Favourite Training Tip - Page 3

All good/great ones!

Before corrections take place make sure your K9 understands what is expected.

When the K9 does not adhere/obey/follow the command then three (whatever is at task) acts in succession of doing it right. Before moving on.

K9s have bad days just as us....Just as athletes.....Just as Pro athletes.

Always end on a positive note/outcome. Dog could be having a bad day, you could be having a bad day.....If everything is falling apart pick a simple task, do it right, succesful. Call it a day and come back tomorrow with a fresh/new outlook.

For me....... Service Dogs; This dog is more important than you..... he saves lives....treat him better than you want to be treated and he is your best friend!

*BUMP*

Any more folks willing to contribute their favourite bit of hard earned training advice?

Before attempting to teach anything, you must have the dog's full attention, or you're wasting your time.

Practise this at home, gradually adding distractions, and it will eventually carry over to the training venue.

Great stuff!!! Love the one with "look who is on the end of the leash"...that was priceless!


Know when to stop, shut up and walk away.... (kind of like anti nagging rule)

Don't get frustrated.  Worst thing you can do.  Your dog will stop learning. 

When you find yourself getting frustrated, take a deep breath, smile to yourself, ask your dog to do something it knows how to do, reward like crazy and stop for the day.

Always end on a positive note.

Your dog will figure it out in it's time.

One day I was teaching my dog something knew.  He wasn't getting it, but I kept at it.  I kept a good attitude even though he never picked it up that day.  3 days later, I came back to it and he nailed it. Taught me that his learning process involves him thinking it through in his own way.

One thing I was taught by several experienced people, that hasn't been mentioned yet but kinda follows
from a couple of these posts:

If you  are feeling ill, DON'T TRAIN THAT DAY.

If you start training with a raging headache or your back hurts or something like that,  you may think
your attention is fully on the dog, but it isn't.  And it can ruin not only your concentration but your
temper / tolerance levels, so you may become impatient with the dog when you should not.
It sounds fairly obvious, but if I had a financial reward every time I've heard a handler at e.g. a
weekly training class complaining they are out of sorts at that moment, but had to 'soldier on',
I would be a very rich woman today.

When my dog needs an attitude adjustment, and I am done playing games, I tell him, "OK, now you've done it. That's going to cost you."

And then I grab the toe nail clipper and clip one of his toe nails. Whatever bad doggy thing he was doing is now in the ancient past, and the beast is humbled.

This doesn't work for everybody, LOL

write down your daily goals, but change if its not working out. keep a log.
quit before your dog is ready to stop.
keep learning new things fun.

Find a word that works as an immediate praise and as soon as your dog does well, say that word until he knows what it means. In time it works better than food or a toy. Taken from ....from Mike Ellis.