Dog Training Aids

Dog training aids can be anything that helps you work with your dog, from a clicker for basic obedience training to using an herbal medicine to help your dog remain calm during thunderstorms. Anything that assists you and your dog in communicating can be useful as a dog training aid.

Dog training collars and leashes are obvious aids. So are treats used as rewards during training. A dog training clicker is frequently used as a dog training aid. The small, hand-held clicker costs about $1.50-2.00 at most pet supply stores or from dog show vendors. It’s used to “mark” your dog’s behavior when he does something you desire him to do. You simply follow up with praise and treats, adding the command. When this is repeated your dog soon learns to associate the click with paying attention and knows that if he does what you want he will be rewarded, either by praise or by treats.

Other aids include dog bark collars which are used to prevent dogs from nuisance barking. Similar collars can be used for hunting dogs when they’re in the field. Both of these devices are dog training aids and can have a place when used appropriately.

Dog training aids can also include crates for housetraining and crate breaking, as well as other things you may use to help teach your dog housebreaking lessons such as puppy training pads, papers, or a litter box.

If your dog chews and you spray something that tastes bitter on your furniture, that’s also a dog training aid. Using a shaker can to teach your dog to leave something alone is also using the shaker can as a dog training aid.

If your dog has any fear of loud noises, such as fireworks or thunder, then you may try to help him deal with the fear by using various approaches, such as herbal remedies or by letting him wear a close-fitting t-shirt which reduces the build-up of static during storms. These are also dog training aids, as are other approaches, like desensitizing your dog to the loud sounds by using tape recordings of thunder. Some people utilize music during storms or play games with their dogs to help reduce their fear. These training approaches can help your dog overcome his fears.

Other training aids include physical objects, such as weave poles and jumps that you would use for agility training, and specific objects that you would need for other kinds of training. These will vary depending on the kind of training you intend to do with your dog. A hunter will require birds for training; if you’re training your dog to herd you will need something appropriate for him to herd; an arson detection dog will require samples of various accelerants, and so on.

Dog training aids can include many things depending on you and your dog and what you’re working on. Sometimes you have to be inventive and find things that fit your needs. As they say, Necessity is the mother of invention. If you and your dog are training and you come across a problem without a ready solution, keep working at it and you will probably come up with the perfect dog training aid.