4 Main Rules for Training Your Dog

All pets should have rules and dogs are no exception. They should know their boundaries, or what they can and can not do. To get your dog to understand the boundaries and abide by the rules you must train your dog to know the difference. Training your dog can be simple if you follow 4 general rules.

1. Training should be enjoyable for both you and your dog. Don't get frustrated if your dog don't respond appropriately to a command. Do not reward the dog and move on to something else, you can always come back to that topic at a later time. Also, be sure to limit the amount of time per session of training. Training sessions should be no longer than 5 minutes.

2. All dogs should become familiar with the basic obedience commands such as sit, come, and stay. Always be sure that commands are short and direct. Make sure that you begin with easy tasks that your dog can complete because difficult tasks may lower your dogs motivation.

3. Be sure that any task achieved is rewarded. Training should not involve any type of negative behavior or punishment such as yelling, chain jerking, and hitting. Be sure that the reward that is being offered is one that would make a powerful training tool, In other words, it must be something that you know your dog loves and that can be used to exert some sort of control over your dog.

4. The timing of the reward is also very important. Once your dog has given a correct response to a command the reward should be given within the next 1/2 to 1 second later. This ensures that your dog makes the connection between his actions and the reward.


Remember that training your dog takes great patience and all dogs respond differently to stimuli. So don't get too frustrated if you feel your dog isn't performing as he/she should. For more tips on training your dog click here.