5 Dog Training Tips That Wont
Scare Your Dog to Death

For many, owners and so called experts alike, the key to training a dog is to dominate it through fear. The use of choke collars, electric shock, and yelling and hitting are their main tools. I see several very critical problems with this type of training.

Negative reinforcement breeds fear and fear breeds aggressive and unpredictable behaviors. Training dogs shouldn’t be scary for them, it should be fun.

While negative reinforcement behaviors may work, they are not predictable. For the best dog training results you want to make sure that the behaviors are predictable and repeatable.

Negative reinforcement doesn’t encourage your dog to be a loyal and loving pet. Training dogs for the sake of obedience is fine but don’t you want a dog that loves you too?

Punishment is not an event marker, meaning that your dog knows that he’s been punished but he may not be able to associate the punishment with the wrong behavior. If he doesn’t know what he did wrong, he’ll repeat the behavior.

So how do you train your dog without terrifying him?

Dog Training Tip #1. Keep your training sessions short.

Your dog’s attention span is pretty short. If you keep the lessons to five minutes a piece, he’ll not only enjoy the sessions much more, he’ll retain more. In fact, most dogs will pick up the new skill or trick on three short sessions.

Dog Training Tip #2. Fix bad behavior by rewarding good behavior.

Reward your dog or puppy for relieving itself outside. Reward your dog when he greets visitors properly, don’t punish when he jumps on them. Reward your dog when he heels and walks on a leash properly, don’t punish when he pulls on the leash or wraps it around your legs.

Dog Training Tip #3. Reward your pet when he’s performing the correct behavior not after it is completed.

This is important to help your dog catch onto your rules quickly. If he goes to the bathroom outside and you reward him when he comes back in the house, he thinks he’s getting a reward for coming in the house – not because he went to the bathroom outside. Of course, you probably don’t want to run over to him with a treat while he’s going to the bathroom but you can say ‘Good Boy’ while he’s going and you can give him a treat right after he finishes.

Dog Training Tip #4. Don’t wait for perfect behavior.

Reward your dog for small improvements in skills or behavior. For example you want your dog to have good table manners and lay on the rug by the door during mealtime you can begin by rewarding him when he doesn’t beg. Once he has that behavior down you can then reward him for staying on the rug or lying down nearby. Eventually you’ll be rewarding him for your goal behavior of staying on the rug during mealtimes without you asking him to.

Dog Training Tip #5. Clicker train your dog.

Clicker training is a great way to communicate with your pet. It's easier to learn than standard command-based training because your dog is able to instantly know when he’s done something right. It’s a wonderful, positive way to train your dog quickly and easily. No pain, no yelling, no fear.

If training dogs to behave using positive techniques is something you'd like to learn more about, then click here and sign up for free video lessons for training dogs or visit www.thedogtrainingsecret.com.