Training is Fun, Fast and Easy

A dog who responds promptly to your requests for him to sit, stand, lie down and come when called is well on the way to earning his/her P.D. ( Perfect Dog) title!

One of the easiest ways to teach basic obedience is using the age-old lure/reward training method. Lure/reward techniques remove the need for physical coercion and corrections, enabling family and friends to train your dog, children included. It's almost magic as the dog follows the lure (treat or toy) and learns to sit, lie down and stand within minutes.

Dogs enjoy this type of training so much it is good to train them at least 50 times a day. That doesn't mean you have to spend all day training. Simply lure your dog into one of these three positions anytime you have a few seconds free.

With lure/reward training you can teach all three commands at once and your dog will learn them at lightning speed. Lure/reward methods are perfect for training young puppies and for re-educating older dogs.

Simply take a piece of your dog's kibble, or a treat, and hold in front of his nose. If you move the kibble up and down and your dog nods his head, this means your dog just can't wait to start training. Your dog is interested in the kibble and the kibble will work well as an incentive for your dog to do as you wish.

Now, it is possible to move the treat to show the dog what we want him to do and then offer the treat as a reward to thank the dog for doing it.

The Routine is Simple When Training any Command:

• 1. Tell your dog what to do
• 2. Move the treat so the dog can work out what you want him to do
• 3. When the dog follows your instructions, praise him/her and offer the treat as a reward.

Sit Command

• 1. Move the treat backwards over your dog's muzzle. Aim right between his/her eyes and between his/her ears and your dog will look up to follow the treat. Keep the treat very close to the dog's head, or else he/she will jump up to grab it. As your dog moves his/her head back to look up to follow the treat, he will sit.
• 2. As soon as his/her rear hits the ground say "Good dog!," and give him/her the treat.
• 3.Once your dog is reliably following your hand into the sit position, say "Sit," as you move your hand to lure him/her.

Down Command

With your dog standing or sitting, waggle the treat in front of his/her nose and then:

• 1.Hold the treat between finger and thumb with your palm down, and move your hand straight down to the ground between the dog's forepaws and slowly push the treat towards his/her belly. Your dog's nose will go down and between his/her front feet to follow the treat. This is especially effective if you begin on a slippery surface, like a kitchen floor. At this point, he/she will either lie down or stand up.
• 2.If your dog lies down, well done. Say "Good dog," and give him/her the treat as a reward. If your dog stands up, just do it again. He/she will soon get the idea that following your hand all the way to the ground is the way to get the treat
• 3.Once your dog is reliably following your hand into the position, say "Down," as you move your hand to lure him/her.

Another method to lure your dog down is to lure him/her to crawl under your knee as you sit on the floor. Your dog will have to lie down before crawling under your knee to get the treat. Once the dog is down, keep the treat still and you will get a brilliant down-stay.

Alternatively, you may lure your dog to crawl under a coffee table. Once your dog lies down you may lure him/her with out your knee or a table as an aid.

Stand Command

Whether your dog is sitting or lying down.

• 1.Move the treat away from your dog's nose to the point where his nose would be if he/she stood up. Which of course he will do because he wants to get the treat. As soon as your dog stands, lower the treat just a tad, otherwise your dog will stand them immediately sit again.
• 2.When you dog stands say "good dog," and offer the treat.
• 3.Once your dog is reliably following your hand into the stand position, say "stand," as you move your hand to lure him/her.

Don't forget to teach your dog to stand. This is a great utilitarian command, if your dog is standing you can groom him and, of course, your veterinarian will love you for this. Also, if you teach him/her stand you will find your dog will learn sit and down commands more quickly. When ever teaching any sequence of commands, in order for the dog to really understand what each command means you have to teach at least three at a time. For example, if you just teach sit and down all he/she learns is "if I'm Sitting and they say something, lie down to get a treat." However, if you teach three at a time, and the dog is sitting, the dog doesn't know whether to lie down or stand to get the reward. And this makes the dog focus on what you say or on the hand signals you give in order to get rewarded.

Stay Command

All you have to do to teach your dog to stay is simply delay giving the treat. For example, say "Utah, sit," and hold the treat in front of the dog's nose for three seconds before offering it to him and releasing him from the command. The next time, delay giving the treat by five seconds. On successive trials, progressively increase the delay before giving the food reward each time. Solid stays will develop before your very eyes.

The power of "reward-training" is to see how many things can you get a dog to do for the prospect of just one food reward. Or how long can you get the dog to stay in the same position for a single food reward.

Practice Makes Perfect

To practice, it is a good idea to alternate the three positions, Sit, Down and Stand. Basically, these three body positions are the building blocks of training. Once you've got a dog that will quickly sit, lie down and stand you can pretty much do anything with him/her. It means you can get your dog to be calm, to focus, and to pay attention to you. Practicing any of these three positions teaches your dog to be still.

Try little training sequences, like a sequence of puppy push-ups-sit, Down, Sit, Down. See how many puppy push-ups you can get your puppy to do for just one reward, or see how many push-ups your dog can do in thirty seconds. Alternatively, Practice sequences like, Sit, Down, Sit, Stand, Down and Stand.

Most people teach Sit, Down and stand as three separate exercises. In actual fact, we are trying to teach the dog six different position changes: Sit from Stand, Down from a Sit, Sit from a Down, Stand from a Sit, Down from a Stand and Stand from a Down.

Training Sessions

Train little but often. Lengthy training sessions will probably bore you as much as they bore your dog. Keep your training sessions extremely short, a matter of a few seconds, but work with your dog many, many times each day. Try to integrate training into your regular life style and this way you will not be spending any extra time training your dog. For example train your dog every time you go into the kitchen, every time a commercial come on TV, every time you open a door for the dog. It is surprisingly easy to train your dog as much as fifty times a day with out ever deviating from your normal lifestyle.

Great Treats

There is an almost endless list of special treats at your disposal to help make dog training fast, fun and easy. And you needn't worry about your dog gaining weight as long as you are sure to give tiny little bits as rewards for good behavior. Some of the best food rewards are cold-cut turkey, cheese, peanut butter and of course, freeze dried liver bits never fail! You don't need to give a whole mouthful every time, in fact, you'll be amazed at what your dog will do for the tiniest bit of his/her favorite treat.