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Training your dog is a vital part of the relationship that you have with him. A well trained dog will be more confident around people and will be a source of pride to your as his owner. Thus dogs should receive some form of obedience instruction and this is often done at home by the owner. This is an attractive option as it is often expensive to get proper formal classes. When you are doing it yourself there is less of a commitment so you can do the training when it suits your lifestyle too. Unfortunately many people are not very successful, as the flexibility that do it yourself training gives also leads to an unfocused approach. This article will discus five things to avoid so that you have success in your training program.

1. As I suggested at the start, most people fail because they are not committed. I guess this is nothing new as lack of commitment in anything you decide to do will lead to poor results. Remaining committed is a constant process of refocusing on what initially motivated you and then remaining disciplined.

Reinforce in your mind what prompted you to want to obedience train your dog. Think of the pleasure you will receive from a deeper relationship with your animal than, say, playing ball with him. Take heart from the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your dog is less of a danger to himself and the wider community as a whole.

Committed also means keeping the desire to learn. Read up about the breed of your pet. Find out what methods work well or what the dog is best suited to. Don’t give up learning about the breed of dog. This will benefit your connection with the dog, inspire you to come up with new routines and make the training process easier.

2.Being inconsistent. The main reason why this might occur is because you will get bored and want to move onto another command. Remember to go at your dog’s pace of learning. Whether it is boring or otherwise you have to repeat the same command over and over until your dog understands. Start with the easy commands to begin with. Only teach one command at a time as shifting from one command to another will only confuse the dog. Having said this, your dog will also get bored from time to time so keep the sessions short.

3.Teaching commands with negative reinforcement as opposed to positive reinforcement. Never punish a dog for not doing a command or understanding what you want. Cruelty has not place in dog obedience training and it will confuse your pet. Pain is not a good teaching philosophy and will lead to worse behavioral problems than better. There is little doubt that positive reinforcement by giving treats and positive feedback to the dog is the best way to go. If you adopt this strategy, your dog will want to do things for you and enjoy the process, this will improve the training.

4.Being closed to new ideas. Don’t stick to one idea because it was recommended by so and so who is a professional dog trainer or a best selling dog training book. All tips and techniques are not gospel and are open to modification or amendment based on your real experiences. You see, dogs are just the same as humans in that they learn at different paces and pick up things differently. As you continue to work with your pet you will get a better idea of the best and most effective methods.

5. Try to keep a balance between being consistent in your training and keeping the process interesting. Avoid getting into a rut that will make the training dull and boring. Try to keep the training fun. Again this will be dependent on your pets temperament but why not try going to different venues. Why not make the lessons short and then add a bit of play time at the end. Alter the incidental parts of the training but don’t play around with the core components of the lesson - one command per session.

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