Dog Training Tip: Your Dog Will Always Move To Seek Pleasure & Avoid Displeasure

Quite simply, your dog is going to try very hard to do the things that are going to earn her a reward, and not to do the things that are going to earn her a correction. Sound obvious? It is, but you'd be surprised at how often we send mixed messages to our dogs!

Here's an example: Have you ever walked down the street and encountered a dog who lunged or growled at you from the end of her leash? If so, then you know that the most common reaction from the person at the other end of the leash is to pet and soothe and sweet-talk the dog. Now that's a classic crossed-up signal, since it rewards the dog for her antisocial behavior; a more appropriate response would be a good sharp vocal and physical correction (more on those to come). We're all guilty of that kind of hypocrisy now and then, but it's important not to make it a habit, or you'll have an awfully confused dog to show for it!

Educating your dog means becoming an authority figure to her and earning her respect and allegiance as you teach what she needs to know. Before you dive right into her lessons, stop and think about your own education. Think about the teachers you loved and the teachers you hated. Chances are, the ones you adored and respected were the fair, calm ones who made you enjoy what you were learning, and the ones you loathed were the short-tempered, arbitrary ones who drilled you on your lessons without ever cracking a smile. Don't forget them as you educate your dog, because great teachers of kids and great teachers of canines have a whole lot in common.

Dog education takes time. If some videotape or book tells you that you can have a perfectly trained dog after one or two weeks, don't believe it! First of all, dog training isn't something you can do once and then forget: Even if your dog can learn everything she needs to know in a week, she's not going to retain much of it if you don't keep practicing with her. Expect that your new pup will need several weeks to understand the rules of your house and the new words you'll teach her. Dogs learn at very different rates, and by the way, slower doesn't necessarily mean dumber. Sometimes the brightest dogs are also the most stubborn, so keep the faith and know that every dog, no matter how resistant, can be educated.