Basic Dog Training Tips and Help

Before you begin any training session with your puppy/dog there are several things you should consider:

Your Mood: Only initiate a training session when you are in a GOOD mood. Never try training when you are feeling tired, ill or just irritated! Even if you are on a time scale, training when you are not fully focused will only serve to have a negative effect on your dog. Only begin training when are happy and 100% focused.

Clear Your Schedule: Do not try to have a training session when you know who have to be somewhere in 30 minutes. This will only lead to you (and your dog) becoming frustrated when things don't move as quickly as you would have liked. Have enough time to 'go with the flow'.

5 Minutes is Better Than 1 Hour: You will find much more success in your training session if you keep them short. 2-5 minutes should be effective enough for your dog to learn but also stop him from becoming bored and losing interest. Try several 2-5 minute training sessions in a week.

Exercise: Although you obviously do not want a tired dog, you are best to train after your dog has had some form of exercise. If you try training before your pet has had his walk his energy levels will be much higher meaning he may become very excitable and much less focused.

Learn What Your Dog Finds Rewarding: Your dog must have a strong interest in his reward. There is no use training with a treat that he usually can take or leave. Find something he REALLY LOVES!

Learning how to praise your dog correctly will only serve to help your success.

Praising Your Dog

Praising your dog is something we do when your dog gives the behaviour you want or require. Getting your praising technique right plays a vital role in training your dog correctly and successfully.

As the trainer, you need to use your voice to reward your dog. As soon as your dog completes the task required of him, praise him! There are different types of praising you can easily learn. Say you want your dog to bring a toy to you. When your dog has bought said toy to you, you should raise your voice when you are praising as if you are excited about something! However, if you are having a 'search & find' type of training session, you should use a lower, questioning tone of praise.

Another type of praise is using your touch when training your dog. Always try to remember though that a big hand coming down on the top of your dogs head will be seen as dominance, not praise. Try to avoid things that we as humans may find rewarding! Praising in the form of touch is probably best approached by mimicking what a mum would do naturally in the wild. She would lick her puppies. Obviously, we can't go this far but a dog will view gentle stroking motions on his sides or back as rewarding.