Positive Reinforcement Training and Your French Bulldog

Most dog trainers believe that the best way to train any dog is using a method called positive reinforcement training. For those who are doing home French Bulldog obedience training this process simply entails using positive reinforcement for good behavior and ignoring bad behavior.

A French Bulldog’s natural instinct is to please his or her owner.

Positive reinforcement uses this instinct and allows your French Bulldog to learn what it is you want her to do. This type of training has more meaning to your French Bulldog because she is able to learn what you want her to do using her own mental capacity.

Here are some quick tips you can use to implement this training method at home:

1. Pick good rewards. You need to keep your French Bulldog’s interest level up in what you are doing. A pat on the head or saying “good girl” will lose a French Bulldogs interest pretty quickly. Use tempting rewards such as food treats and physical affection to reinforce your dog’s good behavior. Dog trainers call these primary incentives and French Bulldogs are very responsive to these.
2. Timing is important. Good behaviour and obedience needs to be rewarded the moment it happens. This way your French Bulldog begins to understand what behavior is being rewarded. This is where clicker training can be used. Using a small metal device that emits a click when pushed you click the clicker the moment your French Bulldog follows a command successfully. To reinforce the meaning of the clicker a treat should also be offered.
3. Use the same commands consistently. If you want your French Bulldog to sit don’t use “sit” one time, “sit down” the next, or “down” later on. This is confusing for a French Bulldog because they learn through repetition. Pick a command and stick with it for each behaviour you desire.

If you are training your French Bulldog at home you will need to learn to reward your French Bulldog in a meaningful fashion. If you know what your French Bulldog likes as far as physical attention and treats you will know what works as far as rewards go. Some dogs prefer edible treats while others enjoy playing with a favorite toy.

If you are using food treats for your home French Bulldog training reinforcement you need to be aware that many dog trainers have found that French Bulldogs actually respond better if they receive treats in a more sporadic fashion. Apparently it keeps their attention better because they remain interested in what you are teaching them if rewards are given intermittently.

Positive reinforcement training is a great home French Bulldog obedience training process to use because it is relatively easy. Ignoring bad behaviour is the cornerstone of this method because a French Bulldog being ignored is an unhappy Frenchie. This can do more to motivate your French Bulldog to do what you ask more then just about anything else.