Basic Dog Trainingw

“How does your dog sit when you tell him to and mine doesn’t?”,
“How can your dog heel to you like that?”, “Wow! He comes when
you tell him to” – Sounds familiar? If it does, you need to
invest some time into a little bit of basic dog training.
Starting to train your dog from a young age is crucial as the
first few months of his life is when you will have the greatest
influence on him; this is where he is shaped into the dog he is
going to be when he is all grown up.

The most basic of dog training is to get your dog to sit and
come. Teaching him those commands are essential for him to
learn. These commands are used for various different reasons, if
you are in competition, if your dog jumps making him sit will
immediately get him off and “come” is the all important one. If
you take your dog for a walk, you let him of the leash and you
expect him to come back to you, not run around the park with you
chasing after him shouting at him to “get here right this
instance”. That would be just down right embarrassing!

To teach your dog how to come requires only the most basic of
techniques but a lot of repetition. The simplest way to get him
to come is have a toy in one hand and a treat in the other, when
you are in the house simply walk away from him, hold out the toy
and excitingly call him to you, when he comes over give him a
treat, always use the command for come that you are going to use
in the future. Doing this several times a day is a great way to
teach him, but remember to have lots of long breaks so he
doesn’t get bored and stop enjoying it, and don’t forget the
treats!

Getting him to sit could be a slight bit harder but again only
requires basic dog training. When you have mastered the come
command call him to you, place your hand on the end of his back
and say “sit” while gently pushing down on his backside, when he
sits his bottom down give him a treat and a lot of praise. If
you want him to sit longer just delay giving him the treat and
the praise, get him to sit but take your time bending down to
him and feeding him his titbit.

Basic dog training is simple and very effective. It should also
be fun for you and your dog, it doesn’t have to be hours and
hours each day just may be 5 minutes or so. Don’t forget to
reward your dog and yourself for all the “hard” work though!!