Dog Training Essentials: Ten Tips for a Well-Behaved Dog

Are you wondering how your disobedient, messy, overactive, hyper, annoying or aggressive dog or puppy can become more well-behaved? Maybe you�re thinking about getting a new puppy and are interested to learn how to train him and what to do in order to ensure that he becomes well-behaved as he grows up. Simple dog training techniques and suggestions can do wonders in helping your dog become the well-behaved pet you know is somewhere inside him.

1. First, think of dog training as puppy training. If your pet is still a puppy, start your training as early and as soon as you can. If your dog is older, the sooner, the better. The older a dog gets, the harder it is for him to learn new tricks and commands and to �unlearn� bad habits.

2. As much as possible, use positive or negative reinforcement as opposed to punishment, and be as humane, respectful, positive, and motivational as possible. Keep your dog training sessions fun, upbeat, and enjoyable as well as challenging and educational.

3. Make sure you follow through with and enforce the commands you teach and give your dog. Commands should not be optional.

4. Another helpful tip of dog training is to give one command and then wait for the response. Repeating commands (also known as �nagging�) won�t help. Should your dog need it, gently enforce, and then praise or reward. Also, be as simple and basic as possible. One-word commands are enough for your dog to understand, such as �sit,� rather than �sit down� or �go sit down over there.�

5. Make sure your voice isn�t too loud, forceful, or harsh. You want to maintain an aura of leadership, authority, and command, but do so in a firm but gentle way.

6. Practice using your dog�s name only in positive references while dog training. Your dog needs to trust you and understand that hearing his name is a good thing, not a bad thing.

7. Instead of punishing your pet during dog training for misbehavior, try to prevent or correct it instead. Besides the fact that post-misbehavior discipline rarely works, using punishment will merely cause tension in your owner-pet relationship and cause your dog to become confused and distrust you. Dog training should be positive, enjoyable, and motivational.

8. Consider your timing when dog training. Wait for opportunities when you think your dog might be about to misbehave�this will not only prevent the misbehavior, but correct it, and allow your dog to learn the correct response.

9. Watch out that you don�t reinforce your dog�s misbehavior.

10. If you�re feeling angry, postpone a dog training session until later. You will only damage your relationship and abuse your dog�s trust if you�re training while angry or impatient.