Basic Dog Training

Most dogs, no matter their eventual advanced training or intended purpose, live with people and therefore must behave in a way that makes them pleasant to have around and for their own safety and that of other people and pets. Dogs do not figure out basic obedience on their own; it must be trained.

The hardest part of this process is communicating with your dog in a humane way that he understands. Communication is possible by praising positive behaviour while ignoring or correcting negative behaviour.

"Correction" should never include harmful physical force or violence (i.e., no rolled up newspaper) because even if it makes the dog stop the behaviour in the short term, it will make your dog fear you rather than want to make you happy by doing what you ask. Correction technique varies by individual and among trainers. A simple technique is to attach a collar and "lead" (fancy term for a leash, usually short, 4' is good); JUST AS the negative behaviour happens use a command to correct it (i.e., Sparky is jumping up on a guest, say "off" if he's already jumped up, or if you see he's thinking about it say, "down"). If the command is ignored then "correct" Sparky by "snapping" the lead to make his collar rattle.