The detractors of positive dog training argue that how can you use it when your dog does something wrong? However it really can work even in this case. You simply issue a command to stop what your dog is doing (i.e. down if the dog is jumping up) and reward it when it happens.

The reason positive dog training is so effective is that the dog quickly learns which actions means he gets treats. It’s human nature to want to punish a dog after it does something wrong, but in reality this only causes confusion as the dog won’t know what it has done wrong. If you come home to find a mess in the house because of the dog then punishing him won’t do any good. He simply can’t relate the punishment to the earlier action.

That leads to an important point – always give the treat or reward immediately after the correct action to make sure your dog associates the treat with that behaviour.

Remember when dogs to misbehave it is usually to get your attention. If this happens, just ignore the dog until it stops and then turn your attention back to it. It won’t take long for the dog to realise what you want.

Positive Dog Training is focuses on making training fun for your dog and for you. This way you won’t get frustrated, and the dog won’t get confused by being reprimanded when it makes a mistake.

So what are the advantages of positive dog training? Well from an owners point of view it is usually much more effective than other methods, it helps to build a loving relationship between the dog and owner and is generally a lot less stressful! Using positive reinforcement can also be a lot more fun for the owner and the dog.

From the dogs point of view, positive training means that training is a much more relaxed process than before. Usually a relaxed dog in an environment where he or she feels safe is better for training, so this is a definite advantage. Dogs also have a long memory, and if punished repeatedly by owners it can damage the long term relationship.

Positive dog training concentrates on reinforcing good behaviour through various methods. This can be something simple such as praise of stroking the dog, or a tangible reward such as a treat. The idea is to use the incentives to start with to get the dog to learn, and then gradually reduce the rewards until the dog does it without needing them.

Not everyone agrees that positive dog training is an effective method. Some of its opponents state that the training works well in an enclosed environment, but the dog has no incentive to stick to the training where there are distractions and when no treat is given.

I think that if performed correctly, positive dog training can be a very effective way to train your dog. Like any training, it needs to be practiced in an enclosed and safe environment to begin with and then moved into places where there are more distractions. This site will focus almost 100% on positive training methods, so I suggest you take a look around and see what you find!