5 Easy to Use Positive Dog Training Tips that Get Results

Training your dog can be fun or it can be the worst experience of your life. If you're like me you want the experience to be fun and as painless as possible for both you and your dog.

The following five tips are based on positive reinforcement methods that are proven and time tested to get results. Why positive reinforcement and not leash pops and collar grabs? Positive reinforcement is extremely hard to get wrong. This makes the methods ideal for dog owners who are not trained professionals with impeccable timing.

These five tips apply to whatever you are trying to teach your dog. From teaching them to sit, lie down, come when called, or to stop chewing your favorite shoes is doesn't matter. These five tips are universal.

Let's get started...

Tip #1: Consistency
Dogs learn through repetition and consistency. If you consistently reinforce a behavior with praise, food or another reward the dog will start to offer the behavior more often as a result.

This also applies to inappropriate behavior like jumping or chewing on your favorite pair of shoes.

Jumping is an attention getting behavior. 99.9% of the time dogs jump to get attention. What happens when your dog jumps on you? You push them off or you pet them or you say, "No!" in a stern voice. In every case you are giving them attention. Either positive (petting) or negative (pushing them off and saying NO!). What kind of attention does not matter to your dog. They are getting attention either way and they are being rewarded.

If you push your dog off of you every time they jump you are consistently rewarding the behavior. As a result your dog will jump more often because they are receiving a reward.

On the flip side of this coin if you praise your dog every time they greet you by sitting your dog will start to greet you by sitting more often. This applies to any behavior you want to teach from lying down to coming when called. If you are consistent they will offer the behavior more often and they will learn what does and does not earn a reward.

Tip #2: Keep Your Emotions Out of the Process
If you have ever seen a dog trainer work you probably have seen what I refer to as the "he won't listen" game. The game is common amongst my dog training clients and it goes like this...

My dog won't listen! I have tried and tried to teach him how to come to me when I call him but he simply won't listen!

At this point I step in and without saying a word I get the dog to come to me eagerly. This is the first time I have ever seen or met this dog and he comes to me like we are old mates. Why?

Because I do not allow any emotion to hinder me. I am not happy, I am not angry, I am not sad, I am not nervous, or afraid. I am neutral and along with a little body language the dog comes to me because he wants to.

If you are mad, sad, overly excited, frustrated or nervous your dog feels this. She reads you like a book and your attitude conveys the message, "stay away" to the dog. She reads this language and avoids you. As a result you become even more frustrated and you start to try even harder to get her to comply making the situation a lose-lose-lose for all involved.

When you start training your dog to do something approach it with a care-free attitude. Patience is the key when teaching your dog to do something. Remain patient and relaxed. Work in small bites and keep the lessons short and to the point. End on a happy successful note and your dog will become more reliable as a result.

Tip #3: Mark successful behaviors with a sound (clicker) or word like "Yes"
In order for your dog to understand they did something right you must mark the successful behavior immediately with a distinct sound or a word. I use a clicker or the word, "yes" to indicate a success.

For example, if you ask your dog to "sit" and he does you want to mark it the moment he does it successfully with a clicker or by saying yes. Then follow that up with a treat, praise, a good scratch behind the ear or whatever your dog finds rewarding.

What you are doing is telling the dog, "Yes, that is exactly what I want. Great job!" but not in so many words.

When you mark a behavior successfully your dog will understand what they did right making the training process much smoother.

Tip #4: Always use a leash
Putting a leash on your dog for teaching them behaviors solves a great number of common problems people encounter while working with their dogs.

Teaching your dog to come to you when called is much easier if you have your dog on a leash when you start. If they are on a leash they have no other choice but to come to you. They can not avoid you, walk or run away, or ignore you. Simply back up (holding the leash) and encourage your dog to come to you by patting your legs. The moment your dog reaches you say, "Fido come!" and reward with a treat or praise.

If you are teaching your dog to lie down you can take the slack out of the leash and give them one option. They either go to the down position or they sit by your foot until they comply. You are not forcing them to go down by pulling on the leash but instead your are not giving them any other option. They can't get up and walk off and ignore you.

The same goes for teaching a dog to sit. Take up most of the slack and hold the leash about 1-2 feet from the clasp and work with your dog that way.

By always having your dog on a leash when teaching them a behavior you are in total control.

Tip #5: Training is an on-going process
Recently a woman contacted me and told me she was wanting some training for her dog. She said, "he was completely trained at 5 months but now he is going nuts. Can you help me?"

Dogs are not completely trained after a few months of training. Dogs are never completely trained. If you fail to continue with their training eventually they will forget what you taught them in the first place.

This process is called extinction.

Think about something you learned in highschool that you never use anymore. Can you still perform the task with the same precision and accuracy as you did then? Probably not. Dogs are the same. If you teach your dog how to sit and never ask her to sit again for six months the next time you ask her she will take more time or she will not comply with your request because she has not been required to perform the behavior on a consistent basis.

The solution to this problem is to integrate training into everyday life. Dogs should sit and wait before going outside or eating. They should be taught to hold a down stay while you answer the door. By using obedience in everyday situations you will continue to polish the behaviors your dog already knows to a high shine.

Bonus Tip: Make training a game
When I work with dogs I try to make training an interactive game. First we teach a dog to do something and then we turn the process into a game. If Fido sits quickly we play fetch. If Fido lies down on the first command we allow him to fetch and carry a tug toy. The process becomes a game we play with our dogs and this makes it fun for the dog. By making it fun and interactive you can increase your dogs reliability in no time flat.

Find out what games your dog loves to play and use those as a reward during training as well as treats and praise. They will thank you for it by becoming a well mannered pooch you can trust and enjoy.