1) Be Consistant
Always
use the same voice cue/ hand signal for the same command. Using different cues will confuse your dog.
2) Timing is the KEY!
Timing is the Key when teaching your
dog a new command! You have to mark the movement the MOMENT your dog does it.
3) Get your Dog's Attention first!!
Always get your
dog's attention first by calling his name before giving commands to your dog. i.e. "Buddy, Sit!" Your dog
always hear humans talking and if you don't call his name first, he may not know who you are talking to.
4) Train when your dog is hungry & tired down.
If you train your dog when he has too much
energy, he'd feel distracted easily. Also, if your dog is not hungry at all, he will not be so motivated to get the treats
you have for training rewards. So don't train your dog after he just had his meal.
5) Train and practice new commands in a place with the least distractions.
Distractions can be Noise, People (moving or talking), Other animals, Toys (hanging around), light.
6) Understand that Dogs learn by Repetitions
Your dog has to practice a command many times before he fully KNOWS it.
7)
Keep Training Sessions Short & Fun
If the training sessions are too long, your dog may loss interest
and loss its attention. If you plan to train your dog one hour everyday, separate that hour into several
sessions will help keep your dog focus & interested. If you get frustrated in your dog, stop and take a break and
continue the training again.
8) Wait for 10 seconds before you repeat the
command.
Do not repeat the command until your
dog responses. (Don't say "Sit..Sit...Sit...SIT!!!!"). Instead, wait for 10 to 15 seconds before repeating a command. If you
often repeat your command, your dog will learn to respond to NOT respond to you when you only give your orders once. If your
dog seems confused, take a step back. Use both voice cue & hand signal or even lure him into the desire position
with a treat.
9) Teach ONE new command/ trick at a time.
It'd
be best to learn ONE new command or TWO at most at one time because if you move on too quickly, you will make your dog confused.
When teaching your dog 2 similar tricks, allow your dog to master one trick first. Then, practice the similar one until your
dog is good at it. Finally, practice doing trick 1 and 2 at the same time to teach your dog to differiate the 2 similar tricks.
10) "Randomly" Increase the Difficulty
Some dogs may notice that you increased the difficult of
the command for the SAME treat he's getting (for example, instead of asking your dog to spin 2 times, you are asking him to
spin 5 times) and may not as motivated. To best way to increase the difficult of the commands is to do this randomly. Say
you ask for your dog to sit for 15 seconds this time, ask for your dog to sit for 25 seconds the next time, and maybe go back
to 20 seconds..and then increase it to 30 secs..so that your dog won't notice that you increase the difficulty of the command.
Other Recommendations:
1) Use small & soft treats as training treats.
Choose soft treats so that your
dog doesn't have to slow down to chew. Use pea-size treats so that your dog won't get full too fast. Also, if you use smaller
treats, your dog won't eat so much treats. (Eating too much treats are not healthy for your dog and to avoid your dog to be
overweight, you should reduce the amount you feed your dog for his meals)
