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Because we know that all dog behavior is learned, we also know that if your dog is not well-behaved, then they simply have not learned the right stuff, yet.

Now, this does not mean anyone is a bad trainer, it just simply means your dog is not learning the stuff it needs to learn in order to be properly trained. Unfortunately many people do not realize that sometimes the deck is stacked against them when it comes to dog training.

So here are 7 common things that are working against you when you try to train your dog.

Lack of Pet Training Consistency

If your not being consistent with your training methods, then your pet will not be consistent with it’s learning. Even humans have confliction issues when we are told one thing and then told another way. Your dog needs to hear the same commands over and over again. Repetition alone is not enough, but Consistent Repetition is.

Lack of Pet Training Control

We can only directly control our pets when we are there with them. Once you leave the room you relinquish much of that control and your dog is left to depend on its training. Since the training has not taken yet, your dog does not know what it should or should not do. If there are other people in the room when you left then those people will often try to exert control over your dog in some manner. This adds additional levels of confusion for the dog be trained.

Lack of Pet Training Time

Many people feel they are too busy to train their dogs. This is a society of instant gratification. Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it does take time to train your pets. It does not need to take weeks or months if done properly, but it will not happen on the first try either. So get used to spending some amount of time to train your pet properly.

Lack of Pet Training Environment

Many people fail to consider how their environment will actually affect their pet’s ability to learn. Sure, we all remember that we like peace and quiet when we are trying to learn stuff. But what about the dog? Well the same goes for them. Find a place that is not quiet, free of distractions and away from the crowd. This will give your dogs’ full attention to you.

Lack of Pet Training Tools

There are many different training tools on the market. These could be leashes, collars, harnesses, or clickers. These tools can often make a big difference when training your pet. For instance, a clicker cannot yell at the dog. It can only click. since yelling at your dog would be bad, your dog may respond better the clicker. This will help to prevent you from yelling and your dog will hear more praise and respond better to you.

Lack of Pet Training Direction

Do you travel across the country without a map? Are you constantly getting lost? If so, then so will your dog. You need to have a well defined direction for your training. Do not simply flip a coin with your dog’s training. Make sure you know what commands you are working on during the training session and what results you expect to receive.

Lack of Pet Training Goals

If you are not sure of what results you wish to achieve, then how will you know if you have achieved results? Sounds confusing doesn’t it? You have to know and track the results of your training session. Use a notebook, pen, and maybe even a stop watch. TRack the time you spent training, the amount of times you issues a command, the distance away you got during a stay. Just track your results. When you have results to look back on then, and only then, can you make a determination of how well your training is progressing.

It’s also vital the word being used for the command and the pitch of the voice be consistent everytime the command is delivered so the dog can less complicated learn what the owner means ( siiiiiiiiiiiit does not sound the same as sit, for instance ). Using the puppy’s name before a command guarantees the dog knows a command is coming, that it is for him ( instead of for other dogs, youngsters, or folk ), and he should listen.

To reinforce the command, the dog always gets some sort of reward or reinforcement ( praise and usually a treat or toy ) when it performs the action in the correct way. This helps the dog to understand that he has done a good thing. Many working breeds of dog are no longer trained to a voice command at all, they are taught to obey a mixture of whistles and hand signals.

Deaf dogs are completely capable of learning to obey visible signals alone. A lot of obedience classes teach hand signals for common commands as well as voice signals, these signals can be helpful in quiet eventualities, at a distance, and in complicated obedience competitions.

The particular command words are now not critical, though common words in English include sit, down, come, and stay. In reality, dogs can learn commands in any language or other communication medium, including whistles, mouth sounds, hand gestures, and so forth. This can become a blessing if your pet refuses or has problem with one word, you can actually replace them if needed.

Remember that both HOW and WHAT you say to your pet will make a considerable difference in your pet training.

But what would he be able to teach us if here were a dog trainer instead?

Well, take a moment to know what he did as a martial artist. For those who actually do not know, he founded his own martial art known as Jeet Kuna Do. Without going into a long winded seminar about marital arts, the main point here is that he created his own techniques.

