Dog Training

The first step to successful training of your dog is getting to know it well.  You must be conversant with the dog’s personality, whether they are sensitive, shy, aggressive or too playful.  You should also know what their preferences are, what they love doing, their favorite toys, what they dislike and what time they are most friendly.  Understanding a dog even before you begin training it is vital to its mental health.  In most cases, it is important to take the dog slowly and easily through the orientation to the training exercise so as not to make it feel intimidated, harassed or even punished.  Using a very aggressive and direct introduction to training from day one may cause irreversible training issues with the dog.  For instance, the dog may be scared, confused or intimidated by the whole exercise.

For stronger, fearless and aggressive dogs, a more direct approach is better, since that is its nature.  If you use a too subtle and gentle introduction to the training exercise, the dog will find it boring and ultimately have a negative perception of the whole exercise.  An aggressive dog is one which is always jovial, seeking attention, jumps on guests, runs over things and enforces its presence on everyone.  Depending on the breed of the dog and the trainer’s abilities, it is advisable that such a dog be introduced to the training exercise with a more aggressive and interactive approach.

Since dogs have very short concentration spans, you should keep your initial dog training sessions to the minimum in timing.  A typical dog training session should last between eight and fifteen minutes at the start but may last up to between twenty and forty minutes once the dog is accustomed to the exercise.  Dogs get bored very fast, to keep them interested in the training program, it has to be interactive, fun and lively.

Basic Dog Training Commands
Leash training – The first dog training lesson should be leash training.  This is basically introducing the dog to the leash.  When training the dog to accept the leash, avoid pulling, strangling or forcing, use a positive reinforcement whenever they cooperate.

Heeling – This is training the dog to walk to the left beside you without pulling in front of you.  The heel command is used when the dog tries to walk in front or lag backwards.

Sit – Just from the name, the sit command is used to instruct the dog to assume a sitting posture.  This is a very easy command that most dogs find easy to understand.