Teaching your dog to learn to crawl can be one of the most rewarding dog training tips you will ever hear. It is a natural movement that saves dog’s lives and makes them look cool. Teaching your dog to learn to crawl takes time, patience and consistency. Before you start, however, it’s important that you know some dog training tips.
Dogs learn to crawl because of two main factors. The first is the existence of underdeveloped gums. Your dog’s mouth is very small and because it lacks teeth, it doesn’t have any way to scrape the ground to make its way to the level of your dog’s back or front leg. Instead, it must rely on the strength of your dog’s legs to force its body to crawl. That strength comes from your dog’s back legs, which are actually even stronger than their front legs.
To teach your dog to crawl, kneel on the floor next to a dog bed and keep its back flat against the bed. You may need to bring someone else in order to get your dog to lie still, since he may jump up at the sound of your voice. Give the dog a treat or food so that he will know that lying down helps. Make sure you hold the dog’s back completely still at first, and don’t give it any stimulation before you can see if it has the concept. After you feel that it understands, move his back legs toward the center of your dog’s back.
When your dog tries to crawl using its back legs, then reward it verbally and provide praise for good behavior. Once it learns that using its back legs when learning how to teach a dog to crawl is effective, you should begin to take it out to explore the environment. It should learn that the dog that stays on the ground and learns how to crawl is “getting” the food or attention.
For most dogs, the easiest way to demonstrate how to teach the dog to crawl is by putting the dog on the ground and then lifting it onto its hind legs, allowing it to walk around on the grass or soil. Try to do this while holding the dog’s rear close to you at all times, in order to avoid getting the dog to pull itself forward. If you are unsure about how to lift the dog onto its hind legs, consider having a friend hold it down while you practice the procedure. Once the dog is comfortable with this new procedure, you can begin lifting the dog onto its front legs. Continue doing this until you feel comfortable with the dog’s ability to walk around without pulling itself forward.
As the dog begins to understand and try to use this new behavior, it will be much easier to teach them how to crawl. It is important to be patient and gradually work the dog along, so it will learn that they can climb rather than simply pulling on the leash. This will make the task of teaching your dog how to crawl that much easier.
One of the most common reasons as to why dogs try to get up and begin walking on the ground, is because they are trying to locate their source of food or water. When this happens, they will naturally begin to move around on the ground in search of what they need. This behavior is often reinforced through negative reinforcement – hitting the dog or yelling at them to stop. In order to stop this from happening, simply place some of your dog’s favorite dog treats on the ground near its position. Whenever the dog approaches the treat and starts moving towards it, immediately say “No” and take the treats away. This will cause the dog to quickly learn that touching the ground negatively will result in no reward – and they will not be motivated to move closer to the treats on the ground.
Learning how to teach the dog to crawl is relatively simple and relatively easy to accomplish. Just remember to remain patient, as it will take some time for your dog to grasp the concept. Also, be sure to have fun with the entire process, and always praise your dog when they successfully reach the end of the training session.
