What factors affect dog training?

I. The Owner’s Influence in Dog Training

1. Owners are usually to blame if they over-expect their dogs during dog training which will result in the owners having negative emotions like frustration which at the same time will cause a kind of harm during the process of the training. For example, a dog that just made a mistake out of its own will might get a scolding of an angry voice and a punishment of being hit with a leash from the owner which completely kills the dog’s drive to practice further.

2. The usage of command and conversational language within the same training session leaves the dog feeling puzzled. The dog is not able to form a strong conditioned response to the commands as a result of this confusion. More so, the unnecessary words become new stimuli for the dog’s exploratory reflex. The exploratory reflex distracts the dog from following the command and performing the training step, thus the reduction of training efficiency is remarkable.

3. “Over-training” situation refers to the cases when dogs are put through very long and repeated training sessions, where the same action or exercise is done again and again. Such overuse of the dog’s nervous system leads to the extension of the training period and even termination of training in some cases, thus the negative effect is not only local but also global. Therefore, the balance between exertion and rest is essential to keep from overindulgence of the dog.

II. Impact of Climate and Environment on Dog Training

1. Climate’s Impact on Dog Training (Conditioning and Instruction): Wind characteristics, such as direction, speed, and force, play a significant role in the results of training, especially when a dog is involved in scent work and odor discrimination. For example, the wind direction can either provide or block the transmission of human verbal commands, thereby the dog’s reception and execution of instructions during training are affected.

2. Environmental Impact on Dog Training: A training venue should be quiet and free from noise. The presence of many people or vehicles passing by can create distractions for dogs. Environmental interference is the direct reason that diminishes a dog’s focus during training and thus, the effectiveness is reduced to a large extent.

III. Impact of Husbandry Management on Dog Training

Firstly dog feeding habits play an important role in dog training. Scientifically and consistently executed feeding will enable the dog to maintain its physical stamina as well as its mental state which are the requirements for normal training sessions. Unclean feeding utensils, stale food, feeding of spoiled or rotten food, irregular feeding schedules, inconsistent portion sizes, and failure to meet nutritional standards are just a few factors that directly or indirectly impact a dog’s health and thus the progress and effectiveness of dog training can be affected by these factors.

As a result, dog training can be significantly affected by a variety of factors. Sometimes a dog may appear not to be very smart when it is actually the case that the environment, the owner’s methods, or feeding management are unfavorable for training. Hence, the effectiveness of training may fall below the expected level. Owners should keep a close eye on these points and acquaint themselves with the factors influencing training results so that they can not only prevent but also overcome them to enhance the quality of training.