Dogs are man's best friends. But dogs require good training to become good friends. Remember all animals have their natural wild instinct. They are independent in nature. As a result dog training should start very early before the dog is old enough to form its own nature.
Rules are very important for dogs. You should lay down fixed rules from them. Like children, they too must follow rules which you set for them. It is better to make the rules as early as possible before their nature is fully formed because if the dog grows up it is very difficult to change its behavior. For example it is impossible to prevent a big dog from lying on your bed unless you teach him or her to avoid the bed from the beginning. Everyone in the family should know the rules and follow it; otherwise the dog will be confused with different people's behavior.
Consistency is very important for dog training. A strict 'no' is essential when the dog is doing anything wrong and the animal must realize it fully. You will need plenty of patience and concentration to train your dog well but once you train it properly, you can rest assured that it will always follow your instructions. The dog must realize which behavior is good and which is unacceptable.
Although older dogs can be trained as well, most professional dog trainers like to start early. It is very difficult to change formed habits. When the dog does anything wrong, you must let it know about it. However physical corrections meant to hurt your dog should never be used. A firm command and showing your dog what it should or should not do works wonderfully well. Dogs are also social animals and they like company. So a great way of making the animal realize its fault is to stop interacting with it for some time. Remember at the same time that if the animal does something good you must always give praise as much as possible and even provide some treats or toys as a mark of appreciation. This will encourage it to behave well and follow the rules.
Dogs can follow the tone in a human voice. So instead of shouting you will have to give him or her simple and short cues to behave, like 'sit' and 'up' and 'come'. You do not need to repeat it many times or shout them out. Try to make your dog respond to them immediately. Clickers are also good dog training tools to help the animal separate between good and bad behavior. For example, if the animal does something good you can make a clicking sound with the clicker and give the animal a small treat. This will help the animal associate good behaviors with the clicking noise and the treat.
Slowly efforts should be made to ensue that the animal performs even without the treat. This can be reached with a great deal of practice and training.
James Aston is author of this article on Dog Training.
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