Dogs make the most amazing companions in life. They tend to be much loving and loyal to their masters. They are not like human beings since their brains work a little bit different. The way they interact with and perceive the social environment around them is also quite different. This is where effective communication and interaction is vital. In order to effectively communicate with them, we need to train them.

However, training your dog may be one of the most challenging aspects of receiving a new canine into your home. But wait! Have you ever given a thought of the psychology behind dog training? Trust me it will make the whole process of dog training into a walk in a dog park!

Now hold on your hat as I take you through some of the most amazing ways of training your dog. Teaching your canine friend how to behave is just one of the benefits from knowing how the minds of others work. You never know, if you’re good at it, dog training could be the start of a career in psychology or maybe you could create a new superstar dog.

Negative Reinforcement

You might be thinking this reinforcement to be an undesirable consequence for instance pain. Trust me you are definitely wrong on this! Simply, this entails removal of a nasty stimulus. This psychology principle works by encouraging good behaviors in your puppy.

To start, house-train your new puppy using pee pads. Place the dog in unoccupied but warm and safe room. Do it when at home to avoid any mishaps. The dog may start complaining or barking due to loneliness. Nevertheless, avoid tending the dog the moment they start whining. Begin with slight increases for instance 10-20 minutes of loneliness.

Next, you can take away the unpleasant stimulus and socialize with the puppy. Over time, increase the boosts of interaction. As time goes by, your dog will know the routine of loneliness varies. They will thus adapt the idea of being alone at home without barking.

Classical Conditioning

The science behind this associates a stimulus with a definite response. This means that the response takes place involuntary provided the stimulus exists. The next time you are taking your dog for a nature walk, try this approach. It will cheer up your companion to relieve themselves while on a walk. You need to ring a bell each time they do acceptably relieve themselves outdoors. Within a short time, the bell becomes a conditioned stimulus. This means your dog will relieve itself involuntary upon ringing the bell. Try to condition the bell once you are done with your walk.

Justify Maslow’s Basic Needs

According to this psychological principle, needs are presented in the hierarchical form. Fulfillment of appetite, pleasure, and thirst are some of the basic needs both in animals and human beings. Basic needs can, therefore, be harnessed as rewards for training your dog. Pet your dog the moment they perform simple habits, for instance, sitting down voluntarily.

Next, you can start to pet them only upon command. This method works magic since you strengthen your canine acceptable behavior by fulfilling their basic needs. In addition, you will be conditioning your pet to relish both the reward and approach.

Complement Primary Reinforcement

It may become challenging to carry on with a single enforcement approach. Undesirable effects such as begging are evident when you only use primary reinforcers without supplementation. Your dog may even start to think it’s the boss due to unceasing attention and petting. Instead, you can start to complement the reinforcement with praise. After a number of efforts with the secondary reinforcement, the pet will associate both the praise and food for accomplishing the ideal trick. The technique works on kids as well.

In conclusion, this is just but some of the best ways to train your dog using the psychology learnings. Use them to cultivate good and desirable behaviors in a dog. The good thing is that they all work!

Choosing gifts for a college-goer can be pretty tricky. Particularly with the wide array of gifts to choose from, things might pretty complex and baffling for most of us. So if you’re busy figuring out the best gift ideas for college students, here’s a list that might help you. Also see this checklist of uni essentials (things to pack).

Personalized pillows and cushions

This is one gift where you can never go wrong. Customize the pillow or the cushion according to the person’s favorite movie or TV show. You can also use it as a reminder for all birthdays and important dates.

A portable pizza pouch

College students swear by pizzas and in this regard, there can be no better gift than a small, personalized and portable pizza pouch. This pouch will ensure that the person is always prepared for any kind of pizza related emergency.

Food containers

Every college kid faces a situation in his life, where his meals are strictly confined to ramen, lentils and mac and cheese. In such situations, gifting a good food container to your college buddy can be a great idea. This container will store his food safely and he will also be able to take it out for meals between classes.

Shot glasses

College keeps all of us worked up. At times, situations get tad more difficult and we are in dire need of a glass of shot. So gifting a couple of shot glasses will make a college goer more than just happy. While making your pick, do not confine your choices to the boring and typical designs. Try something cool and quirky. You can even customize these glasses with a personal message to add a more personalized feel.

A microwave pasta cooker

As I already said, college life is never complete without mac an’ cheese. Most college goers survive on ramen and pasta throughout a large part of their college sessions. So gifting them a microwave pasta cooker will make life simpler and easier for them. Other cooking-related ideas are here.

A goodie bag

You can come up with a goodie bag to light up the face of your favorite college buddy. Fill up a small, multi pocket tote bag with items of daily necessities like toothpaste, toothbrushes, moisturizers, flip flops, razors (for guys), lip balms (for girls) and every other thing that you can think of. Your friend will love you when they get to have a bag that meets their daily needs so perfectly.

Activity gear

The social and physical activities available for college students seems to just keep growing. Some of the things that could be useful, depending on their interests, are snow hats, a beach towel, sports socks, a drinking funnel, and a chessboard. Get them ready for the fun times.

Football

A football can be a real winner. Having a ball can help a student make friends and is an ice-breaker with guys even, and maybe especially, if your college student is a girl. Go for a grid iron ball in the United States and a soccer ball in Europe. If he or she is attending university in Australia, it’s an Aussie Rules ball in the south and a rugby ball in the north.

So what are you waiting for? Try these amazing gift ideas and make your college going buddy happier than ever.