He studied other martial arts, such as Kung Fu, Karate, and others and learned what aspects of those martial arts worked and which ones did not. He then kept the ones that worked and excluded the non-working methods from his training.

Ahhh. Training. Just like martial arts training, pet training requires many of the same principles. You must be

• consistent
• train properly
• train often
• you must train what works
• you get rid of what doesn’t

Each person is going to train their own dog their own way. No one way is truly perfect for all owners or all pets. While not everyone will become the world’s best pet trainer, ever person has to take some active role in training their own pet.

Whether your pet learns to behave or your pet learns to misbehave, both are based on how you do, or don’t, train your pet.

I have not invented a “new style,” composite, modified or otherwise that is set within distinct form as apart from “this” method or “that” method. On the contrary, I hope to free my followers from clinging to styles, patterns, or molds.

- Bruce Lee

Lee, Bruce (September 1971). “[1] Liberate Yourself From Classical Karate”. Black Belt Magazine (Rainbow Publications, Inc.) 9 (9): 24.

You need to decide what exactly you want your pet to learn.

Some basic commands, such as sit, stay, come, down, should be taught to all dogs. Any dog will benefit from a consistent ability to follow these commands. As these are the foundation commands of having a well behaved dog.

But what other types of pet training are there? Would your pet enjoy them?

Many dogs love to have purpose. This is what makes training so good for a dog. They receive praise and treats for doing good and learn that the more good stuff they do, the more they are rewarded. Your pet is likely to be no exception to this rule.

Many people just do not realize that training your dog does not need to stop at a basic level. As you continue to train your pet, and as they continue to get better, consider taking your pet’s training to more advanced levels. Some advanced training techniques can be quite rewarding for both owner and pet.

Several other types of pet training fall into advanced training these often include

• Pet Long Distance Jumping
• Pet Agility Training
• Schutzhund Training
• Frisbee Toss Training
• Protection Training
• Search and Rescue Training
• Canine Helper Programs for Handicapped
• and many other programs.

Advanced training does not even need to be something as serious as search and rescue, but should be something both of you enjoy doing. We have one dog that loves to help us carry in wood during the winter. When we head to the wood pile, he grabs a piece and carries it inside for us. He enjoys it.

Other programs, such as Service Dogs Amercia, or the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Program, are always looking for volunteers that have socially behaved dogs. These dogs are often requested to visit elderly homes or sick children in the hospital. Which is often a very enjoyable and heartwarming experience.

The only limits to your dogs training potential come from both you and your dog. If you do not wish to train your pet to advanced levels, then by all means train the basics until your pet is well-behaved, sociable and a loving pet. On the other hand, keep in mind that there are many other options that you and your dog could pursue that might be rewarding to you and your pet.

This does it for this training series. Come back often as we continue to provide canine training tips for the average person.

This next lesson will show you exactly what you can do that will go a long way to insure your pet training success. This lesson is all about Pet Training Goals.

We all hopefully know what goals are and how to set them in our own lives. But our pet cannot set their own goals. This means that we need to set them ourselves and we need to do it properly.

If you have not done so yet, this is the perfect time to consider starting a pet training log or journal. A simple notebook or paper pad will do but I prefer a hardcover journal. These are available at Wal Mart or any local bookstore. They have a hard cover to withstand abuse and many come with a ribbon page marker for help locating your last entry.

Setting Pet Training Goals

Lets first take a quick look at the key principles of goal setting and how to apply it to your pet training.

Goal Setting Steps:

• Be sure your goals are valid
• Do not have Contradicting Goals
• Choose Specific Goals
• Make sure goals are high but attainable
• Word goals in a positive nature
• Write Goals on paper in detail

Above are the basic goal setting structures for any aspect of life, so why not use them for puppy training? There is no reason not to apply these rules. So lets do just that.

