Training Tips
- Be happy when practicing with your dog.
- Keep your training sessions short: 5 to 10 minutes several times a day works wonders!
- Practice in different locations in your home, the den, the kitchen, the living room, and the
back yard. Dogs do not generalize, we need to make sure they can work with us no matter which room we are in.
- Play with your dog!
- Make sure you praise your dog for coming to you, give them a treat, and celebrate with them.
Coming to you is the best thing they do all day!
- Consistency! Whatever you are working on with your dog, be consistent with them.
- Call your dog for positive reasons only, if you need to cut their nails, or give a bath, or
give a pill, go get them.
- Play with your dog!
- Keep your dog on leash during their training to help them be successful.
- Use your happy 'ROAST BEEF' voice when calling your dog. No one likes to come to an angry voice.
Until your dog is consistently coming when called, only use the 'COME' command when you know they can be
successful. For instance, if you dog is busy chasing a butterfly or digging a hole, they may not be
ready yet to respond to the 'COME'. Use something to entice your dog away from their fun, shake
the cookie jar "cookies", show the leash "go for a walk", squeak the toy, or go to them with a treat
and lure them away.
- Praise your dog for sharing what they have in their mouth, trade the dirty sock for a cookie,
talk 'silly' to help them share. Give them a toy to replace whatever they had in their mouth.
- Play with your dog!
- Give your dog a 'spot' in the rooms that you frequent. A towel, rug, or doggie bed that
they can go to in the den, the office, or kitchen.
- Discipline can happen only when you catch your dog in the act of an unacceptable behavior!
- Play a clicker game, teach a new trick instead of a walk when it is too cold or hot outside.
- Playing with your dog helps to create a special bond between you.
