All too often, well-meaning dog owners mistakenly walk into one of these dog obedience training traps. These seemingly insignificant acts can have a huge impact on your dog’s behavior and drastically delay training. Unfortunately, this often leads to the uneducated owner becoming frustrated at the apparent lack of progress, and not realizing that he is the cause of the setbacks, he assumes the dog is “untrainable” and gives up.

To help you avoid similar mistakes, I’ve compiled the following list of the 10 most common dog training mistakes.

Number 10 – Waiting too long, too soon

My personal dogs sit, stay, lie down, and come on command, both with verbal and hand signals. They respect their boundaries and take all their cues from me. Even then, they sometimes have bugs.

It took time to get to this point, and it requires ongoing training and practice to maintain this level of obedience. Understand that your dog will need time to learn. Be patient.

Number 9 – Introducing corrections too soon

Dog training has several phases: Learning, Correction, and Distraction (sometimes called “testing”). The first phase, Learning, is where the dog learns the meaning of the command. He also learns that good things happen to him when he performs the act that the command requires.

If the dog does not comply with the command, many dog ​​owners will issue a correction. This impairs the progress of the dog. As another dog trainer once wrote, “It’s like hitting a kindergartner with a ruler every time he makes a mistake in the alphabet.”

Is that a fair way to teach? Of course not! Yet many dog ​​owners do just that…to the detriment of their dogs.

Number 8 – Give up

Dog training requires time, patience, and perseverance. No dog is “untrainable”. A plateau, or even a regression, in your dog’s learning is probably your fault. You made a mistake somewhere, and it was most likely inconsistent. Which brings us to number 7.

Number 7 – Inconsistency

Dogs are creatures of habit. Anyone who has allowed a dog to go to the bathroom in the wrong place, even once, can attest to that. As such, when you train a dog to behave the way you want, you must constantly make him behave that way. He so he will learn.

If you’re not consistent with your puppy eliminating in the same spot (that you’ve chosen), he won’t learn that he has to eliminate in that spot.

If you issue a command when you are not in a position to enforce it and allow your dog to ignore it, you have taught him that he does not need to listen. That you can choose when to obey and when not to obey. That’s why I cringe when I hear a dog owner yell, “COME ON!” to his disobedient dog. Every time he ignores them, and they allow it, they are simply reinforcing the bad behavior. So let’s just reinforce good behavior, shall we?

Number 6 – Reinforce bad behavior

Affection is a reward. Whatever his dog is doing at the time you reward (or correct) it is what he will associate it with.

So if your dog is anxious, you think you’re comforting him, he thinks you’re rewarding his anxious state of mind. He starts barking at the postman, you think you’re petting him to say, “Okay,” but he thinks you’re saying, “Good barking!”

Do you see where I’m going?

Number 5 – Lack of practice

Sure, training your new pup is fun…at first. Since patience and consistency are the hallmarks of a good training program, dog training can quickly become tedious and boring.

But it doesn’t have to be. The fact is, once you get past the initial learning phase, you can keep training your dog while he does everyday things. I like to use the NILIF method, or Nothing In Life Is Free. This is a simple training method that is all about making your dog win everything. ALL.

He wants to eat? She has to sit down, whatever before you set her plate down. Do you want to go out? The same thing. Wants to enter? You guessed it! The same thing. Do you want honey? Are you already noticing?

Number 4 – Correction for good behavior

Remember what we said in number 6 about reinforcing bad behavior? Well, the opposite is also true.

When you reward or correct a dog, it will associate the reward or correction with the immediately preceding act. So, in other words, don’t call your dog just to punish him when he arrives. This will teach the dog NOT to come when called.

The same applies to any behavior. We want to reward and praise your dog for behaving, even if he did something wrong 2 seconds before.

Number 3 – The wrong state of mind

It goes without saying, but unfortunately some people don’t get it. Dogs communicate through body language. They can read you like a book. Since you are the leader of their pack, they take their cues from you. If you’re anxious, so are they. If you’re excited, so are they. If you are calm and confident, they will be too.

To keep a dog healthy and happy during training, we need to express calm and confident energy. We do this through body language.

Number 2 – Not Enough Exercise

Dogs are, by design or by evolution (take your pick), used to walking. A lot. They walk to find water. They walk to hunt for food. They walk just for the sake of walking.

So, are you surprised that your dog is bored of being cooped up in your apartment or backyard all day? This excess energy, frustration, and boredom will manifest itself in some way; more often than not, in a way that you are not happy with.

Walk your dog every day. This provides exercise and helps establish and maintain his position as pack leader, which leads us to…

Number 1: Don’t establish dominance as leader of the pack

Dogs are not furry little four-legged humans. They are dogs. Animal pack. To connect with them on their level, we need to understand the mechanics of pack dominance. Not establishing this clear hierarchy, or allowing your dog to become the leader while you assume a submissive role, is often the root cause of behavior problems.

There are many subtle ways to establish dominance that don’t require “alpha rolls” and other physically aggressive displays. Simple obedience training is the first step to becoming the pack leader, just like walking your dog every day. The NILIF method is excellent for exerting control over all aspects of your dog’s life and thereby establishing dominance.

Awareness is key to avoiding these common dog training mistakes. For more great articles on dog training, dog health, and all things dog, visit http://dogtraininglibrary.net