Positive Reinforcement Training an Andalusian Rat Hunting Dog

Positive reinforcement is essential if we want our Andalusian Rat Hunting Dog to properly learn the tricks or exercises we try to teach them. It's the technique most widely used by professional trainers worldwide.

If you've ever thought that scolding your dog will make them understand they did something wrong, you're genuinely mistaken. Dogs don't have the capacity to reason, but they do have a splendid memory.

What Does Positive Reinforcement Involve?

As the name suggests, this technique involves positively encouraging our Bodeguero when they do something right, giving them a reward such as a biscuit or dog treat and praising them enthusiastically.

On the other hand, when our Ratonero Bodeguero does something wrong, we shouldn't scold or punish them — simply ignore it. Punishment, shouting or physical harm will only create trauma in our dog; we should avoid them entirely.

The dog will understand that when they do something right they get a reward, and when they do something wrong we pay them no attention. They'll quickly try to do it right to get a reward, because we all know their weakness is food.

How to Apply Positive Reinforcement With Our Andalusian Rat Hunting Dog?

It's very simple, and we can apply it across every area of the dog's life, not only when training our Bodeguero but also when they relieve themselves outside the house or behave well.

Let's say we're teaching our dog to sit; when they do the exercise correctly we'll give them a reward (food) and praise them enthusiastically — they need to understand we're really pleased.

If, on the other hand, they don't obey our command and don't sit, we'll simply ignore them, wait a little and repeat the exercise again. It's all a matter of being patient and encouraging the dog when they get it right.

How Long Does a Bodeguero Take to Learn With This Technique?

It all depends on the dog's abilities and your own as a trainer — not everyone is cut out for training dogs. Broadly speaking, dogs take between five and ten days to properly memorise an exercise.

Obviously we need to work on their training daily, repeating the exercises every day, several times a day. They learn through repetition, so we need to be very patient and treat it like a game.

If your Ratonero isn't learning well, don't blame them — it's probably you who isn't teaching them properly; the knack of knowing how to train a dog isn't something everyone has.

And obviously, the more complex the exercise, the longer our Ratonero will take to learn it — pure logic.

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