Training: Helpful Tips Pets Families.com

Training: Helpful Tips

Before you start teaching any trick, make sure you understand what you want your dog to do AND how you are going to command him to do it. Verbal? Hand signal? Both?
Positive reinforcement always works better than negative reinforcement. Or, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
Don’t reward bad behavior with treats or pets! Only reward good behavior.
Dogs don’t necessarily understand human language. They learn repeated words and take cues from your body language and tone of voice.
Make sure your voice is clear and firm.
Make sure any hand gestures are clear.
Give a command, then wait. Repeating it fifty times won’t help your dog understand. Give him a chance to process the word and the tone and the gesture.
Dogs aren’t stupid. If you are communicating clearly and he knows what you want, he will do it. If your hand gestures are sloppy or your voice isn’t firm, he may not understand what you’re asking.
Keep in mind that different breeds learn at different rates. One dog may learn much faster than another. The important thing is that they learn what you want them to learn.
Dogs are eager to please!
Train when your dog is alert. You’ll get the best results when your dog is not tired. You may also have better results with training lessons before a meal instead of after.
Keep the lessons relatively short. Many short lessons will stick with your dog better than a few long ones.
If your dog starts to lose interest, it’s time to stop for now. Finish the session with a trick that he already knows and is good at — end things on a positive note, not frustration on both sides