For Pomeranian parents, or for that matter, all dog owners, it is essential you know certain basic factors that determine your relationship with your Pomeranian and can go a long way in training him effectively.
Before you begin training your Pomeranian, it is absolutely essential that you build a loving bond with him. This is important as it helps you to understand his needs and instincts and also allows your Pomeranian to have complete trust in you. Know more about Pomeranian care from this free mini course
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How To Bond With Your Pomeranian Building a bond with your Pomeranian is the first and the most crucial step involved in training him successfully. As soon as you bring your Pomeranian home, you must first try to develop a caring and loving relationship with him in order to win his trust and confidence. When Pomeranian's are secure in the knowledge that they belong to the family, they are more likely to respond better to their owners' training commands. Just like with any relationship, there must be mutual trust and respect between you and your Pomeranian. Trust takes time to develop and respect comes from defining boundaries and treating any breach of those boundaries with firmness and fairness. Without enforceable limitations, respect can’t be developed. And when there is no respect, building a bond with your Pomeranian is almost impossible. 4 Golden Rules To Building A Relationship With Your Pomeranian :
Spend quality time together;
Take him out in the world and experience life together;
Establish and promote a level of mutual respect; and
Develop a way of communicating to understand each other's needs.
Building a bond with your Pomeranian will not only help you manage him better but will also make your Pomeranian calm, quiet and an extremely well-adjusted pet.
How Your Pomeranian Learns... Your Pomeranian's learning period can be divided into five phases: The Teaching Phase - This is the phase where you must physically demonstrate to your Pomeranian exactly what you want him to do. The Practicing Phase - Practice makes Perfect. Once a lesson is learnt, practice with your Pomeranian what you have just taught him. The Generalizing Phase - Here you must continue practicing with your Pomeranian in different locations and in an environment with a few distractions. You can take your Pomeranian out for a walk, or to a nearby park and command him to practice whatever you've taught him. Practicing the learned lessons in multiple locations and in the presence of small distractions will help him learn and retain lessons better . The Testing Phase - Once you're sure that your Pomeranian has achieved almost 90% success....he responds correctly almost every time you give a command, you must start testing his accuracy in newer locations with a lot of distractions.
Example: Take him to the local shopping mall and ask him to obey your command. He may not come up with the correct response the very first time you do this, but you must not lose hope.
The idea is to test your Pomeranian to see how he responds in an environment which is new to him. Set-up a situation where you are in control of the environment and your Pomeranian.
There are only 2 possibilities:
Your Pomeranian succeeds!!! (Trumpets please!)
In case your Pomeranian fails, re-examine the situation. Review and/or change your training. Then try testing again.
Keep on testing until he succeeds. Follow the rule of the 3 Ps – patience, persistence, praise.
Internalizing Phase - Finally, comes the extremely rewarding phase where your Pomeranian does everything he is taught to do even without your commands.
Remember:
Never scold your Pomeranian if he fails. It's not his fault. You have failed as a trainer!
You must be patient and persistent for your efforts to show rewards.
Appreciate and love your Pomeranian when he does it right! A little encouragement will work wonders for your Pomeranian.
Before you begin any training, you must first establish yourself as the "ALPHA dog" of your family. Your Pomeranian must know that you’re the leader of the pack and it is YOU who is in charge.
Here is a list of simple DO's and DONT's that you must follow if you want to be the Alpha:
Always go out or come in through the door first - remember you are the leader;
Always eat first - give your Pomeranian something to eat only after you've finished your meal;
Don’t circle around your Pomeranian when he is lying on the floor - make your Pomeranian move out of your way instead;
Don't let your Pomeranian set the rules - pay attention to him when you think fit and not whenever he demands;
Don’t permit your Pomeranian to sleep with you in your bed - demarcate his sleeping area clearly.
Once you successfully established yourself as the Alpha, training your Pomeranian and making him listen will be a lot easier than you can imagine. Remember, if your Pomeranian does not learn to "listen", all your training efforts will be in vain!
Does your Pomeranian know his name? Does your Pomeranian look at you whenever you call him by his name? This is the first and the most critical step involved in Pomeranian Training. If your Pomeranian doesn't respond to his name, you cannot have his attention for teaching him any other commands.
To make sure that your Pomeranian recognizes his name, take a treat in your hand and hold it away from your body. Call your Pomeranian's name. He is most likely to look at the treat in your hand. Continue calling his name until he turns and looks at your eyes. Give him the treat immediately. Repeat this exercise by holding the treat in the other hand. Once you're sure that your Pomeranian has learnt to recognize his name, just call his name and reward him for looking at you by petting or with a hug.
You must understand that Pomeranian's respond far better to positive reinforcement than they do to coercion or force.