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How to Train Your Maltese
and Make It More Obedient |
The key to success in training your Maltese is
understanding the psychology of your pet - i.e. how its mind
works, and then incorporating that with proven training techniques
and a few training aids.
Remember, your Maltese is not a human and therefore does not think
or react as a human would. Also, your pet does not verbally
communicate with humans and you
should not think that it does.
It may recognize the word "out" and associate it with going
outside, but that is only because it is a common action that
occurs consistently before it goes outside.
If you change the verbal word you use to communicate with your
Maltese along the way, your pet will no longer understand what you
want. It is important that whatever word you choose to give a
command, you stick with that same word each and every time,
without the least alteration.
Also, before you can even begin training your Maltese, your must
establish that you are the "Master" and your Maltese is the
"Follower".
Remember, the Maltese has an inherent trait that makes it a social
animal, needing a dominance subordination hierarchy. You must
establish that you are the leader
of its pack before you will be successful with any type of
training. This is called "social reinforcement".
The following items will help you establish that leadership role
in the life of your Maltese:
- Do not compromise with your Maltese. For
example, if you want it to perform a desired behavior, don't
just give up and walk away when it does not perform.
Instead, use some type of reinforcement to show it that its
behavior was not correct, such as withholding the treat or toy.
- You should always initiate interaction with
your Maltese and terminate the interaction with your Maltese
rather than the other way round.
- Avoid tending to your pet's every desire.
Rewards should only be given for desired behavior, and should
never be given just like that.
- When you are spending time with your Maltese,
pet, talk and touch it often. This will help establish the trust
needed to truly set you forth as the leader.
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Obedience Training Styles
Just like housebreaking, when you are training your Maltese, the
key thing is consistency. You need to pick a training style that
is suitable for you and your Maltese and stick with it.
The two most popular types of obedience training are leash/collar
training and reward training.
We won't have the time to describe these techniques in detail in
this email - so we will just give you a short overview of these
techniques.
In the leash and collar type of training, the leash is used in the
beginning as the tool to teach the correct behavior, then once the
behavior is learned, the leash is only used to correct unwanted
behavior.
A mistake often made by the novice owner with this type of
training is they forget the leash is used only as a tool.
Often a novice owner will abuse the leash to nag at the Maltese.
This defeats the purpose of the leash. The leash must be used only
to get the Maltese to obey. It is used to establish the leadership
role between master and pet,
but to be successful in training, the Maltese must understand the
command with or without the leash and you must be able to utilize
any tool at hand to solicit
the correct behavior from your pet, not just a leash.
Reward training usually incorporates food rewards or a reward that
is associated with getting food. The associated award could be the
command "Good". Many owners now use a clicker as an associated
reward.
A secret to making the reward trained Maltese reliable is working
the pet around distractions in its environment and teaching proper
socialization.
If you only train your Maltese in the house, it will not be used
to extra stimuli. The well trained Maltese, then exposed to
unfamiliar people, may not respond as desired. When reward
training, it is important you train both inside and outside your
home
to make sure your Maltese is exposed to as much stimuli as
possible.
Another important tool in communication between you and your
Maltese is the tone of your voice when delivering a command.
The command "Good" will have a more positive tone. The excitement
in your voice will be picked up by the Maltese and it will
eventually associate it with the feelings of acceptance for that
response to the previous command.
The word "No" will have a more forceful tone, usually associated
with a negative response, such as a stern tug on the leash if
leash training. The Maltese will
eventually establish that tone as an indication for an undesired
response to your command.
As you move on in your training, the tone will be as important to
the Maltese as the command itself.
Also frequently overlooked by the novice owner is body language.
Once you get to know your pet better, you will understand its
meaning behind specific body motions.
An owner who really understands his/her Maltese will see even the
slightest head movement in certain situations and understand
exactly what it means. This enables the owner to give a command
prior to a behavior occurring. |
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