Dog Training Tips

Training Tips

TREATS: Make them small (just enough to taste)! Feeding him a treat for correct behavior is one of the easiest
ways to effectively communicate to your dog that he did something right, (but we will use other methods too).
Your dog should believe that you could produce a treat for him at any time and it just might be something really
awesome! I strongly suggest putting a treat container in the main rooms of the house so as not to miss any good
opportunities for reinforcement and always carry treats on walks. Fresh treats such as meat or cheese are useful
when working outside in distractions.

DON’T GIVE IT AWAY FOR FREE: ask for a sit, stay, down, etc before giving him what he loves like
feeding, walks and play.

ALL GOOD THINGS COME FROM YOU: By asking for good behavior before giving your dog the things he
likes you can demonstrate your leadership without using force.

REMEMBER: your attention is a reward (sometimes even if you are yelling!).

MYTH: Dogs should behave out of a selfless “desire to please” and respect, and not for treats. This myth has
killed a lot of dogs, and trainers who don’t use reward-based training are using punishment (choke chains) to
motivate the dogs and not “respect”. We have to deliberately demonstrate to the dog why he should listen to us
(we have the food, the toys and the fun).

THINK about what you want your dog to do rather than what you don't want him to do. Then prevent him doing
what you don’t want and reward him doing what you do want. Get it? Teach him some words to help
communicate what you want such as “leave it”, and “drop it”.

USE PUNISHMENTS VERY CAREFULLY (they can have yucky side-effects). Never strike your dog.

SHORT AND SWEET: Train in 5 minute sessions, 3 times (or more, go nuts!) per day. Also be aware that you
are always teaching your dog how to behave by your response to his behavior.
RUN your dog every day until her tongue is hanging out. Run twice if she’s still got too many “ants in the
pants”.

HELP HIM LIVE LONGER. Feed your dog a premium human grade diet with fresh supplements. Avoid over
vaccinating and excess flea and tick repellent chemicals. Clean teeth and ears once a week, bathe and trim nails
once per month.

ALL DOGS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BITE. That’s why it’s important to teach your dog to be
comfortable in all situations and to be gentle with his mouth.

MYTH: “Kids and dogs are great together”. Actually kids are the most likely to be bitten because they
accidentally do things that frighten dogs or they act like prey. Never leave a dog and child unsupervised. Teach
children not to approach a dog that is unknown to them, or when an adult is not present.

YOUR DOG IS ALWAYS LEARNING (and so you are always teaching/training). You will need to refresh the
cues that you teach your dog throughout her lifetime.