Having a dog is a great experience, though you may wonder how much your dog knows and understands. On top of that, you may want to assist your dog with becoming intelligent, but doing so may be difficult if you don’t know what approach to take. We spoke with Brad from Good Pup Life and put together these have eight tips to help your dog with his or her intelligence, so feel free to apply any of the ones that stick out to you.
Start When Your Dog Is Young
To help your furry friend develop his or her mind, you should start while your dog is still young. Sure, you can help a dog develop his or her intelligence at an older age, but you can establish good habits by starting right away. That means if you have a puppy, you should start training your dog right away.
If you have an older dog and want to start training him or her, you should also start soon. This means you should avoid putting it off and train your dog while he or she is still young. That way, your dog can start establishing these habits as you focus on assisting your dog for a longer period of time.
Train Your Dog
Once you have your dog and properly prepare to start training, you can start training your furry friend in multiple ways. For example, you must have your dog follow specific rules in your home. This will also involve potty training your dog by having him or her use potty pads or using the bathroom while outside.
If you train your dog and establish some house rules, you can help your furry friend learn the importance of those rules. This will assist as you help your dog be more obedient to you, so your dog will learn to listen. This will help you improve your dog’s intelligence since he or she will know to listen when to you, so you can start training your furry friend in other ways.
Teach Your Dog New Tricks
Once you help your dog with obedience, you can start training your furry friend to learn different tricks. As your dog learns tricks, your furry friend will be more attentive to you and his or her surroundings. For example, you could start teaching your dog to sit since that’s the most basic and straightforward trick.
From sit, you can show your dog how to lay down and roll over, which will help with more tricks. As you teach your dog, you should say the command and create hand gestures to help your dog as he or she learns new tricks. After doing that, you should be consistent with your commands and gestures to make it easier for your dog to remember them as you apply the daily practice.
Teach Your Dog New Words
On top of teaching your dog tricks, you can help your furry friend become smarter by teaching him or her some words. For example, you should teach your dog words like home and potty, so your dog will learn to listen to these words. When you say home, your dog understands where you’re going and potty will show your dog when you want him or her to use the bathroom.
As you teach your dog new words, you can develop more understanding between each other. Dogs can learn hundreds of words with enough practice, so make sure you help your dog by teaching more of them. You can do this by saying words, associating them with actions or items and directing your dog to them.
Purchase Dog Buttons
Speaking of words, you can also buy dog buttons to help your furry friend become smarter. Dog buttons are electronic buttons you can use to record different voice lines. When you record your voice, the button will play the sound whenever someone presses it, making it great for training and communicating with a dog.
By getting dog buttons, you can communicate with your dog in ways you couldn’t before. This includes teaching your dog more words while also allowing him or her to use the buttons, so your furry friend can communicate with you. This will help your dog with intelligence since the buttons give your furry friend more ways to learn and develop.
Use Treat Puzzles
Sometimes, you need to provide your dog with extra motivation if you want him or her to become smarter. This means you can purchase treat puzzles that require your dog to finish a puzzle if he or she wants the treat. This will take some time on your dog’s part, but he or she will need to think and work to complete it.
By getting your dog different treat puzzles, you can help him or her exercise the brain. This will allow your dog to get some brain exercise without putting in too much effort on your part. If your dog starts to get really good at the treat puzzles you buy, you can get some new ones and help your dog develop more.
Let Your Dog Interact With Others
Sometimes, your dog needs to develop emotionally rather than intellectually. If you want your dog to be smarter, he or she must learn to spend time with others to improve his or her emotional intelligence. Make sure you take your dog outside or to the park as a way to allow your furry friend to meet new people and interact with them.
On top of that, your dog can also interact with other dogs to become emotionally intelligent. When your dog plays with other dogs, he or she learns how to interact with and properly play with them. This can help your dog be more intelligent around other dogs and even people, which can help your dog’s intelligence and development.
Take Your Dog to New Locations
Sometimes, your dog needs to visit new locations to enjoy more experiences. When dogs go on walks, they enjoy new experiences with smells and different things they see, so they can learn more in new locations. That way, your dog can experience new smells and see new sights, allowing him or her to learn new things while in the area.
While at new locations, your dog will also meet more people and dogs, allowing him or her to learn new things. You can try all kinds of areas such as different parks or fields near your home. You can even try to go down different streets and paths when you take your dog on walks around your neighborhood.
Training your furry friend helps him or her to become more obedient, you can also use training as a way to boost your dog’s intelligence. On top of that, you can use these other strategies to give your dog more experience and help him or her become smarter. Feel free to review any of these tips and utilize them, so you can let your dog improve his or her intelligence.