How To Exercise Your Dog’s Mind During Quarantine!

We are all in uncharted waters these days. It is pretty wild to say the least. Personally, I pictured an apocalypse kinda like the hit AMC series, The Walking Dead. Something like Rick walking through the streets surviving. Never in a million years would I think I would be locked in my house. Fortunate for me I can be working remotely on this business. Going on day 15 as I write this and I have left the house twice. Once for groceries and another time to let Yeti run in a field!

Anyway, I am writing this to give you some ideas of things you can do while in #Lockdown to keep your puppy dog sane and quite frankly, yourself too!

Easy Ways To Work your Dog’s Mind While In Quarantine!

Some of you may be able to complete your normal daily walks. However, not everyone can. Depending on where you live and whether you are in the suburbs or the heart of the city play a big role!

A lot of friends and customers have been reaching out to me saying their dog is going crazy since they are unable to go to dog parks and other common areas they normally visit. One thing I have suggested to them is to work on training their dog! You can do this anywhere!

Training your own dog will not only build a stronger bond with your furry friend but it makes them think! It tires them out mentally. You do not need much room to train your dog. Working on heel, sit, down and stay can all be done in the house, basement, the backyard or the garage!

15-30 minutes of training your dog would do wonders and if you can work around 45-60 minutes a day I can guarantee you that your dog will be hitting the snooze button early! More importantly, training your own dog during the quarantine will help mentally exhaust your dog’s mind and keep you from going crazy :)

You can work on the basics: Heel (walk at my side without pulling-incase you don’t know what heel means), Sit, Down (lay down), Stay and Come!

In order to help you out I will include some links below to Youtube videos I have created. The videos are all pretty basic stuff you can begin to work on.

Dog Training Exercises You Can Work On At Home!

• Learn to teach your dog to sit and stay: CLICK HERE!

• What does heel mean in dog training? CLICK HERE!

• How to stop your puppy from jumping when greeting people! CLICK HERE!

• How to teach your puppy to get into the car: CLICK HERE!

• How to teach your puppy (8-15 weeks old) to come: CLICK HERE!

• If you want my TOP 5 FREE DOG TRAINING TIPS emailed to you as well as a video teaching you how to get your dog to Heel ==> CLICK HERE!!

If you want more insights and tips follow click below to follow me on social media where I post videos and tips daily!

8 Dog Training Tips for New Dog Owners

1. Socializing your new puppy is huge.  Socialization can be in many different forms. When I get a new puppy I take him everywhere. I want to expose him to anything and everything. The more your puppy or dog becomes acquainted with new things, the better off he will be in the future.  Socialization also helps your dog build confidence.  All of these things will help you when you start to train your dog.

2.  Start training your dog at a very young age, the earlier the better. It's like teaching a little kid how to golf versus teaching a thirty year old how to golf, it's easier when they are young as their minds are still developing.  Even if you bring home your puppy at eight to ten weeks of age, you can start teaching him simple things like how to sit when you ask. I actually offer a course on puppy imprinting- this covers how to develop good habits at a young age. Mainly focusing on sit, down and teaching your dog to come to you.  It is crucial and will make your life far easier if you do the right things before your dog adopts bad habits.

3.  Be sure to keep training fun and positive. I always praise my dog-- either by petting him or telling him he is a good boy/doing a good job. Think of how good you feel when your boss tells you that you are doing good work. The same goes for your pooch, they want to please you. 

4.  Keep your training lessons short and action packed. 5-10 minutes 2-3 times a day is more than enough. Puppies are like kids, their attention spans are very short. It is important to keep them short and fun so your dog looks forward to them. You can do something your dog likes after a session; fetch, belly rub, cookie break to name a few things. Your dog will learn that fun comes after work.

5.  Give your dog a lot of praise and rewards. I like to call it "paying your dog." If he does something for you, in return you pay him. The payment usually comes in the form of praise, petting, or treats. 

6.  Always do your best to stay calm. Dog training can be frustrating but the best trainers remain calm. If you are having a bad day or are very angry postpone training that day. You do not want to take that out on your dog.

7.  Be consistent. This is one of the biggest things in training. If you ask your dog to sit and he goes down, don't praise him for that. Instead, ask him to to that command again and then praise him once he does it right.

8.  It is crucial to always end your training session on a positive note. If you dog is having trouble with a command near the end, don't end on failure. You can simply ask him to do something that you know he will do and then end on that note. It is important to set your dog up for success and to keep it positive. Your results will be far better than the alternative.

Jimmy Cee

"A Trained Dog is a Happy Dog"