Every dog is different. Those that have owned many dogs can attest to that. With training, it's fundamental to understand how your own dog works. Many dogs, like mine, are food motivated and will do almost anything as long as they can get a treat. Some suffice with having a pat on the head, a verbal praise, or a toy. As the dog's owner it's up to you to understand what will motivate your dog.

 

Once you know what will get your dog's attention and you know what you will be working on, it's all about consistency, rewarding the correct behavior and ignoring the incorrect one. There is a specific reason why dog trainers assign "homework" to their groups; this is done with the purpose of keeping things constant. Commands should be practiced many times a day, formal training sessions should be about 2-3 times a day each session about 10 to 15 minutes long. No longer no shorter. If training is too short, the dog doesn't retain anything, nor is the conditioning as effective. If it's too long, the dog will get bored and eventually tune you out.

 

Dogs, especially puppies, don't have very wide attention spans, therefore breaks are crucial in making training enjoyable and efficient. Signs you should look for that your dog is getting tired of the training are: random scratching, easily distracted by other things, and yawning. Yawning is actually a sign that the dog is nervous, which might indicate that things are too difficult and thus should be broken down to easier steps or should be taken with a different approach. Should you notice that your dog is getting bored with the training exercises, what would be the next step? Simply take a break, this could mean different things, like resting for a bit, playing with your dog (fetch, catch, etc.), or go on a walk. Then after you having taken your break, go back to practicing your training exercises.

 

Remember that age plays a big role in a dog's training. A dog can be trained at any age, pups to senior dogs. When pups are really small you want to teach something really basic, not to difficult. After all puppies are most likely to find something else to do rather than listen for an extended period of time. The age between 3-12 weeks is the time where pups more easily retain information. Training during this period is easier and becomes more ingrained than in any other period. Older dogs aren't impossible to train, so don't despair. It takes a bit longer but past behaviors can be corrected and new ones introduced through consistent training.

 

 

 

     Dogs are creatures of association, they link consecutive events to gather a conclusion and make mental note for future reference. This is one major reason why training with treats is so effective; however, not all training can be carried out with this sort of reinforcement, a balance between reward and correction is vital for successful training. Corrections will vary depending on the behavior that one is trying to modify. They should never include serious injury such as a kick or a smack. Usually your verbal disapproval is enough to correct some dogs.Any admonishments should be given two seconds after the incorrect action. If corrections or verbal chastisements are given after an extended period of time the connection between the punishment and the undesirable behavior isn't made. Most likely the negativity is attributed to you and not the action.

 

     Training your dog will be much easier if you choose areas where little will distract you're pooch. Distraction can include many things such as: other dogs, loud noises (traffic, TV, etc.), small animals like squirrels, or toys on the ground. Later once you are in the advance levels of training it is important to expose your dog to distractions to better train your dog. A good way to set up distractions so that your pooch eventually ignores them is to scatter food treats or toys all over the floor while you are cue him to do something for you.

 

At the begining of training, once you are sure that distractions are at a minimal, something that might increase your success rate, especially when training with food treats, is training right before the dog's meal. If the dog's stomach is empty his desire to get the treat, and thus to please you, will increase. Remember never to bribe your dog to do something, unless you are luring (which should be only in the begining of training) the dog should not see the treat when asked to do something. Instead you ask your dog to do something, he obeys, and you reward. The food or toy should not appear until after the behavior.Apply rewards within two seconds after the desired behavior so that the connection between the behavior and the reward is made.

 

It may be beneficial to tire your dog out slightly in order to get it to focus better, this hold true especially for small active dogs. Playing with your dog for a few minutes can accomplish this. Always be cautious not to over tire your dog, if this happens you'll end up with a dog that is too tired to listen or do much else than lay down.

 

Commands are more successful when they are clear and sharp. Therefore try to choose commands that are only one or two syllables long.

 

     Keep consistent and make it clear that you haven't changed your definition of acceptable and unacceptable. Remember to always train with patience and warmth, training shouldn't be something that your dog will shy away from so it's your job to make it enjoyable. Lastly, never issue a command that you cannot enforce, for this will undermine your authority and may make things difficult to handle.

 

 -Steven L.