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What are the Obedience Training Levels for Dogs?

Every dog owner wants a pet he/she can connect with and one that listens to commands and acts appropriately. There are several dog owners who will respond perfectly to commands indoors but are easily distracted outdoors and will not listen to commands. This issue can arise from two scenarios. Your dog might have a sensory overload outdoors, more so when young or rescued from a shelter and be either scared or distracted by the smells, sounds, and sights outdoors.

The trainers at a popular puppy school in Utah understand this and, therefore, offer obedience training for canines. When your dog is already 100% responsive to your commands indoors, the trainers will slowly build upon this and introduce several distractions indoors. This way, they will gradually adapt to any distractions they might have outdoors that block out your command. There are different levels of obedience training for canines.

Here are ways to transform your furry friend into an obedient pet:

Puppy

This caters to two sets of canines, those aged 2-4 months and 4-6 months. At this stage, your puppy will be trained in the obedience of basic commands. This level is meant for the development of word association to command and not the development of readability. The obedience classes for your pet will also introduce the basic concepts of confidence development training and socialization. Your pet should have completed a week after vaccination before joining this level of obedience class.

Novice

In this level, your dog is trained on how to respond to basic commands. Moreover, he/she will be trained in the development of word association to commands, but not readability development since he/she is still learning how to exercise. The classes will also introduce the basic concepts associated with confidence development and socialization skills for canines. It is designed for dogs aged above six months that have completed their vaccinations.

Foundation

This obedience level training is designed for dogs above a year old that have completed their vaccinations. Here, the dog is trained in the obedience of basic commands and the development of word association to a command, but not the development of readability. Just like in other levels, the dogs will be trained in confidence development and socialization skills.

Control
Disciplined dog

This is meant for dogs that have completed one of the intermediate training levels above and have a sound temperament. Here, your dog will be introduced to hand signals and how to combine several instructions. At this stage, the trainer will also gradually disappear from the picture so that your pet learns to obey when the trainer is not around. You will start cementing your relationship with the dog at this point.

The above obedience classes might not seem important to some people. After all, there are several online tutorials for training dogs on obedience to make them ‘’better’ pets. Without an expert to handle your pet’s training, however, the tutorials you will try following to train your dog will be mostly ineffective. Moreover, some of these training techniques might be harmful and could lead to the development of aggression in dogs.

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