Basic Dog Training Principles that Lead to Success

If you can just remember three key components of basic dog training, your efforts will be well rewarded tenfold. Training your dog works best when you’re (1) positive, (2) consistent, and (3) preventative. Here’s how and why these components work better than any others.

Positive Training

Positive basic dog training rewards a dog for doing something correctly. Treats or praise are often used as rewards, and when used properly, dogs learn that good thing happen when they repeat the behavior that they were asked to do. Positive training doesn’t remove reprimanding or punishment however. Saying "no" is just as important as saying, "good dog!" You just have be careful not to cross the line over to negative training since negative reinforcement uses fear and intimidation as a controlling factor. While the word, "no" solidifies your meaning, slapping, yelling, or kicking is abuse, and it caters more to your emotions than it does to teaching right from wrong.

Consistent Training

If you aren’t consistent with your basic dog training efforts, you’ll only confuse your dog and frustrate yourself. Dogs simply won’t learn if you don’t take the time to regularly practice what you’re attempting to teach. A dog might master a trick one day, but completely forget how to do it the day after. The best approach is to practice the command-action relationship until it becomes habit. And don’t let your dog get away with something one day, and then punish it for doing the same thing a different day. This too, confuses the dog to the point where it won’t take you seriously in the future. Worse, it will completely ignore a critical command that could save its life.

Preventative Training

Preventative basic dog training addresses bad habits and stopping them from developing. Any time that you catch your dog doing something that it shouldn’t do, you must address the issue immediately and work to prevent the dog from doing it again. Some example bad behaviors are eliminating in the house or snapping at family members. Don’t allow this behavior to continue without being reprimanded because if you allow it to happen more than once, it will continue until it becomes habit.

Dog breeds that need a special effort toward training: