Dos and Don’ts of Dog Training
Having a pet dog can be a source of great joy for any person, as the companionship and sense of fun demonstrated by “man’s best friend” makes them wonderful, loyal pets. If you want the dog to behave in a respectful, friendly way it is worth training it to at least some degree, so that it does not transgress in terms of behavior and ruin what would otherwise be a lovely friendship. On the other hand, you do not want to train the personality out of your pooch. Much of the enjoyment of having a pet dog is in the fact that it has its own individual foibles and habits.
It is therefore important to pay attention to how you go about training a dog. There are things you should and should not do:
DO reward your dog for getting things right. This is how they learn that their behavior is good.
DO NOT simply reward a dog out of habit. If it gets something half right, or makes a half-hearted effort, and still gets rewarded, its incentive will disappear.
DO speak to your dog in a bright tone when training it; it will react to the inflection of your voice.
DO NOT use a scolding tone to see how the dog reacts. Yes, some dogs look extremely cute when they feel guilty, but if they don’t know why then it’s unfair to them.
DO enjoy training your dog. And see to it that they enjoy it too, because life is too short for futile fussing.