• Healthier dogs often have obedience training. It reduces levels of stress often caused by confusion because they do not understand what their owners are asking them to do. They build confidence and become happier healthier dogs in the end.

• A level of mutual trust forms between the owner and dog. The owner allows the dog extended freedom such as running without a leash in open areas. Commands the dog has learned will allow such freedom to exists without fear of consequences.

• Improved temperament in your dog. The dog will feel safer around people and other animals. Less likely to develop social disorders or shyness.

• Fun and exciting for the owner. The dog will truly become a best friend to the owner. Your dog will be well behaved and easy to control. Situations where untrained dogs would cause problems, are now fun situations for both owner and dog.

• Obedience training will stimulate the dog's mind and develop a well behaved companion. Like exercise, training will entertain the dog's mind which keeps them out of trouble as a result of boredom.

• Shapes boundaries by helping your dog grasp the social pack order in your family, reducing the alpha dog mentality in your pet.

1 - Always praise and reward your dog when they follow a command. Positive reinforcement is the best way to help the dog remember their commands and follow your orders.

2 - Be consistent in your dog's training. If you use a hand gesture with a verbal cue, then use those together every time you want the dog to perform that action.

3 - Provide immediate feedback to the dog's action. Only reward them directly after the correct action. The dog will only make associations on the immediate actions they performed.

4 - Plenty of practice and repetition is key. Even old dogs will learn new tricks but this may mean performing the commands over and over for several weeks. Repeat the training as often as possible and when they begin to understand, change the environment. Try training your dog in the park or around people.

5 - Your dog will learn easier when the training is short, with breaks, and time for fun activities in between. Dog's attention span will vary but training for hours on end will not be anymore effective than 10 minute training sessions.

6 - Be patient and learn one command at a time. This will reduce confusion with the dog. If the dog is having trouble with a certain command, perform and praise a command that the dog has mastered. This will boost confidence in your dog. Remember it is suppose to be fun for you and the dog.

7 - Use obedience commands in everyday situations. Before you feed your dog, ask them to sit. Incorporating learned commands with everyday actions well speed up their understanding of the commands and reinforces their meaning.

8 - Only correct your dog when you catch them in the act of performing the command incorrectly. Punishing after the fact will only cause confusion.

9 - Use motivational factors for your dog to aid in their training. If your dog loves to play with a specific chew toy or enjoys a certain treat, then use them as rewards.

10 - Training the dog yourself is the best way to train your dog. The person the dog spends most of their day with needs to earn the dogs trust and respect in the pack order. By training the dog, you create that bond which makes dog control easier.

Puppy Training

Dog Training