10 Easy Dog Training Tips

Dog Behavior, Dog Training, Dogs — By Signe & Mario Monk on May 25, 2010 9:32 pm

In my own experience success in dog training is not dependent on dog itself, but on person who trains the dog. I’ve seen several times in training lessons how dog owners fail to teach something, but when trainer comes for help dog obeys the same command even without training. Actually, I have come to conclusion – dogs do not to be trained. Key is to tell them what to do in the right way.

Of course, this conclusion is not 100% true. Not even close, but most of professional trainers would agree that dog training lessons is more like training for owners to communicate with their dog.

This article discusses tips that would help to achieve the best results in dog training.

Start early. Younger dogs are learning much faster so it is a good idea to start training very early. You can try to teach some basics as sit or stay starting from his first days. More advanced training and training at special camps or dog schools can be started approximately when your dog reaches three or four months. If you already missed that – don’t worry. Older dogs (even seniors) also can show very good results, but it takes more effort to achieve them. However, who did say that training a dog would be an easy task?
Make training a fun way. Do you love your job? What do you like better – working or playing? In a big surprise, dogs like playing more. If you want your dog to train faster, then do it with pleasure. Your dog will feel better and will wait eagerly for the next training.
Praise your dog. Always! Praise your dog when he did a great job. And it does not matter if it happened during training or regular everyday activities. He has to know that he is doing well. You can just cheer him to show how happy you are about what he did and he will be happy as well. If you gave a command and he did why you asked you can include command in cheering up so he knows that his activity is related to command given. Also, you can give him a treat. Oh yes, they are very motivating. He will just eager to do something again just to get that snack. You can give him a cheese, sausage or dog cookies. Pieces of treat should be relative to your dog’s size. Dog has to eat it at once because if he will have to stop training for eating it will be a mess. Don’t be stingy. Give him a lots of them whenever your dog does something good. But don’t forget about importance of cheering up when training. Try to do both every time.
Don’t work too hard. Nothing kills learning spirit as tiredness. If your dog is tired – let him rest. Actually you have to let him rest even before he gets tired. You can play with him for a while without giving any commands if his interest in training drops. If you push too hard every time, your dog will be like: “oh no, not again!” when next training starts.
Work on a regular basis. Actually try to work every day. Even if you attend a dog school, you have to work every day at home. It does not always have to be training. Just give him a command now and then. Do it every day and your dog will learn much faster.
Work in different places. If you train your dog only in one place he may soon learn that this is the only place where he should obey you. Try to work wherever possible – at home, training grounds, park or during walks…
Try to be positive as much as possible. Reward for good behavior is much more worth than punishment for bad behavior. Your dog has to do things because he likes them, because you like him to do them. Not because if he won’t do them he will get hurt. If you are positive your dog will enjoy training and will obey your commands better. So be positive. It will make your dog to love you more and also training will be easier. This does not mean that you don’t have to get angry time after time. You have to, but do it in moderation. You can raise your voice to show your dog that something in his behavior is not right. You can push or pull him, but never hit your dog. You may call your dog to yourself with angry tone or ask him to sit or go to a spot. Stop being angry after he did that. Give him a smile and let him know that his reaction to your anger was correct. But don’t cheer him or give a snack, as he can relate this cheering with his previous “not so good” activity.
Use body language. When you ask you dog to be calm, you have to be calm as well. If you want your dog to run to you or by your side, you have to raise your activity. Wave your hand, jump, laugh, run. Do whatever works and do it with whole your body. Dog will watch you and learn from it. If you cheer your dog after he did something good, use your body as well. Hug your dog. Show with your body that you are happy about him.
Stick to your decisions. If you allow or disallow something to your dog, never change your decision. Dog has to know what he is allowed to do and what is not so welcome. If you allow and disallow some things depending on situation, your dog won’t understand why is it so? Yesterday you were so happy that he is chewing your old sneakers, but today you are angry that your new Gucci shoe has turned into a mess…. WHY??? Be specific. There are only things that are always allowed, and always disallowed.
Communicate with your dog during training. Don’t train your dog like “sit….. stay…. walk….. sit….”. Talk more to your dog, play with him during training. Dogs obey command much better if you are in a constant communication with your dog. If you are not communicating to your dog all the time he will start to wander around and will try to ignore some of commands because he just found something more interesting there, over the hedge.