How Do I Stop My Dog from Being Lazy?

The energy level of a dog is determined by a multitude of factors. In some instances, it may just be a less energetic breed. In others, it may signal health issues. Perhaps the dog is mirroring your energy level. Or, still another possibility is it could more simply be a matter of finding the right way to motivate your dog to get up and go! 

In fact, finding the best ways to motivate your dog could be a matter of finding what activates its most primal instincts. For example, if your dog doesn't want to play fetch with a ball, it may be better motivated by food or some other type of stimulation. As Daniel explains, to stimulate dogs that are more motivated by food as opposed to toys:

"Don't feed the dog that morning. Feed the dog later that night, but only through a training reward system. I guarantee you that doing this a couple of days in a row will result in the dog becoming a lot less lazy and a lot more motivated to please you."

In other words, to stop a dog from being lazy, you will need to figure out what motivates them the most. This may take a little bit of trial and error. Once you discover what best motivates your dog, it will be much easier to get them to move at whatever pace you prefer!

How to Find Ways to Motivate Your Dog

As we cover extensively throughout the Beacon Dog training course, dogs are primal creatures. When they're comfortable, they are usually only motivated enough to eat, sleep, and occasionally play. This may be all you want your dog to do! However, if you need something more from your dog, it's important that you find the right way to motivate them.

In order to motivate your dog, you need to know what sort of motivation they respond to the most. For example, as Daniel discusses, try withholding food from your dog for a period of time, and then rewarding them with food through training. 

If withholding food does not seem to work, try using another form of stimulation. Perhaps your dog likes a certain type of toy more than another. Be careful to avoid wasting money by buying lots of toys that your dog will never play with, though. If you're able to, bring them to the stores that allow pets inside and test out toys to see how they react. Maybe a squeaky toy will activate their primal instincts more than a non-squeaky one because it sounds like prey!

There are many ways that you can activate its primal instincts and thus, motivate them. You just need to figure out what works best for them. Once you know, training will become much easier!