Having a Sense of Humor About my Dogs Training Helps, A Lot

Trust me when I tell you there are two things you must remember when you are training your dog, these are:

*Patience, never get in a hurry when you are training your dog, I guarantee he will pick up on your anxiety and wont learn a thing.

*Keep your sense of humor in tact; it will really come in handy during those unexpected training blurbs!

What exactly is a training blurb? Well lets see, its the time when you are teaching your dog to fetch a ball and he brings back the neighbors gardening gloves, with your neighbor still in them.

Or housebreaking him and you believe it has been successful, until you walk into the laundry room and realize that he has learned to hide his mistakes, in the laundry pile. These are training blurbs, and you must maintain a sense of humor about them.

You just continue with whatever lesson you are working on, or go back to the one he didnt really learn the first time, like being housebroken.

Never loose your temper with him when he makes a mistake, it just reinforces the bad behavior, and he will pick up on the anger and frustration you are feeling. If you get mad and chase him, he probably thinks you are playing.

If you take away something he has chewed and give him a rawhide chew, he has learned that by chewing up your favorite shoe, he can get a treat.

Dogs are much smarter than most people give them credit for, and like children they are very literal, we need to be aware of this when we are training them, and keep a sense of humor and patience all the time, even during the worst of training blurbs.