How to Train Your Pet: Impact of Stress and Discomfort
Oct 14, 2021
Every pet owner knows that good behavior is a process best accomplied with positive reinforcement. Your pet does the correct thing and they get a treat. It sounds simple, but here are many different avenues to follow in order to attain the reward. The combo of pets with limited attention spans and owners with limit patience, can make this process stressful. But in the long run, having a well-behaved pet is worth the effort. Here are some of the bascis of how to train your pet and how stress and distractions play a part in the process.
How to Train Your Pet
Pets, much like their human counterparts, can have serious issues with stress. For instance, when a dog is suffering from high levels of stress, behavioral mishaps are far more common. Stress can present itself in a number of ways for pets:
- Inappropriate urination or defecation
- Constant vocalization
- Scratching or tearing at household objects
- Biting without being prompted
- and more.
Discomfort from achy joints, growing pains, teething, injuries, and more can also make it difficult to focus and thus difficult to train. If your pet has an underlying health condition, or an accute injury or distraction training can become more difficult. In order to properly train your pet, addressing their existing health conditions should be the first step.
Using CBD for Pets
The use of CBD for pets has been found to lower inflammation, reduce stress levels, and assist with restlessness. When taking that into account, introducing CBD for pets before training them, and using CBD with treats as a reward during training, provides much more ease of transition and increases focus. Much like with any other form of training, a relaxed mindset can result in a much better understanding of good behavioral habits. If you are the kind of owner who gets easily frustrated with the training process, you may want to use some CBD as well.
Learn more about the science behind how CBD works for pets.
The Basic Pet Training Process
Once your pet begins to show signs of successfully reduced inflammation, stress, and joint pain with the use of CBD, beginning a positive pet training program using treats (CBD or Non) may now be at its most effective. The key from this point on is to reward the good behavior of the animal and provide an atmosphere of consistency.
Consistency also means things like taking them out to go to the bathroom at the same time every day, and maintaining a normal feeding schedule. Remember, stress can contribute to dysfunctional behaviors, so enabling positive results and acknowledging them promptly should be your go-to. This also includes during times when things are less consistent. For example, if you have a large group of friends over, that can be overwhelming for your pet, take this into consideration and make adjustments to ensure your pet is as relaxed as possible.
Positive Vibes Only
There are many ways guide your pet’s behavior, but positive training has an obvious effect. Negative reinforcement for slip-ups is rarely affective and often results in confusion for your pet. This is especially true if the response is delayed.
Treating the underlying issues before attempting a training regimen are in everyone’s best interest. And finally, whatever path you take in order to promote good behavior with your pet, ensure that your reward is consistent.