Back To Basics

Just a quick issue today. And if you've already read my free report 'Top Ten Tips For Having An Obedient Dog' then you're not going to learn anything new in this issue I'm afraid.

"So why bother reading it?" I hear you ask.

Well, it might just serve as a reminder to make sure you're building on solid foundations.

I've recently been helping a new client tackle that age old problem of her dog not wanting to come back to her once it's running free.

Once I got to see the dog and how the owner interacted with it, it quickly became clear that it wasn't simply a case of the dog not coming when called. It was actually a case of a dog that was being treated inconsistently in all areas of its life. Consequently the poor dog never knew whether it was coming or going and it had simply learnt to ignore its owner.

Part of the problem was that its owner was making very poor use of her voice. She wasn't at all expressive in the way she spoke to the dog - everything was monosyllabic.

She wasn't very good at remembering to praise the dog when it did the right thing, and sometimes when she _did_ remember to praise it her timing was awful. So by the time she actually delivered the praise she'd completely missed the moment and the dog was no longer doing the good thing the praise had been directed at.

She was also very indecisive about whether or not to correct the dog, and if she did attempt to correct it, she did so in a very half hearted fashion. It was as if she knew there wasn't a lot of point bothering because the dog would only ignore her anyway.

So we had to go right back to basics and start at the beginning.

If you've been reading this newsletter for any length of time - or if you've read my book "Dog Training Blueprint To Success" - you'll know how important it is to get the basics right.

• you must build a great rapport with your dog. It must adore you and adore being with you
• you must be 100% consistent. Either the dog _is_ allowed to do something or it's not. No turning a blind eye to some misdemeanor if you don't think you've got the time or enthusiasm to deal with it
• use tone of voice so when you're talking to the dog you put as much expression as possible into what you say
• be lavish with your praise. Every time the dog does what you want make sure you let it know how delighted you are
• you must have split second timing. The very moment the dog does what you want you must praise it _immediately_. And by the same token if it's done something you don't want you must correct it immediately

When I went over each of these points with this new client it was clear that she'd never consciously thought about any of them. Everything she'd done with the dog up to this point had been very haphazard.

Once it began to sink in that there's an actual _method_ involved in training a dog, it was as if a light switched on inside this lady's head.

Suddenly she was able to see that having a well behaved dog isn't something that just happens by accident. She understood that she had the ability to make it happen.

All she had to do was to communicate effectively with her dog exactly what she wanted it to do.

I'm going to say that last sentence again because it's _so_ important. "All she had to do was to communicate effectively with her dog exactly what she wanted it to do."

That, my friend, encapsulates dog training. No matter how simple or how complicated a task you're trying to teach your dog it still applies. If you will only take the trouble to communicate effectively with your dog exactly what you want it to do, you will have no problems.

Make sure you're following all the basic principles of consistency, tone of voice, praise, timing etc. They must become so ingrained that you never have to think about it, but just do all the correct things automatically.

I give you my word that if you will do these simple things then training a dog becomes like childs play. Follow the path I set out in my book "Dog Training Blueprint To Success" and you'll see what I mean.

Recommended reading "Dog Training Blueprint To Success".

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