How to Train Your Dog With Love

Dogs respond to two things: You and food, and I'm not always sure in what order. My Goldie would do anything to please me. My boxer would do anything for a treat. The one thing I've learned over the years is that dogs are trained best with firm discipline, good treats and love. Try the following:

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Dog treats (I personally recommend Charlie Bears)
• Patience
• Kindness. A beaten dog is not what you want (though a good smack with a newspaper is not out of line once in a while).

1. Do not train your dog with fear. You may get obedience, but a cowering dog is not what you probably want.
2. Reward positive behavior. I trained my dogs with little treats (mostly Charlie Bears, but it does not matter). They know that whenever they come in the house, they will get a treat. Same on numerous other occasions, but always and only when they do what is expected of them.
3. When they misbehave or do not obey, I (you'll love this) growl at them and order them to come. Their basic commands, btw, are "go," which means they can take off into the nearest field, and "come," which means show up right away and heel.
4. Never hit your dog. They always respond better to positive feedback.
5. When my dogs behaved, they got treats. When they didn't listen, they did get yanked around with a choke collar occasionally. Still, overall, I found that even a stubborn boxer responded best to patience and treats (though firm growl from me worked wonders when warranted).
6. If you must strike your dog (such as when he or she runs across a busy street and there is no time for patient second-chances training, yell loud and hit the dog with a leash or newspaper, never your hand.
7. Train consistently and often. I walk my nine-year-old Golden Retriever and four-year-old Boxer twice a day, for two miles morning and night. We take the same route, use no leashes, and they consistently respond to voice commands or just circumstances. (For example, we walk in the country, and when they see a car coming, they both look at me and then fall into heel position, my Boxer on the left and my Goldie on the right. Keep in mind that this has taken years to achieve, but the key has always been consistency.