Pet Training Goal – Gentle and well behaved dog behavior when people visit

• Pet should sit and wait patiently when people enter the door – A valid goal
• This goal does not contradict desired calm, gentle, and desired behavior – check
• Specific goals -
  • Pet should sit on command
  • pet should stay on command
  • pet should not move when door opens
  • pet should not move when person enters
  • pet should move only on command
• Goal is high as this will require long-term training depending on pet, but very attainable with consistent practice.
• Positive Goal – Our pet will behave in a calm, pleasant, well-behaved manner when people are greeted at the door. Pet will sit patiently until allowed to move.
• Detailed Writing – Abie, our presently hyper active GSD normally likes to run and jump when there is someone at the door. By training her not to react in this manner we will be able to allow her to greet people safely when they come to visit. Her training will consist of repeated attempts to have her sit at the door, then told to stay, while someone opens the door. If she moves, the door will be closed and the process started over again. This will be repeated until the desired behavior of sitting and staying until told is achieved.

The above example is not merely some made up scenario but is in fact the actual routine used with our dog Abie. This is one of the exact behaviors we have working on her with as this is a most destructive behavior.

Tracking Pet Training Goals

Once you have written your above pet training goals into your pet training journal the next step will be to start tracking your progress. This can be done quite easily and with a little time you will notice improvements in your pets behavior.

To start I generally keep track of the following items.

1. number of times a command is said before response. You should not use a command repeatedly if possible. But it does happen. The general rule is say once, wait a few seconds. Then repeat.
2. How long the stay duration lasted. Once seated and told to stay, movement or lack of concentration can cause the dog to move. The longer the better.
3. What if any distractions were there.

These criteria will change depending on what you are training. But these are good basics, as they record command attempts, time, and potential problems.

The normal behavior pattern should also be recorded as a starting point. So what I can do is make a time line.

Abie Door Training Start -

1. Start – normal pattern – Abie runs to door when any motion made toward the door. Waits until first door opens, then pushes through storm door.
2. Day 1 Session 1 – Abie told to sit, took 3 tries. Abie told to stay. Abie will stay if no movement or distractions arise.
   1. Open Door causes Abie to rise and go towards door
   2. Repeat
3. Day 1 Session 2 – As inner door seems to trigger reaction to move, training consisted of working this one problem for several minutes until door no longer triggers reaction
4. day 1 Session 3 – Abie told to sit, took 2 tries. Abie told to stay. No movement on first door.
   1. Opening handle to outer door causes reaction to move. Repeat
   2. repeat several attempts with outer door until outer door no longer causes her to react
5. Day 2 session 4 – Abie will now sit on first command. Sits well. told to stay. Abie stayed until I was standing with both doors fully open. She did twitch twice as if to move, but a second stay command kept her still. Told to release allows her to come out the door.

As you can see within 1 day a noticeable change has taken place. All of these sessions did not take place one after the other and each took about 10-15 minutes before she would move to the next step. Just like walking you have to take one step at a time. Within a few days she was willing to sit at the door and wait for us.

When Abie decided she was going to move because of the door I simply closed the door and restarted. This shows the dog that the door opening was not the proper time to get up. Same with the second door or any other distraction. If someone comes in the room, repeat the entire process if your dog breaks the stay.

Tracking your pets goals is very important. Otherwise how will you really know if they are making any progress. Track it the way you want to, as long as you are tracking it. Write down what steps you take, what reaction occurred, and what corrections needed to be done. Setting and tracking your pet training goals will be the next building block to actually succeeding where others fails.

Next Post Preview: Knowing What Type Of Pet Training You Are Trying To Train Your Pet For.

The pet treat is often misused or used ineffectively as a training tool. Don’t worry, it is quite common and just about everyone will have a difference of opinion here.

One thing you should consider is this:

TRAINING TREATS ARE NOT THE SAME AS EVERYDAY TREATS

I cannot emphasize this enough. You should have two separate types of treats if you are going to use treats as rewards for training. We have simple, plain dog biscuits that our pets can receive anytime they are being good. These are just for quick reminders, not for advanced training work. For instance, they might receive one small one each night before bedtime. They hear the jar open and they will run off to bed and wait for their treats. They have been trained to respond in this manner so they know it it time to settle down.

However for outside active training sessions they do not receive those same biscuits. For one, we do not want them to associate that taste or shapes of those biscuits with sleeping DURING a training session. Instead we use a higher quality dried liver treat. These treats can generally be found at your local pet stores. While these will be more expensive to buy please keep in mind that these are for specific training sessions.

