Dog Training Tips

It's important to know how dogs learn in order to properly train them.

Dogs are like humans in the basic way they learn how to do certain things. Because the behavioral patterns are reinforced, they will continue to do them if good things happen as a result. Repetition and frequency are necessary to drill in the desired pattern. Subsequently bad behaviors will decrease if bad results follow. Dogs like good, fun, happy things.

Positive reinforcement is always the best way to train a dog – and even a human for that matter. Ask any animal trainer, behaviorist or psychologist if the best path is to focus on the positive. Positive reinforcement will yield good results in training a dog. Ignore any tips that promote the negative.

This means that unless you catch your dog in the act of doing a bad behavior, you need to ignore it. This is because dogs won’t remember what they've done if you try to punish them for it after it's forgotten. For example if your pooch puts a puddle in the middle of the living room floor and you find the puddle well after the act has been done - it's too late to "punish" them for this. About a minute after they finished it they've forgotten they did it. So bringing them back to the puddle to run their nose through it is not recommended. Why? Because all they know is that you are doing a mean thing by running their nose in a puddle. They don't connect the fact that they made the puddle and you're upset.

The only time you should act in this case is if you catch them in the act itself. Then you can quickly remove them saying a stern NO and placing them where it is okay to have a bathroom break. You help to prevent this by making sure they don't get in a situation that may cause them to do the bad behavior. For example, take them outside for their bathroom breaks frequently. Offer them a lot of praise when they do it right. Positive reinforcement is one of the best dog training tips around.