The Basics of Dog Training

Training your dog properly is vital if you and your dog are both to be happy. The early years are the most important, as this is when most dogs learn the vast majority of their behaviour. "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" isn't quite true, but any experienced dog handler will understand where the phrase came from - its much harder to modify behaviour in older dogs.

Just as there are many ways to skin a cat, and there are many ways to train a dog. Not even expert dog handlers agree on the best methods, and each different style has advantages and disadvantages. Generally all experts agree that training has to be a combination of reward and punishment; and most would say that reward should be used substantially more often than punishment. Punishment does not necessarily need to be physical - dogs respond to human emotion, and being pack creatures consider their relationship with fellow pack members highly important, so simply demonstrating your displeasure at their behaviour is often enough for them to get the message.

Provided you are not training your dog for obedience displays or work, the easiest method to get started is food-based reward training. With this method, you will need some very tasty treats (baked liver is often a favourite), and ideally carry them around with you all of the time. Before you give your dog a command, let him sniff the treat. When you give the command, be firm, clear and just say their name and then the one-word command - your dog will get confused if you try to start a conversation with him. Only reward the dog when they follow your command, but do help guide him if its a command that is new to him. For example to train your dog to sit gently put pressure on the animal's rear quarters, or to train your dog to go from sit to down gently pull their front legs from under them so that they are in a lying position.

Remember that dogs are generally eager to learn, but sometimes will get the wrong end of the stick. Just because your dog is not obeying you, doesn't mean he's being intentionally disobedient. Instead of direct punishment, try to re-enforce the behaviour in a positive fashion, repeating the training over and over, rewarding him with food each time he gets it right. Finally, always be consistent with the command you use - don't use "down" one day and "lie down" the next. Each command should have its own distinct meaning, and that meaning should not change over time. Remember that dogs don't understand English, so you can use any word you want for any particular command - during the era of Margaret Thatcher and Kenneth Baker one owner trained his dog to go to the toilet on the command "baker". You can be fairly sure that the dog wasn't the one making the political statement.

Dog training at first can seem like a chore, but take your time, be patient and be persistent. Once you start to see how easily you can modify your dogs behaviour you will start to enjoy yourself more; and 6 months down the line when you have a well trained, well behaved companion to share your life with you will look back on this time as time well spent.