Training Your Boston Terrier
Boston Terriers are quite extraordinary dogs… They are small but energetic, cute but brave; if you decide to invite one into your life, you’ll be amazed on how versatile, fun and loyal they can be. However, a Boston Terrier is still a dog! He will need to be trained and educated if we wish him to become a balanced and well-adapted member of our human family. As any other breed, Boston Terriers can (and should) be trained by using science-based and positive methods. However, their particular temperament can influence the choices we make when it comes to training and educating them, since they are very smart dogs!
Hopefully this article can help you in Boston Terrier Training
Boston Terriers are energetic and outgoing. Although they will happily take a nap on the couch while you watch your favorite TV series, they’re always ready for a walk. Hence, you should offer them the opportunity to leave the house and see new things, new environments and new people. By taking them for a walk every day, they’re allowed to do so whilst exercising at the same time. This is important for their well-being! If your Boston Terrier doesn’t get the chance to exercise, he may start to develop some behavioral problems, such as excessive barking.
Excessive barking is a potential problem within this breed. As Terriers, they’re always alert and ready to protect their house and family, which makes them prone to barking. To prevent this, they can be taught to bark and to be quiet on cue. Simply put, add the verbal cue “Speak!” just before the dog barks and as soon as he does so, we offer him a reward. We repeat this process until we’re sure he understands the meaning of the cue. Then, we’ll add the “Silence!” cue. When he’s barking, we add the cue and we reward him for being quiet, if he stops barking. The idea is to allow the dog to bark in a controlled way and, at the same time, to make sure he’ll be quiet when we ask him to. We know Boston Terriers are likely to bark whenever a stranger passes by; we shouldn’t punish them for it! All we have to do is ask them to be quiet.
Boston Terriers love people and they love to get attention from them. As a consequence, some dogs will exhibit attention seeking behaviors. To prevent this, you must ignore this sort of behaviors, thus removing the reinforcement from the equation. If your dog is barking to get your attention, ignore him. Don’t look at him, don’t speak to him and don’t interact with him. Once he stops, you can reward him and offer him all of your attention.
Boston Terriers are smart and easy to train. The training process should start as soon as he arrives his new home, while he’s still a puppy. Just remember to pay some extra attention on the behaviors mentioned above, as they are more likely to occur.
To learn more about training your Boston Terrier, visit our training section here.