - as puppies (in general) tend to have shorter attention spans. When training your dog, one of your main goals is to create positive associations with your training time.

The four types of training you’ll be working on with your dog include:

- Obedience training

- Crate training

- Leash training

- Potty training

Working on the fundamental basics of obedience training is key to mastering other forms of training. Obedience training allows your pet to get used to following commands from you, making other training for feeding, peeing, and leashing easier.

When your crate training your dog it’s important to make time spent in the crate moderate, as having them in the crate for too long can cause feelings of stress and anxiety. Over time, this can result in adverse behavior.

For leash and potty training having a schedule will make things easier for both you and your dog or puppy as it’ll allow you both to adjust and help them create positive associations with training.

This consistency is especially important for potty training. When potty training your pet using dog pads such as the Scott^® Pet Guard Advanced Dog Pads and the Scott^® Pet Guard Dog Pads, which can provide your dog with multiple layers of softness and up to 100% of leak-free protection.

Place your dog on the pad in 2–3-hour intervals. You can also place them on the pad during times when they are more likely urinate to help them become accustomed to peeing on the pad.

One mistake you might make is using an incorrectly sized pad, it's important to choose one according to the size of your breed. Available in multiple sizes, Scott^® Pet Dog Pads features training scents, which can help minimize accidents. These pads are also designed with odor control technology so you can place them anywhere around your home.

When accidents do happen it's important not to react negatively and to move your pet to the dog pad. Reacting negatively can cause your pet to become stressed and to have negative associations with the dog pad, hurting any progress you’ve made during training.

When leash training, start by letting your dog wear their leash and collar indoors for short periods, slowly increasing this time as they become accustomed to wearing it. Once you see that they’re comfortable, take them outside to areas with other dogs.

Throughout your training, start with shorter periods and adjusting as you go along will allow your pet to get used to training without becoming stressed out and allow you to modify unwanted behaviors in real-time.

While repeating a cue occasionally isn’t the end of the world, when you’re training your dog, you’d ideally like to get them to respond the first time a command is issued.

Repeating cues to your dog could also have adverse effects. Remember, dogs are smart, smarter than you might give them credit for, and when you repeat cues, they learn and store this information.

When you repeat a cue multiple times, for example: “stay, stay…stay!” your dog will learn that this is the complete cue, instead of just “stay”. So, they’ll wait for it to be said multiple times.

You might also find that when repeating cues to your dog, you become frustrated. When this becomes evident in your tone of voice, your dog can pick this up and become stressed out, resulting in them ignoring you.

When giving your dog a command or cue it's best to be consistent with only giving it once and making sure that you have their attention when doing so. If you must, wait a full ten seconds before giving them the cue again.

A poisoned cue refers to a cue that has lost meaning for your dog resulting them in ignoring you when being given this cue or being confused because they aren’t sure what behavior you want from them.

Your cues can become poisoned if you aren’t reinforcing them once given or if cues are repeated (nagging).

But all hope is not lost. If you think that you’re dealing with previously poisoned cues or are at risk of poisoning your command cues you can start over by attaching different words to your cues and making it clear what behavior is expected. You should also then reinforce this behavior with praise or a treat.

When you’re reteaching your dog, a poisoned cue changing your command from “lie down” to “down/rest” and making the desired behavior clear will be a game changer. Remember to reward them for a completed command and continue to slowly introduce this new command into your routine.

In the same way you adopt new habits in your life, being consistent is the best way to get your dog to adopt new behaviors. When you’re inconsistent with your dog's training it can lead to them being confused and therefore ignoring your commands.

Inconsistent training can also lead to disobedience and a refusal to follow your cues. This can be frustrating as it might even undermine any previous training efforts.

To make sure your training sticks, be consistent with your behavior during training and the cues you present your dog, rewarding them for fulfilled behaviors. Remember, your dogs need time and repetition to retain this new information and develop their new behavioral skills.

Rewards are a powerful tool when it comes to making your dog training stick. Similarly to how you might like a reward when being consistent with a new habit implemented in your life, your dog likes to know that they’re doing a good job and that you’re happy with their behavior.

Using rewards for positive responses to your cues will also create positive associations with the cue being used and the desired behavior, but there are some pitfalls to avoid.

When using treats for a successfully followed command you want to have two types of treats on board, high-value and low-value treats. High-value treats can take the form of chicken or even small toys, these kinds of treats should be used sparingly and only when complex behaviors are successfully carried out or behaviors are successfully carried out in high-distraction environments like dog parks.

If you use the wrong reward, a treat that’s too big for an easy behavior you run the risk of creating an expensive habit that you need to upkeep that might also result in your dog gaining weight.

When rewarding your dog for behaviors, timing is crucial. Because your dog has a short attention span you want to make sure that if a command is successfully carried out you reward your pet quickly.

If you wait too long your dogs' attention might be elsewhere, making it hard for them to associate the reward positively with the fulfilled command.

Even the most expert dog trainers make mistakes when it comes to getting dogs to adopt new behaviors. Be consistent in your training and stick with it to ensure a happy future for you and your furry friend.

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