Follow through on your commands. If you don't follow through on your last command, then you have just given your dog permission to disobey your next one. His memory goes back to the last command, and he is thinking, "Well, if she let me get away with not sitting when she told me to sit, then she surely doesn't mean I have to come to her when she tells me to come."

Learn your dog’s activity cycles. Learn the time of day your dog is active and the time of day he sleeps. Match his activity cycle with what you are trying to train. For example, teach the "down" command when your dog is less active. Teach the "come" command when he is more active.

***Listen to your dog. He will tell you if what you are doing is working or not. If it's working, he'll do what you want.  If it's not, he won't.  He will tell you if he is stressed. He will tell you if you are meeting his needs. We can’t repeat this too many times.

Reward, reward, reward. Give your dog lots of rewards – praise, petting, food, a walk, a ride in the car, throwing a ball, playing with a toy – for correct behavior. Make sure the reward you are using is relevant to your dog. If you know your dog won’t work for a piece of bread, will he work for a piece of steak? Reward 100% of the time when he is learning a new behavior. Then reward randomly for only the best behavior thereafter.

Keep lessons short. End your training sessions before your dog wants them to finish. And have fun when you are training.

     Command is deeper than your normal voice.

      Praise is higher than your normal voice.

     Reprimand is more forceful than your normal voice. A reminder --    don’t reprimand your dog for doing something wrong unless you have taught him what the right behavior is and you are certain he understands what you expect.

Smile when your dog does what you want and tell him how good he is, and give him a pat or tummy rub.

Decide what the rules are. Sit down as a family and decide what the rules are and what the command words are. Then everybody should follow the same rules and use the same commands.

Timing is everything. Make sure your timing is good – you have a maximum of 2 seconds to reward (or correct) a behavior or your dog doesn't make the connection between his behavior and the reward (or correction).

***Listen to your dog. He will tell you if what you are doing is working or not. He will tell you if he is stressed. He will tell you if you are meeting his needs. Didn’t we just say that? Is there an echo around here?

How your dog learns

These are the phases your dog goes through when you teach him a new command or behavior.

Teaching phase – show your dog what you want him to do.

Practicing phase – practice with your dog over and over what you have just taught him.

Generalizing phase – practice in the presence of small distractions and in multiple locations.

Testing phase – after your dog has a 90% success rate every time you ask for a behavior, begin testing to see if he will do the behavior in new locations with greater distractions. Set up a situation where you are in control of your dog and the environment and test him to see how he responds. If he succeeds, great. If not, re-examine the situation. Review and/or change your training. Then try testing again.

Internalizing phase – this is when he finally "gets it" and does what you want without your even asking, i.e., waits at every curb before crossing the street.

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If your dog has a behavior problem

What is a behavior problem? It's the difference between what you want and what you get -- from your dog. He's probably doing doggie stuff at what you consider an inappropriate time or place. He's not a diabolical demon planning to drive you insane. He's just a dog doing what comes naturally. It's basically miscommunication from human to canine. It erodes your relationship and makes you both unhappy. So how about teaching him what you want in a way that you both can live with.

Something to consider. Every time your dog does what you don’t want him to do (such as jumping on people), he's getting better at jumping on people because he is practicing jumping on people -- because when he practices, he gets better! (Think about the tourist asking directions to Carnegie Hall of a New York musician. "Practice, practice, practice.") Instead of thinking what you don't want, think of what you want him to do and guide him towards your goal.

Have a strategy. When your dog does something you don’t like, you have five options:

Change the word. If your dog has not been responding to a command in the past (for example, the word "come"), start training that behavior with a new word (for example, use the word "here" instead).

Think about your behavior. Your dog’s refusal to respond to commands may not be "willful disobedience" on his part. Maybe you think you are punishing him when you are actually rewarding him. Maybe you think he is trained when he really isn't. Whose job is it to determine whether the person at your front door is friend or foe -- yours or your dog's? Hmmm.

You are everything. You should be a better reward or should control a greater reward than anything else in his world. If he will now only work for treats, then learn how to be the leader who your dog looks to for guidance rather than just a treat dispenser.

Dissect the problem. When analyzing a behavior problem, here’s some questions to get you started:

Who is present (people and animals) when the behavior occurs?

Where does it happen? Does the behavior occur in all locations or only in specific locations?

Does the behavior occur all the time or just some of the time?

When does it happen? Is there a specific time of day or specific circumstances during which the behavior occurs?

Are you doing something unintentionally that could contribute to the behavior? (Are you sure?)

Has your dog always acted this way, or did the behavior coincide with a change of some kind in your dog’s life?

Are you training your dog the same way that you've always trained all your other dogs and it's not working now? (Hint: this is a different dog -- all dogs do not learn the same way. Oh, and you're a different person now, too.)

Are you praising and rewarding enough for the correct behavior, or do you just ignore it after your dog does it correctly? (We’re all guilty of this one.)

If you do correct. The best time to "correct" a problem is when your dog is thinking about doing it, not when he has already begun to do it. Most dogs will telegraph their intentions by their body language. A good trainer helps you learn to read your dog’s body language and then shows you what to do before he acts.

***Listen to your dog. He will tell you if what you are doing is working or not. He will tell you if he is stressed. He will tell you if you are meeting his needs. He will give you all the information. Listen to him so you can both work together successfully and harmoniously.

Have a plan. Keep your goal in mind and know how you are going to get there. Don’t train haphazardly. Give your plan a chance to work, and if it doesn’t seem to be working, reevaluate your plan and change it. You can’t know every response to every situation and why what you are doing isn’t working. Get input from someone who is qualified to give it, i.e., a trainer, not your neighbor or your brother-in-law.

What do you want? Think of what you want your dog to do instead of what you don’t want him to do, and then train him to do that. For example, instead of thinking, "How can I get my dog to stop stealing food from the counter?," try thinking, "How can I get my dog to only eat food that is given to him?"

Stay calm and in control. If you’re supposed to be the leader and you’re so upset you can’t see straight, how does your dog feel? Maybe he thinks he should take over as the boss so as not to put you through so much stress? The more you are in control, the more freedom your dog will have. Why? Because you can take him more places because he knows how to behave.

Article submitted by Caryl Wolff, www.DoggieManners.com

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