Every dog deserves a happy, peaceful life in an environment where they feel safe, loved and cared for, much like their owners.  Introducing your dog to different environments, providing lots of toys, and introducing grooming at the earliest age possible will stimulate your dog and keep him healthy.

Owners who have patience, are consistent, and are not lazy about taking their dogs out will be rewarded.  The rewards for owners of a happy and contented pet are incalculable and this wonderful and positive influence in your life can only come about from good positive practices when training your dog.

When you first begin your training sessions, it is a good idea to keep them short because dogs have a rather short attention span and can easily get bored.  Ten minutes, in fact, should be enough for each session and those should be followed by play with an interesting toy to stimulate your dog’s mind.  A session that ends happily will ensure that your dog looks forward to the next one.

What you must not do is use any physical punishment or shout angrily if your dog does not co-operate because this will cause your dog to be fearful and training your dog will become difficult.  Consistency from yourself and your family is key to the dogs training process, and although some members of the family will want to train the dog their way, you must explain to them that there can only be one leader in the pack.

As your dog develops from short five to 10 minutes of training sessions to two fifteen minute sessions, you should begin to see good results.  You must be sure not to reward if you cannott do it immediately when they display the right behaviour, because any delayed reward will be counterproductive to training your dog in the future.

Finding the right type of training method that will suit both you and your dog is very important.  Take the time to research, explore and inform yourself about the various methods and techniques used in training procedures before you embark on this important journey.

Seek out friends, family members, collegues, neighbors, etc., who have well mannered and well behaved dogs.  Ask them where or how they trained their dogs.  Owners of well behaved dogs are some of your best resources and can provide you with great advice, tips and resources.

If you choose to enroll your dog in an obedience class or hire a private trainer, it is not recommended to let anyone anywhere near your dog until you are very sure who they are and what their qualifications are.  It is advisable that you visit and take the time inspect their premises.  Sit in on a few of their sessions as an observer even if you know nothing about training techniques or dog training methods yourself.  By observing the practices of a dog trainer you will soon discover what their training methods are and how they interact with both the dogs and the owners.

Until not very long ago, negative reinforcement was widely used as a training technique and today some trainers still use this method.  However, animal behavioral experts think that this method can actually teach new unwanted behavior.  An example of the principle of negative reinforcement for instance is where someone may be teaching a dog to sit.

The dog is put on a leash and the leash is jerked upwards on the command of sit, making the dog’s collar uncomfortable.  With dog training methods like this, each time that the dog sits, the leash is loosened and then sitting becomes negatively reinforced because the dog is alleviating the pressure on his neck.  In a way it is a punishment, and many people use choke chains, pinch collars and other devices in this method.

Using positive training methods, it is actually difficult to abuse a dog because most of the techniques promote encouragement and reward.  If positive behavior training is not correctly given, the desired behavior from the dog will not occur and the original undesired behavior will remain.  Positive dog training methods do not result in physical injury, or aggressive behaviors that can occur with negative reinforcement methods.

Think positive, when you’re deciding on the method of training that your dog needs.