Behavior Dog Training Techniques

It is certainly possible for ANY dog owner to train their dogs themselves provided they put in an adequate amount of effort. The principles listed here are universal to dog training of any dog breeds, be it sporting, working, toy or terrier, any dogs - big or small, pup or old, any Owners - competitive or leisure.

In short, if you are serious about training your dog and demand Only success, You MUST apply these principles. No “If's” ands or “But's”. Get the basics down first before you start to train your dog!

Consistency
During training and correcting unwanted behavior, always use the same "command" for a specific task you require. Don’t confuse him/her by using different commands for the same task.

Establishing some house rules like keeping the cooking area out of bounds, enforce them constantly. If the dog learns that he can get away with it now and then, your previous efforts will go down the drain. Lastly, make sure everyone in the family accepts and enforces the rules consistently.

Timing
Timing is critical to successful training. Praise your dog whenever he is doing something right. As expected, reprimand him on the spot and to the point whenever he misbehave or fails to response to your command. Praise and corrections that happen later have no effect on your dog.

* There are 2 main schools of thoughts concerning the timing of correction when your dog misbehaves. I called the first school of thought the “Direct Approach”. It simply requires you to reprimand your dog on the spot if he misbehaves. This is more of a tangible and straight forward approach to training your dog and is easy to understand for most trainers.

I called the second school of thought the “Endurance Approach” as it’ll require you to ignore your dog when he misbehaves. Using the cause and effect to your advantage, this approach requires you to ignore the dog, especially when he misbehaves to seek attention and encourage you to pay attention to your dog only when he’s a good boy.

Attention Factor
Dogs love attention and are hugely motivated by it. Unlike man, dogs do not know how to differentiate between positive and negative attention. They see things in a simple way. If a certain action gets reaction and attention, you can bet they'll repeat it over and over again.

We more often than not give our dogs negative attention. For example, "Do you let him out of his crate when he whines/barks?" or "Do you give chase when he runs off with your socks?" These give negative attention and are certainly motivating his/her bad behavior.

Pay enough attention to your dogs misbehavior. When the dog understands that they’ll get attention only when behaving, they learn that only good behavior gets attention and they repeat this good behavior always.

Focus your attention on your dog only when he is behaving; praise him/her or give him a treat, let them know why they're getting attention. If this technique is used correctly, they’ll be well-behaved for a long time to come. Nevertheless, this approach is probably not for the short temper and requires you to go through an endurance ordeal. Imagine your dog chewing up your sock in your presence.

Training Mood
You need to be in the correct frame of mind before you train your dog. Never train your dog when you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Also try not to train him if you’ve had a bad day or not in the best of moods.

If you’ve just argued with your sweetie or got a telling off from your boss earlier on. You would most probably take out your frustration on him/her and threaten your relationship in the future.

Do remember to apply these dog training principles constantly & you'll be half-way through to successful dog training.

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