Training your dog

It’s best to start training your dog as early as possible, because it’s easier to learn good behaviour than to change bad behaviour.

You need to teach your dog the rules for getting on with people and other animals. You can train your dog yourself, or take him or her to puppy school. The first rule of training is to take it one step at a time and keep each lesson short.

Dogs get bored easily and you will get better results with short lessons repeated daily rather than longer lessons at longer intervals. When training your dog you need to be positive and patient. Remember, your dog is not doing anything wrong – it’s just learning! You should also be consistent and use the same words and tone of voice for each lesson. Don’t forget to praise your dog when it learns. And reward it with a treat or two!

It’s easy to teach your dog to sit, drop or stay.

Sit

• Position your dog facing you with their rear close to a wall or fence.
• Get your dog to focus on the treat in your hand by letting it sniff or lick it, then hold the treat closely in front of the dog before slowly moving it toward your dog’s head and along the back of its neck.
• While concentrating on the moving treat, your dog will move its head and rock its body backwards and then sit down. As your dog does this firmly say 'sit'.
• You should instantly reward your dog for sitting by giving it the treat to eat and praising it for a job well done.

Drop

• While your dog is in the ‘sit’ position, hold a treat just below its nose.
• As it reaches for the food, move the treat slowly to the ground and away from your dog along the ground. As your dog moves toward the treat, firmly say ‘drop’.
• If your dog responds by moving to the ground and lying down, praise it and reward it with the treat. If not, try it again.

Repeat the process until your dog ‘drops’ on your command and without the need for the treat.

When in the ‘drop’ position, your dog is more submissive – it’s harder for it to bark, to be dominant or show aggression to other dogs.

Stay

Training your dog to respond instantly to your voice and ‘stay’ on your command makes it easier to manage – especially on walks and in public.

• Before starting, hide all food rewards and have your dog facing you and steady in the ‘sit’ or ‘drop’ position on its training lead.
• Stand on the lead, take a step back and firmly say ‘stay’ while motioning your open hand toward your dog.
• If your dog remains steady for 5 seconds, step forward, praise and reward it.
• Continue this process, gradually increasing the time you order to ‘stay’ and the distance you’re away from it (eventually disappearing from your dog’s view).