So, you’ve just become a new dog owner, and you’re head over heels with your pet. You’re quickly learning that spring training isn’t just for baseball—it's for your four-legged friend, too. During puppy training, you have the opportunity to teach your dog how to behave in the world around them. It helps your pet become a confident and well-behaved pup. Although canine obedience training at home is a great choice, it's not quite enough. With that being said, this is a job that should be left in the hands of a professional dog trainer. That’s where Rendy Schuchat comes in. She is a professional Chicago dog trainer. Her experience as a dog trainer and passion for animals inspired her to create a company called Anything is Pawzible, helping pet owners all around the Chicagoland area.
Learn About Dog Obedience From a Professional Trainer
After starting out in the corporate world in industrial organizational psychology, Schuchat took a different direction by pursuing a dog training career. It turned out that working with doggies was a better fit. While discussing this change of heart, she said, “It just wasn’t what I thought it was gonna be. I was not enjoying the corporate world so much.” Rather than staying in an unsatisfying career path, she pursued her dream of helping dogs, which allowed her to change the lives of both animals and their owners. With over twenty-five years of dog training experience, she has made a difference for so many dogs. There are lots of dog training tips to learn from Schuchat, especially when it comes to techniques you can enforce at home.
Compassion and Love Are Part of Dog Training
While learning how to train a dog, there are two factors that make all the difference in the world - compassion and love. According to Schucat, there is nothing more important. After choosing to train your pet, you might notice your dog's behavior problems. While dealing with a barking dog, potty accidents, or jumping on other family members or guests in your house is an unavoidable reality in this experience, being patient throughout it all is going to help your pet thrive.
Why Rendy Loves Working With Puppies
At her company, Schuchat mainly trains young puppies who need it. During the process of puppy training, she believes it’s best to start as early as possible. She believes the first few months of a dog's life are the ideal time to establish positive habits. Learning the most basic dog commands, how to properly socialize and behave appropriately is going to help avoid seeing your dog jump on people at the grocery store, bark at the repairman you scheduled plumbing service for, or scare your young children by acting overly excited.
Positive Reinforcement For Dogs
Instead of choosing to punish pets for undesirable behavior, she believes an owner should concentrate on offering rewards through positive reinforcement dog training. She thinks positive reinforcement is the best way to improve dog behavior. This includes praising, offering a dog treat, or affection. It teaches the dog that being well-behaved is going to lead to a reward. This will help the dog learn to behave properly on a consistent basis. In many ways, your pet will be just as eager to learn the fundamentals of good dog behavior as you are.
Understand How Your Dog's Mind Works
For our next point, let’s discuss how understanding your fur baby is more important than control. It’s necessary to understand canine behavior, and gaining insight is the best method for discovering how to connect with your pet. Making connections and bonding with your pooch by understanding how they think and feel is a wonderful way to show compassion. Noticing dog body language is one of the most effective ways to understand what your pet thinks and feels. It’s important to set realistic dog training expectations for your pet. Although your pet is working hard to become familiarized with the dog commands, it won’t happen overnight. According to the Dog Alliance, it can take four to six months to properly teach your pet dog obedience. With that in mind, being patient during dog training is important because your pet needs to feel supported.
Be Consistent While You Train
According to Schuchat, it’s necessary to be consistent with every aspect of training aside from giving praise. She explained, "The more consistency you have with the dog's life, schedule, expectations, and language, the better. If not, the dog is very confused." While you train a doggo, be as clear as possible about the behavior you want to see in your pet. For example, create household rules for the dogs by deciding if your pet can go on the furniture, if climbing on houseguests is appropriate, or how you prefer for your dog to interact as they say hello.
Encourage Your Household to Follow Training Rules
To understand exactly what consistent puppy training means, you should realize it’s about reacting to how your dog behaves the same way over and over again. Just to provide an example, if you reward pet behavior on certain occasions and discipline your dog at a different time, your dog won’t understand how you would like them to act. While you become familiar with Schuchat's philosophy, it’s important to realize that every person in your household is expected to stick to the rules just like you do for the family pup. This includes sticking to the same routine for walking, feeding, and training. Moreover, family members should agree to the same house rules for dogs, such as not allowing the pet to sit on the bed or go into certain rooms.
Common Dog Behavioral Problems
Even though you’ve been patient and consistent and used positive reinforcement, it’s also crucial to realize some common dog problems are unavoidable. For example, you might notice your dog pulling on their leash. There are many causes of leash pulling in pets. One reason is that they want to explore during dog walks. Smelling scents in their surrounding environment and enjoying the various sights is a really big part of dog enrichment. When your pet sees another dog, person, squirrel, or anything else they find captivating, they will move toward it. Another reason dogs pull on the leash is because it gets them to go where they want to go.
What To Do When Your Dog Pulls On The Leash
After pulling on the leash and noticing that the walk continues, dogs learn that this behavior helps them go in the direction they choose, which is considered problematic dog walking behavior. While keeping Schuchat's training philosophy in mind, it’s important to remember to teach your dog with love and use a reward-based approach. If your dog pulls on the leash relentlessly, say something to your pet like, “No, no. We don’t jump on our friends.” This is a helpful method to stop your dog from pulling on the leash. Or, let’s say the dog is jumping on people, like your neighbor, for instance. Explain that your pet was just trying to engage in friendly dog behavior and that they didn’t mean any harm. Gently stroke your dog’s fur or whisper in their ear that they are a good girl or boy after you have backed away from the person they jumped on. This is a great way to reward good dog behavior.
When Your Dog Jumps On Guests
Another learned behavioral problem is a furry friend jumping on guests. With this type of issue, it’s necessary to teach calm dog greetings. There are many methods to correct unwanted dog behavior. For example, teach calm greetings for dogs by training them to stay calm before saying hello to a visitor. Give your dog a treat after they keep all four paws on the floor to reward good dog behavior. Ignore unwanted dog behavior by asking your guest not to offer any attention to the dog until they settle down.
How to Handle Excessive Dog Barking
One other behavior you might see in your pet is excessive dog barking. This is a big part of dog communication. It’s a way to alert owners about unfamiliar people or noises, excitement during a greeting or playtime, and fear or anxiety. Moreover, it’s important to learn why puppies bark in order to correct this behavior. Just like with a crying baby, it’s necessary to understand the reason behind why your pup is barking the way they do. If you asked Schuchat about the issue, she would tell you that your dog is trying to tell you something. Since animals can’t talk, they try to communicate in other ways. Once you realize the reason your dog is behaving the way they do, you can use reward-based methods to help your pet unlearn this behavior.
Sign Up For Training With Rendy
At the end of the day, you want your dog to receive the best dog training services. Owners can help their pets build habits that last a joyful lifetime with Schuchat's expertise, compassion, and caring training philosophy. It is important to remember that as you train your pet, this is considered a gradual dog training process rather than an overnight transformation. Combine professional training with regular dog walking services from Sparky Steps, pet sitting, and positive reinforcement to help your dog experience long-term success on their journey toward becoming the best pet they can possibly be. To start your pet’s obedience lessons, contact a Chicago dog trainer like Schuchat at Anything is Pawzible! Upon hiring her, you will have an unforgettable dog training experience filled with love.
Written by Rachel Gordon-Acavia
In-House Storyteller & Blog Writer
Starting her journey as a young writer from Chicago, Rachel Gordon-Acavia has built a career creating engaging, interesting content for many different kinds of businesses. With her passion for writing and commitment to excellence, she offers an interesting perspective on pet care. She enjoys using her talents to guide people on their journey towards becoming the best pet owner to their adorable furry friends.