Do not give them these anytime other then during pet training sessions!

It is very important to only use these high quality pet treats during training as you want your pet to associate these better treats with better behavior. You want your pet to learn the difference between a normal daily routine and an active pet training session. If I bring out the liver treats the dogs know the taste and smell difference between the types of treats and will not leave my side for liver. Think of your own reaction between eating tasteless, 3 day old meatloaf and a nice, thick, well-cooked, juicy steak. Which one would you do more for. Well your dog is no exception. They too will have a treat they just like and another type of treat that they would jump through hoops to get.

The end goal is to also not need to use treats every time you use a command. Treats are a guidance reward. You should be giving a treat and “praise” so that eventually you can ween your dog off the treats but continue to praise them for a job well done. This is another reason for two treat types. This way you can eventually drop the expensive high-end training treats and you will still be able to give your dog generic treats for non-training goodies.

By getting yourself and your pet two separate types of treats you will help your pet to learn the the differences between training and daily routines. Your pet will learn to associate high-quality treats with both training and praise. These become happy moments for your pet and happy pets will continue to do stuff that makes them happy. If your training session is what makes your pet happy then it will also make you happy.

Next Post Preview: Tracking Your Puppy Training: Set Training Goals For Yourself And Your Dog.

Luckily the next step is relatively easy compared to those lessons. Let take a look at the basic stuff we will need to do to pick a location for pet training success.

Location, Location, Location

Just as in real estate, the location you choose for your pet training activity is extremely important when it comes to training your puppy. This is because location equals state of mind for your puppy. If you start off training your pet where there are a lot of people, tons of traffic, or other distractions, then you’re going to have to content with all of those things. Your puppy needs to provide you with their utmost attention and you need to be able to provide the same to them. A calm pet training environment can make for a calm puppy.

The best places to train your puppy are a nice yard or relatively quiet park. You may have to travel a little distance to find one, but try to stay within a few minutes drive. If you know the park will be busy or have lots of other dogs around then you might want to wait until it clears out or find a secluded corner. Using your own yard has the advantage of keeping your pet knowing his home surroundings. However going to a park also has some benefits. Your pet will learn the enjoy the ride, they will learn new surroundings and be able to socialize more, and they will learn to enjoy training by association with the ride and park.

Again, consistency is also a key factor. Pick a location that is easy to get to, easy to access and where you can go at least 3 times a week. The harder and more difficult it is for you to get to the training area, the harder it will be for you to to get yourself in into the training mood. This will also be reflected in how well your puppy takes to training. Peaceful surroundings make for peaceful owner too.

Wherever you pick to do your puppy training routine, remember to make sure that it meets these criteria:

• easy to access or get to
• has room to use a 30-50 foot training leash
• has as few distractions as possible for the area
• is quiet, calm, and peaceful
• is a place where both you and your puppy can be relaxed

If you can follow the above guidelines then you will find that both your puppy training skills and your puppy’s ability to learn will grow at an amazing rate. Both you and your puppy will be happy and relaxed. You can work on training without a ton of distractions and you will both learn new things. Your puppy will feel rewarded because of the trip, the training and the love your showing them. A win-win for both puppy trainer and puppy.

Next Post Preview: Puppy Training Treats: What type of treats are best for training?

Today we are going to discuss one of the biggest setbacks a beginner pet trainer will encounter. Unfortunately this is a real pain to have to deal with, and can often get you in trouble. That is the problem of having “too many trainers”.

Other people mean well. They know your trying to train a pet, but they often just do not understand that they are inadvertently playing a role in that training, for better or worse.

Other People Distraction Factor

To your pet, other people nearby can and often will be quite a distraction. When puppies are young they simply want to explore the world. Having other people near by gives the puppy something else to focus their attention on. This means your puppy is no longer giving you their full attention. This will often lead to you repeating commands, getting frustrated, and your puppy not learning as effectively as it can. As your puppy gets older, and becomes more well-trained, then having distractions becomes necessary for further training, however try to avoid having others around in the beginning.

