Easy Dog Training - 7 Top Tips

In this article I'm going to give you some top tips for easy dog training. New dog owners sometimes struggle with bad dog behaviour - and even experienced dog owners can find problems arise unexpectedly. Whatever your experience, training your dog well will make your life and your dog's life so much easier and happier -a well trained dog is such a pleasure and it really can be easy to train your dog, when you know the best ways to approach it.

1 Dogs are Wolves! Well no, not really. But dogs are descended from wolves and understanding their instinctive behaviour really is the key starting point for training your dog. So dogs, like wolves, are naturally pack animals - they are used to living in a group, with a clear social hierarchy and roles, and constantly relating to each other. In the wild each animal's survival, security and food depend on these relationships. You can use these principles when training your dog.

2 Be The Leader of the Pack The alpha male leader role within a pack is crucial, so you need to make sure that you are the one playing that role in your relationship with your dog - and are always seen by your dog as the leader. It's natural for your dog to challenge you for the pack leader's role, especially as a puppy becomes a young adult. So it is very important to establish yourself clearly as the "top dog" from the very beginning of your relationship. You are the source of food and security for your dog and you also need to use appropriate verbal and body language, and punish bad behaviour as well as encouraging and rewarding good behaviour.

3 Hugs and Kisses for Rewards Your dog is a sociable animal and social interaction is very important to him or her. In a wild pack any excluded animal is very vulnerable, so your dog will naturally want to do everything it can to stay within the centre of its world - you and your family. You can really capitalise on this when training your dog - patting, praise and attention are just as valuable as food treats to reward your dog for good behaviour. In the same way, simply excluding your dog from your attention is a very effective punishment - you might shut him in a room on his own for a short time or even simply turn your back.

4 Dogs Have Alzheimers Well not quite, but they do have very poor short term memory retention. However, they are great at association and this is how you need to train your dog. So a simple exercise learned one day just through repetition will easily be forgotten by the next morning. But when you associate an action with a reward, your dog will remember what he needs to do very quickly - and he'll remember it forever. So if you teach your dog to sit and give him a reward every time he does, he'll very quickly be sitting down whenever you ask.

5 Dogs Don't Speak English Your dog will learn what to do by association, but dogs don't understand our language easily. So make it as easy as you can and be consistent. Make sure you always use the same, simple, words as commands ie sit, stay and down. Your dog will get confused if you start saying down when you mean sit, or wait instead of stay. It's also important to use the same tone of voice with these words. If you can, avoid very common words which you will also be using in the middle of sentences when you are talking to your friends. This can be easier said than done, but we all know that you only have to mention "walk" in the presence of almost any dog and there's an immediate reaction!

6 Short and Sweet Your dog won't be great at focusing for too long, so keep your training sessions short, especially at first. Dogs also like routine, so make sure your training sessions take place regularly - in the same place and at the same time. Your dog's training will progress much faster as he'll be expecting a training session. You can still be flexible if you need to and if your dog is really not concentrating one day, just shorten the session. Most important of all is to be consistent with your dog and reinforce the messages from your formal training sessions, day in and day out.

7 Have Fun and Learn! Training your dog should be fun, so make sure you enjoy it. If you don't, your dog certainly won't either! Classes are especially good for a young dog, as your dog will learn to behave well with other dogs - and you'll have some fun meeting other dog owners and getting some extra advice. There are lots of very good dog training books and videos too - and these are a great investment. You'll learn all sorts of dog obedience tips and tactics - and you'll have a great resource to help you deal immediately with any behaviour problems that crop up. So my final tip is to find the best dog training book you can - and your dog will soon be the best behaved dog for miles around, while you will also get a reputation for simple, easy dog training.
Sophie is interested in animal training, communication and welfare and has many years of experience training different animals. You can find lots more info, advice, tips, offers, books and videos on easy dog training at http://expertsecrets4dogtraining.com
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