For convenience, we will refer to your dog as “he” rather than “he or she”.
1 Your aim in teaching obedience should be to have your dog respond to each of your commands every time, with urgency and enthusiasm, and without getting distracted. In the early stages especially, your choice of a suitable environment will greatly assist in eliminating distractions.
2 Use a consistent reward / denial approach. Use praise and a treat as a reward for success, but otherwise deny any reward such as a treat. During denial, always remain calm and patient. You must have the expectation that success will occur.
3 Obedience training is best taught at a young age to get the most effective response, but this may be outside your control. This training should be undertaken when you first commence training your dog, so that it helps to prevent any bad habits setting in. Your dog must be obedient before it can effectively learn the more complex commands you wish to teach him.
4 Obedience training should be an ongoing process which is repeatedly reinforced. This promotes safe behaviour and develops and strengthens bonds of friendship, not only between you and your dog but also between your dog and other members of your family.
5 To be successful in this area of training you must communicate clearly and effectively with your dog. He must understand what you want him to do and he must have been shown the correct way to respond to the command you give. In other words he must have first been clearly shown how to do what you have just instructed him to do.
This training should not be daunting. Rather, it should bring fun and enjoyment for both of you. Obedience is a discipline which will make all aspects of both dog handling and dog training easier and more enjoyable, and will strengthen the communication and the friendship between you and your dog.
We wish you every training success and years of enjoyment for both you and your dog.
