Training Belgian Malinois better begin early and be highly consistent. Your puppy will have a relatively short attention span to begin with so you want to make training sessions at most 10 minutes long and the challenges relatively easy at first and let them get gradually more complicated and difficult and gradually extend each training session to 30 minutes to 1 hour.
How Do You Train a Herding Dog Like the Belgian Malinois?
Starting to use commands such as “sit”, “come”, “stand” and “down” with your dog early will set the foundation for obedience as it ages and reinforce your role as your dog’s leader. One of the first command words to work on is “Stop” in a firm and even low-toned voice to control any behavior that you view as negative. Also, remember to be consistent and use the same expression for the same command each time to avoid confusing your dog.
You should definitely expect some bad behaviors from your puppies. But some of them such as chewing and tipping over the trash will not be wrong in their understanding as they learn about much of their world through their mouth and nose. So Punishing them in such cases only confuses and upsets them. Never threaten or inflict physical punishment on your puppy because frequent or extreme punishment makes dogs react aggressively and be hard to approach.
Instead, use reward-based training; when it listens to you, behave well and responds to your call, give it praise, a pat, tell it how smart it is in a nice voice, or give it a small treat right away.
Starting this positive reinforcement early will help you with more advanced training later.
Food treats help training your Belgian Malinois to focus on you, be eager to follow your commands, and strive to do things that please you. However, Your puppy’s memory of what he has done lasts no longer than 3 to 5 seconds – after that, he will have no association of what the treat is for. Be always focused and Keep a pocket full of puppy treats at all times ready to immediately reward good behaviors.
If your puppy loves to play and is not very motivated by food treats during training sessions, you can use toys and play as an effective, fun, and easy way to train it. It is another option besides food treats, that will help you build a strong relationship with your dog.
Remember that there is nothing more stubborn than a Belgian Malinois that does not want to do what you ask of him. This is a dog that has to be motivated .Use consistency and positive reinforcement to help your puppy grow into a well-behaved dog.
Adult dogs who haven’t learned basic manners and obedience are also perfectly teachable. You will just need more patience and they will need more practice to get it right wich is why the earlier you train them the better.
