Train your pet well

1 min read June 15th, 2017

Allianz are delighted to have partnered with Royal Canin in supporting the Veterinary Ireland 10 Commandments of Responsible Pet Ownership. Over the next 10 weeks Allianz will be posting each of the commandments and we hope you find them useful.

Can I train my kitten?

Unfortunately, not really. Cats are great pets but they’re so, so different from dogs! They just won’t listen to us and they’ll make up their own mind as to what they want (and don’t want) to do, they have a different kind of, ahm, intelligence. A baby kitten will learn to use a litter tray in about 5 minutes; a puppy can be having ‘accidents’ for weeks! One thing though – a kitten’s normal play-behaviour is to play-bite and scratch. Don’t encourage this; it can get a bit too much especially if there are children in the house. Just say no and put your kitten down when he or she starts to play like that.

In summary: cats are great but you’ll (probably) never make yours sit!

Training your puppy

Responsible ownership involves having a well-trained dog and this training should be start as soon as the puppy comes home.

Puppies are continuously learning from the moment their eyes are open and responsible breeders will ensure that the elements of training have commenced long before you acquire the puppy at 6-8 weeks of age. Remember training is not some formal process but should occur all the time you are together with your dog.

Training and socialisation are intermixed, a well socialised dog is invariably a well trained dog and vice versa. Thus puppies should be socialised. They should be handled by family members and strangers as soon as possible and then be introduced to other dogs, preferably to puppies, as soon as their inoculation programme allows.

Are you relaxed & interested yet?

It is better to train your dog once he’s run off some steam, which means he can focus better and be more alert. If you are using treats to train him, do your training before meals so that he is hungrier and keener to work for his reward.

Remember though, the top tip is to reward the behaviour you want and ignore the behaviour you don’t want.

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Information correct as of date of publishing. This blog will not be updated or edited so the information may become outdated.