Always end your training session on a positive note...

The message we send our dog in training is one of the most important ways he will relate to us. Many people make a common mistake in dog training and that is putting away a dog that is acting up or not getting the lesson we are trying to teach.

To start with, remember that a dog will imprint on the strongest thing he has experienced. For example, if a dog growls at another dog and we grab him tell him NO and he keeps growling and we then put him inside the house or in another room or back in the car, the very last lesson or experience he had was his acting up, and getting away with it. But we didn't let him get away with it, we may say. That is the human side, the dog's mind sees it very differently. Whatever the last thing the dog did, especially if it may seem frustrating, is what he takes as his lesson. That is why, during training, we always end on a good note.

Many times when I am teaching a new behavior, I make certain that I start with something the dog knows, then work into a new behavior, and if I will end the session on the new behavior, I make certain that the dog did it right before we end. What if he doesn't get it? I don't stop. I continue to work with him until he does, and when he does I make him repeat it. I will NEVER put away a dog that is confused. The confusion is what the dog will take away from the lesson, and that is never a good thing.

Remember also that in training complex actions to dogs, we break them apart and teach them step by step. I once knew a trainer who specialized in scent detection dogs. Her ability to break things up would give the dog a fun lesson while learning complex behaviors, it didn't matter what the dog was learning, learning was FUN. Learning should always be fun for the dog. Whether we are teaching our dog complex actions such as Schutzhund, SAR or just teaching them to sit, it's all the same to the dog... keep it fun and always end it on a positive note. If the dog requires a correction in a lesson, we never end there. Every session either ends on a positive performance of the behavior we taught or a game of fetch or tug.

The last thing you want your dog to remember is that the training session was fun. This way he will be happy to start training again. When training becomes a chore for your dog, it will become a nightmare for you.