Part of being a responsible dog owner is recognizing the important role training plays in a dog’s life. Training your dog the right way will keep your pooch safe and happy. Here are some tips to help you train your dog or find a trainer.

Dogs can learn a multi-step behavior by stepwise refinement just like humans can. For example, you might want to train your dog to retrieve the newspaper every morning. To start, he needs to master the art of holding an object. Next, the puppy needs to learn how to find the object on command. After that, you should teach him how to take the object in his mouth. Then finally, he should bring it to you. Splitting a complex task into individual tasks is a good strategy, because the smaller tasks are easier to learn. Afterwards, the dog simply needs to learn to do them in the correct order.

You can ensure that your dog stays up-to-date with what you’ve taught him by providing a challenge at regular intervals. Try giving them “quizzes” to see what they know, even if you know they will succeed.

Training your dog is most productive when you know what incentives that your dog will work for. While your dog is learning what you are teaching him, you are learning what methods your dog responds to the best. When you are working on training your dog, make sure you have a wide variety of exercises for him to do, and that he is rewarded with a lot of positive reinforcement. The happier your dog is, the more successful your training with him will be.

Having more than one dog to train at a time will be a challenge. However, if your dogs distract each other while training, try training each one separately first, then work with them together.

The key to effective training is to ensure that your dog’s activity level remains consistently high. Dogs desire to be healthy, active animals. The happiest, healthiest dogs run and work. Take your dog on regular walks to burn off extra energy. Dogs also make superb workout partners and can be trained to run alongside you as you jog or bike. Try not to let boredom set in with your dog by keeping him active as much as possible.

Dogs have great focus and can focus on one thing, ignoring everything else, until something breaks their attention. If you are consistent and use repetition, your dog will start to wait for your signals before focusing on something.

Develop Relationships

To soothe your dog’s separation anxiety, help it to develop relationships with other people and animals. The dog must develop relationships with others in order to diffuse its unhealthy fixation with you.

Training a new dog should be a family activity in which everyone participates. While they may have a single person working with them regularly, getting everyone involved can enforce that they must always follow the rules and it will make it more consistent.

Use small steps when training a dog or pup to get into a crate, so that they can become familiar with it. When they’ve settled down with the gate open, slowly shut it and pass treats through the gate. Start off only putting them inside for 10 seconds, and when they seem okay with that, slowly increase the time they are inside. If the puppy becomes upset, you may be progressing too quickly.

Try to ensure that your animal feels safe. If they do not feel safe, they may show bad behavior. To prevent this, make sure that your dog is always in a safe environment.

Try using special or unique treats during training to make your dog more interested. You can increase your dog’s incentive to learn the desired behaviors by offering treats that are extra-special. This helps your pet to understand that this is no ordinary reward.

Hopefully, these tips can help both you and your dog enjoy your lives more. When a dog is properly trained, it makes owning a dog very rewarding and less frustrating. Whether you get help from a professional or not, training your dog is one of the best ways to ensure the best possible life for your dog