In this part of my dog training guide I attempt to outline the basics and to illustrate some of the pitfalls.

Dogs rarely recall the past or think about the future they live for now. Dogs remember things by association not by recall. Dogs are not able to reason as we do. Dogs do not think in abstract terms, it is simply action = consequence for them. As far as dogs are concerned, rewarded conduct is likely to be repeated whereas discouraged ot ignored conduct is usually avoided. This is what all dog training is based upon.

To take a simple example, if your dog sits and you promptly provide a treat or give verbal praise then he will begin to sit on his own in order to receive another reward. On the other hand, you should completely ignore your dog if he jumps up for attention, this is negative reinforcement and your dog will be disinclined to repeat it in future.

To create meaningful associations you should praise behaviours that you want to encourage and ignore behaviours that you want to discourage. It all sounds very simple doesn’t it? So why is dog obedience training such a contentious subject?

One of the problems is that you only have about two seconds to make the association between action and reward. The consequence of this is that wrong associations can easily be made by an owner who is new to dog training. As an example suppose you are teaching your dog to sit but you are a bit slow in praising him and by that time he is standing up again, then what you have done is reinforced the stand up rather than the sit. Another example would be to come home frrom work and find that your dog has messed on the carpet. You pull your dog back to the mess, rub his nose in it saying ‘Bad Dog’ and then push him out of the back door. All you have done is taught your dog that going to the toilet is bad.

Another problem is that in the home environment a dog can have too many masters and can end up totally confused by conflicting associations and inconsistent training methods. A dog should only have one master and one trainer.

The basics of dog obedience training have been explained in this dog training guide. They are simple on paper but not so easy to carry out. However, understanding the fundamentals will always be of help when using specific dog training routines.

Go to www.TrainMyOwnDog.com to see more articles on dog obedience training.