Dog Training Basics

When getting a new dog or puppy, there’s so much to learn that sometimes the training aspect can seem like something you can put on the back burner; something to do later on when the dog is settled in. This is wrong. As anyone who has kept a dog for a long time knows, training should begin immediately. Here are a few tips which should help point you in the right direction:
1) Two or more people need to train the dog, to begin with. Why? Because otherwise the dog will associate only the ONE person with training, and they may be confused and not understand that, in fact, they are to behave and follow orders with all members of the family. Be strong together with your dog and make sure that manual handling train the trainer - if one of you is weak, it will be the dog training them!
2) Limit the number of words you use: remember, your dog has a very small brain that works perfectly for sniffing, playing, and all the other things that he or she needs to do. But the dog is never going to master the English language! So use a limited variety of words and make sure that you stick to these rigidly. Don’t confuse them, in other words. Later on you can introduce some new ones, but only consider doing this once your dog has got the hang of a few to begin with.
3) Don’t reward your dog unless he or she really deserves it: this may sound obvious, but many owners feel that they should consistently reward their dog in an effort to make training more fun. This doesn’t work. Start off by rewarding your dog only when it does what it is told and things will be a lot easier later on in life.