Remember that, as much as one is a member of the
family, a dog is a dog, not a person. You need to
work to understand its point of view and cannot
expect it to react with human logic.
Dogs have pride and dignity, too. Don’t humiliate your dog, and remember to praise your dog often when it is behaving well. A lot of the time, especially in our busy lives, we will ignore the dog when it’s behaving well and only pay attention to it when it is misbehaving, such as when it jumps on us. This only teaches the dog to misbehave when it wants attention.
Dogs have natural instincts and drives. Use these drives to your advantage when training. If your dog loves food, reward with food. Likewise with praise and hugs. If your dog loves toys, make each learning experience a game.
Dogs understand sounds, but not English. When you give your dog a command, remember to use the same tone of voice and the same way of speaking. Your dog does not understand the meaning of the words you use, but associates those sounds with tasks and skills you’ve trained it to have.
Bond with your dog. It not only makes the experience better for both of you but will help you understand your dog and work with it better, and vice versa.
Try to know what the dog will do before the dog does it. This goes alongside having a bond with your dog. This will allow you to anticipate and encourage good behaviors and prevent bad behaviors. This is often referred to as “reading” the dog.
Be patient.
Be patient. It’s not an accident that we included this twice on this list—it’s important enough that we want to mention it again.
Be kind. Most dogs will do anything within their ability for their families. Know that when they make mistakes it’s more likely to be because of misunderstanding rather than malice or meanness.
Your dog can’t ask questions. It can do the right thing or the wrong thing. If it doesn’t understand, it is likely to do the wrong thing. Errors of this nature should be responded to with kind guidance, not punishment.
Be consistent. For example, if you don’t want your dog to sit on the couch, then you should never let your dog on the couch. It’s not fair to the dog to allow a behavior sometimes and then correct or punish for that behavior at other times.
If you want respect from your dog, you must give respect to your dog. Do not act in anger. Many dogs need to be “corrected,” whether with a stern word or the use of a leash and collar. Acting in anger, however, can be more abusive than corrective. You are also likely to lose your dog’s respect this way.
Don’t nag your dog. If your dog doesn’t respond to a command after one or two tries then you need to adjust what you are doing, whether it’s to better explain to the dog what you want, encourage the dog with a reward, or discourage it with a correction.
Corrections should only be used when the dog understands what you want from it. It’s not fair to the dog to correct or punish it for doing (or not doing) something it doesn’t understand.
End every training session on a positive note, even if it’s something very simple and basic. You want your dog’s last memory of a training session to be a happy one.
Dogs have pride and dignity, too. Don’t humiliate your dog, and remember to praise your dog often when it is behaving well. A lot of the time, especially in our busy lives, we will ignore the dog when it’s behaving well and only pay attention to it when it is misbehaving, such as when it jumps on us. This only teaches the dog to misbehave when it wants attention.
Dogs have natural instincts and drives. Use these drives to your advantage when training. If your dog loves food, reward with food. Likewise with praise and hugs. If your dog loves toys, make each learning experience a game.
Dogs understand sounds, but not English. When you give your dog a command, remember to use the same tone of voice and the same way of speaking. Your dog does not understand the meaning of the words you use, but associates those sounds with tasks and skills you’ve trained it to have.
Bond with your dog. It not only makes the experience better for both of you but will help you understand your dog and work with it better, and vice versa.
Try to know what the dog will do before the dog does it. This goes alongside having a bond with your dog. This will allow you to anticipate and encourage good behaviors and prevent bad behaviors. This is often referred to as “reading” the dog.
Be patient.
Be patient. It’s not an accident that we included this twice on this list—it’s important enough that we want to mention it again.
Be kind. Most dogs will do anything within their ability for their families. Know that when they make mistakes it’s more likely to be because of misunderstanding rather than malice or meanness.
Your dog can’t ask questions. It can do the right thing or the wrong thing. If it doesn’t understand, it is likely to do the wrong thing. Errors of this nature should be responded to with kind guidance, not punishment.
Be consistent. For example, if you don’t want your dog to sit on the couch, then you should never let your dog on the couch. It’s not fair to the dog to allow a behavior sometimes and then correct or punish for that behavior at other times.
If you want respect from your dog, you must give respect to your dog. Do not act in anger. Many dogs need to be “corrected,” whether with a stern word or the use of a leash and collar. Acting in anger, however, can be more abusive than corrective. You are also likely to lose your dog’s respect this way.
Don’t nag your dog. If your dog doesn’t respond to a command after one or two tries then you need to adjust what you are doing, whether it’s to better explain to the dog what you want, encourage the dog with a reward, or discourage it with a correction.
Corrections should only be used when the dog understands what you want from it. It’s not fair to the dog to correct or punish it for doing (or not doing) something it doesn’t understand.
End every training session on a positive note, even if it’s something very simple and basic. You want your dog’s last memory of a training session to be a happy one.
Here are some training tips we've compiled
from working with our clients over the years. Some
of them are common sense, and others may be new to
you.
Know exactly what you want to teach the dog before you begin training it, and know exactly how to teach that task. It’s not fair to the dog if you are not clear and consistent.
Know exactly what you want to teach the dog before you begin training it, and know exactly how to teach that task. It’s not fair to the dog if you are not clear and consistent.
