Are you having problems with your dog behaving badly? Don’t just put it with it. It’s time to begin some serious dog training. This means you should be persistent and consistent with your training. However, make sure your training is always fun or your dog may get bored!

The Basic Needs of A Dog

Having a dog is a responsibility. If you don’t satisfy your dog’s basic needs, you shouldn’t be surprised if your dog behaves badly. What are the basic needs? Here are the main ones:

• water and food
• sufficient exercise
• social interaction with dogs and people
• a stimulating environment.

The main point in training your dog is to adopt positive and negative reinforcement. When your dog engages in a behavior that you want to encourage, you should reward him with a treat or affection. The treat or affection must come as soon after the behavior as humanly possible in order for it to be effective.

It’s best to concentrate on positive reinforcement for desired behaviors rather than negative reinforcement for behaviors you want to stop. This has been found to be a more productive way of training.

Physical punishment is not productive or humane way to train dogs and will only lead to a  fearful and neurotic dog. You can say a firm “No” in a growling tone of voice to stop him engaging in an unwanted behavior. Ignoring your dog and turning away from him is the most productive thing for you to do when he does something you don’t like. Dogs want your attention and being ignored is negative reinforcement enough.

An important aspect of training is to understand that a dog is a dog, not a human being. Don’t humanize him. Dogs have their own way of communicating which you will not understand unless you study it. You read about what their body language means. They have various ways of communicating: with their tail, head position, ear position, mouth and teeth and vocally with various kinds of barks, growls and whines.

Being pack leader or alpha dog is vital if you want your dog to behave well. If your dog is the alpha dog, he is never going to be well-behaved for you because he thinks you are one of his pack. Some advice on setting yourself up as pack leader:
-eat a a little snack in front of your dog as he waits for his food. The alpha dog always eats before the pack members.
-don’t let him to onto the sofa or bed. The pack leader sleeps on higher ground.
-don’t allow him to go through the door before you.

This is an introduction to some important points in obedience training for dogs. I recommend you look into the most systematic of training methods: clicker training.