Maltese Terrier Obedience Training
The purpose of obedience training with your Maltese terrier should be to establish clear communication between you and your dog. Maltese terriers are very loyal by nature, so their desire to please you, their owner, is intrinsic. The problem lies not in their desire to please you, but their understanding of what behavior will accomplish this. Successful Maltese terrier obedience training will teach your terrier exactly what this behavior is, and it will treat you how to consistently reward your dog so the desired behavior is easily elicited.
Getting Started
A great place to start your Maltese terrier obedience training is to establish what behavior you would like your dog to learn. What behavior is the most important to you? Maybe your dog will be out and about with you, and you need the dog to learn the importance of sticking close to you. Or maybe you have small children in the house, and you need the dog to learn the importance of basic commands like sitting and staying to help control otherwise chaotic situations. You are a teacher in this situation, and like a teacher it will be beneficial to you to solidify your teaching plan.
Be Consistent
Don’t just practice your Maltese terrier obedience training in one place at the same time everyday. Successful Maltese terrier obedience training takes place constantly. In the early stages of training this will help you be consistent with your dog. If you’re always reinforcing the behavior you want to teach you will communicate most clearly with your dog. Dogs, like humans, learn best through repetitions. The more a dog is rewarded for a certain behavior the quicker the dog will associate that action with your positive attention.
Punish Wrong Behavior, Not Your Dog
To effectively use rewards in your Maltese terrier obedience training, it is important that if your dog does something that goes against your training that you punish the action, and not the dog. You want the dog to understand the consequence of actions, so if you punish the dog without and action attached you are just creating confusion. Let’s say, for example, your dog chews through your shoe lace, even though you’ve reinforced that play toys are kept in a certain place, and you’ve made it very clear what toys are acceptable for the dog to play with. If you just yell at the dog the dog will have no understanding of why you are yelling, and will not understand what behavior elicited your reaction. If, instead, you bring the dog to your destroyed shoe, and scold the shoe, then take the dog to its toys and initiate some play, the boundary will be reinforced.
Using this method for your Maltese terrier obedience training will lay the foundation for a communicative relationship with your dog. It will make additional aspects of training much easier, like Maltese Terrier Potty Training!
