The Basics of Training a Dog

Did you recently bring home a new puppy? If so, you may be looking for information on how to train your dog. You can hire an obedience instructor to train your dog or you can do it yourself. Fees charged by obedience instructors vary greatly and you’ll also have to take the dog to dog school. If you decide to train your dog yourself, you can save a lot of money and you can do it at home. You can begin training your dog now but you need to know how to go about it. There are three basic commands that your dog must learn: sit, stay and come.

You should start with “sit”. You’ll need lots of treats to reward your dog when he learns to sit on command. Are you ready? Pick a quiet place for this training session as you don’t want your dog to easily get distracted. Say the “sit” command over and over again and hold a treat just above his head. To get the treat, he will have to turn his head up. He should sit to get the treat. If your dog isn’t sitting, delicately push his back down. Praise him when he sits and give him a treat. Repeat the word “sit” and repeat the whole process again. Reward him every time he sits when you use the command “sit”.

When your dog can sit on command, you need to teach him to “stay” and this one is a little harder but your dog should learn it before “come”. Start by getting your dog to sit somewhere. Slowly walk back while repeating the word “stay”. Maintain eye contact with your dog. When he stands, say “no” then repeat the “sit” command and slowly walk away while saying “stay”. You will need to be patient as it will take some time for your dog to get it. If you have someone else with you, you can ask this person to sit and hold your dog back to help your dog understand. Once he has learned to stay while you maintain eye contact. Teach him to stay while you walk away with your back towards the dog. Once again, this command is tricky and your dog will stand to follow you. Tell him “no” and repeat the whole process again.

After your dog learns to sit and stay on command, you can teach him to “come”. Start by getting him to sit and stay while you walk away. Then, say “come” in an enthusiastic voice and thump your knee at the same time. Repeat the command until he comes. When he does come, give him a treat and play with him a little.

You should always use lots of praise during training and avoid resorting to punishment. Dogs learn faster with positive reinforcement. Remember this easy tip for all your future training sessions and work hard to teach your dog to master these three basic training skills. By following the advice contained in this article, you will soon be the proud owner of an obedient dog.

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