Train Your Dog to be the Best it Can Be

Whether your dog is your best friend, service animal, or work partner, the key to deriving the maximum benefits of the relationship, for both dog and human, is proper training.  True, your dog will probably try to train YOU - "aw, come on, you know you want to give me another treat", "Quit pulling on my leash, I wanna go sniff this tree, now I wanna go sniff that patch of grass, and oh doesn't that squirrel just need to be chased!", "Whaddya mean I can’t get on the couch? YOU look pretty comfortable there…" - but for your dog's safety, as well as for the happiness of both you and Fido, you need to be the "alpha dog" in the relationship, and this is done by proper training.

First of all, the three most important things for a dog to learn are:

• "Come" and "Stay".  You must be able to control your dog, to get it to come to you immediately when called and to stay when told, no matter what the situation.
• Potty Training.  Your dog must learn where it is permissible to eliminate, and where it is forbidden.
• Walking properly on a leash.  It’s no fun for either the dog or the handler to be constantly playing tug-of-war when out in public. It can also be dangerous. Once again, it’s a matter of letting your dog know that you are the alpha and you expect a certain behavior from it.

More advanced tricks, skills and service tasks should be suited to the breed type and temperament of the animal.  Some training can be taught on your own, although many people find that participating with their dogs in a training class, taught by a professional, is more enjoyable, helps in socializing their dogs, and yields better results in less time.

Most dogs are intelligent and want to please their human companion (after all, look how quickly they learn our language, whereas we make very little attempt to learn theirs!).  They respond well to positive training, and most professionals now agree that a reward-based training method is the most effective.  Positive training is training without using physical pain as a punishment for not doing the right thing. On the other hand, corrective training is known as fear-passed training, sometimes only succeeds in teaching a dog what he shouldn’t do, not what he should, and often makes a dog afraid to learn new things.  You cannot safely learn correction training without the supervision of an experienced trainer.

   Every successful relationship is based on communication.  Learn how to communicate with your dog and you’ll find that it will communicate love and devotion right back to you.