First of all, believing that your dog can be trained is one of the biggest hurdles a dog owner will face. Once you’ve accepted this challenge then the basics of dog training can begin. Your new puppy, dog or older dog can be trained by either an obedience teacher or yourself. There are many good books on dog obedience, so researching and finding one that suits you and your dog’s needs can be very beneficial. It is also lessCostlythan hiring a trainer to teach your dog the basic training commands.

Three Basic Commands

There are simple and basic commands in basic dog training. These three commands are: sit, stay and come. To instruct your dog to sit, you will need some dog treats. Dogs respond to their training much more willingly when treats are used as rewards. Your ‘sit’ training needs to be done in a quiet area where your dog cannot get distracted. Hold the treat over his head and tell him to sit. Repeat this over and over as consistency is the key in basic dog training. Your dog will look up and may sit on his own to reach the treat. If he doesn’t react on his own, then gently push his bottom down. Every time he sits, be sure and reward him with the treat and praise him. This training will work because the dog will hear “sit” and associate it with sitting and receiving rewards.

The next basic of dog training, is teaching your dog to stay. This is usually the most difficult command to teach. This basic command should be combined with the come command. Put your dog in an area with no directions. Start backing away from your dog while constantly telling him to stay. Always keep eye contact with your dog. If he gets up, tell him “no” and thenbegin the process again. It takes a lot of patience with basic dog training. Once this process has been achieved, then turn your back and beginwalking away. Your dog will naturally get up and follow you, so again state “no” andbegin the process over again by tell your dog to stay as you walk away from him. After your dog has mastered this part of the basic dog training, then you can tell him to come. Use a happy voice and pat your knee as you state “come.” Your dog should respond to this command right away and you should reward him with a treat and praise.

Remember to always use praise and not punishment when using basic dog training. Dogs always respond betterto positive reinforcement. Don’t forget that patience and consistency will reward you in the end, as your dog will have mastered basic dog training and the both of you’ll live happily ever after.

Who doesn’t want their dog trained? How wonderful it would be to have a dog that stays when you tell him to, who doesn’t bark at the people walking by, and who doesn’t jump up on strangers! When I help out at the Humane Society and see how many people give there dogs to animal shelters because they are “not trainable” or “misbehaved”, it makes me very sad. The dogs aren’t the problem, how you try to train them is. Also, it doesn’t really matter how old your dog is, as long as it is older than about 8 weeks. The saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” isn’t true. It is just harder to instruct older dogs because they have a mind of their own.

Anyways, all of the wonderful things I said above are within reach, you just have to train your dog right! The poorTiny dogs just want to please you, and without your help, they do not exactly know what it is you want them to do! The first command anyone should teach there dog if they want to make progress is ‘sit’. Sit is what all of the other tricks and behaviors are based off of. Just follow the steps below to get a well trained dog in almost no time at all!

Step 1: The Treats

When picking treats for your dog, you mustselect wisely. Since you’ll be feeding these treats to your dog daily, you need to make sure they’re healthy. Also, make sure your dog will do almost anything for them. It will make training a lot easier.

Step 2: The Training Area/Time

When I train my dog, I turn off all noises and make sure that my brothers aren’t in the house. Any other distractions also need to be gone. Peaceful and quite places are the ideal training areas until your dog has mastered the trick.

I work with my dog, Holly, in the middle of the day, when she has the most energy. I have recently learned that most other trainers instruct in the middle of the day, too. Make sure that you sometimes change the rooms you train in so that your dog doesn’t associate the trick and treat to the room.

Step 3: The Trick- Part 1

Hold the treat in front of your dog’s nose, to get his or her attention. Then slowly move the treat up and towards your dogs back. This will get your dog to follow the treat with his or her nose. Also, decide what hand gesture you want to use, as you will use it aTiny bit later. I personally face my hand palm up and then move it up slowly, but the choice is up to you. Just make sure that you don’t switch gestures after you startusing one, as it will confuse your dog.

Step 4: The Trick- Part 2

Keep moving