Other People Confusion Factor

This is a big issue for any dog trainer to be aware of. While we do our best to get you to become consistent, we cannot always account for other people in the house. A perfect example of this is when a pet owner uses the command word of “NO” to denote stuff the dog should not do. Only to come home to find a spouse or child using a completely different phrase such as “don’t do that”. Much like your own consistency, you need to make sure that all of those around you are also using the exact same commands. In all honesty, if you thought training the dog was hard, training other people around you is much worse. People simply don’t take it well when you tell them, “their using the wrong commands”. However, it is by far one of the largest confusion issues for your pet.

Other People Bad Habit Factor

Everyone has a bad habit or two. Some people drink alot, other bite their nails, and some people teach their bad habits to pets. Even worse then confusing your puppy during training, are those who, not meaning to, accidentally become detrimental to your pet training. I am sure these people do not do it on purpose, but it happens this way. A good example would be pet jumping. If you have ever known a pet that jumped, then you know how much of an issue this can be. They jump, knock people down, cause scratches just to name a few problems.

So how would you feel if you spent months working on keeping your pet from jumping, only to come home to a person holding carrots up high and getting your dog to jump for them. Extremely frustrated to say the least. That one act of getting a pet to jump for a treat can undo your months of training because now the dog thinks jumping can get rewarded.

Keep in mind that when you are training your new puppy, that you are training them. These other people are not, and as such should not proceed to act as if they are. Be polite in telling them that you are working very hard to prevent unwanted or unsociable behavior in your pet and ask them not to interfere with that training. Sometimes it might even help to have them offer your pet something that can be done instead.

Next Post Preview: Puppy Training Environment: Do you have the right area to train your puppy?

There are many reasons to train your pets. Most of all it will make your pets life better. A properly trained pet is less likely to disobey your commands, will be less likely to get into trouble, and will also be less likely to be punished. This provides a better quality of life for both you and your pets.

Unfortunately, many people do not train their pets properly. How come? Well, mostly because they simply do not know enough about how to properly train themselves. You thought I was going to say their pets, didn’t you. Well, the truth is, before you can even think to train your pets, you have to take steps to insure that you have a proper foundation to work with.

Over the next week or two we will be discussing “10 Dog Training Tips You Must Know Before You Train Your Pet”. So lets start with tip number 1.

Dog Training Tip #1: Train Yourself Before You Train Your Dog

An unfortunate reality is that most people are not ready to train their dog. It is quite easy to underestimate the amount of work that goes into training a pet. It takes time, energy, and sometimes money. You have to account for these issues long before you are ready to start puppy training.

CONSISTENCY IS PARAMOUNT TO PET TRAINING

Training your puppy will require that you are consistent with your vocabulary of commands. If you use “sit” always use sit. Do not change it from “sit” to “sit down” or “I said Sit”. As this will only serve to confuse the dog. Training will be hard enough without this extra level of confusion.

As consistency is a key factor to training your puppy properly, you must also be consistent with your vocal tones. Present your voice as firm, but not yelling or angry. Remember dogs themselves generally communicate through various intonations of barking, growling, and whimpering. because of this your dog will respond to vocal intonations much better then you think.

The third part of consistency is your body language. You should use body language as part of your dog training techniques. For instance, pointing to the floor when commanding “down”. Much in the same ways as your voice tones do, your body language speaks volumes to animals. Simply watch any two dogs together and you will see exactly how major a method of communication body language is for your dog.

One thing that I recommend you do is to test your own consistency. What you can do is record yourself with a small tape or digital recorder and see how many times you alter your voice or commands. You will find that you are not nearly as consistent as you think you are being. Most times a person will tell their pet to “sit”, and then within seconds say “sit down”, and then a few seconds later it becomes “SIT DOWN” as they start to get frustrated. This is not consistent.

Training yourself to be as consistent as possible will likely be one of the hardest part of your own training. Your puppy training depends on this consistency so much so, that in fact if you are not consistent you will almost guarantee that you will become frustrated and actually do more harm then good to your puppy.

So start right now on becoming more consistent in your training mannerisms. If your training your puppy, stop for a few days until you can become more aware of your own inconsistencies. You will notice that as you become more consistent, so does your pet.

Next Post Preview: Training Others Before You Can Train Your Puppy

See you all tomorrow.