Dog obedience is something that comes with a plan, a basic training plan. If you want your dog to be trained quick then you are going to have to stick to what you know, and if you do not know anything about dog obedience training, then let me clarify a couple of things for you. Mainly when should you reward your dog and when should you punish your dog.

How do I know when to reward my dog?

Believe it or not your dog wants nothing more than to please you, make you happy, protect you, but the thing is you have to teach the dog the only way that they know how to learn. So even though I know that you love your pooch to death you cannot go overboard when rewarding your puppy. Now there are several things that can be considered rewarding for dogs, like patting them on the head, giving them a treat, rubbing on there belly, even talking to them in a well mannered high pitch voice to show them praise, and they are happy.

Now what I meant by not going over board when rewarding your dog, is by only showing him attention when he is doing something good. If you are petting your dog on the couch because he is laying there like a good boy, and then gets all excited and starts jumping all over you, then stop paying him attention immediately. Just ignore him, walk or move somewhere else if you have to, your dog will eventually catch on that he is doing something that you do not want him to be doing.

This is the same basic principle of teaching your dog how to not jump on people when they walk in through the door. If you dog knows the sit command this is another way to let your dog know that you do not want him jumping all over you being all wild, you will be surprised how many uses the sit command has.

Every time that your puppy goes to the bathroom outside you need to be rewarding them somehow, trust me, even just a pat on the head will go a long way. Basically if your dog is being a good dog, then reward them, if they are just sitting there or doing nothing, then there really is no need to reward them, although when a dog is not being bad chewing stuff up then they are usually doing good, just don’t get carried away with rewarding your pooch or they will always think that they are doing what you want them to do.

How do I know when to punish my dog?

This is really quite simple, when your dog is in the act of doing something bad. If you come home and everything is ripped up to shreds, it is going to be pretty pointless to punish your dog because he is not going to know what the hell it is that he did wrong. While if you can catch your pooch in the act of chewing something up and correct them immediately, they are going to know what they were doing is wrong, and in most cases stop at once.

What are the correct ways to punish a dog?

Believe it or not all you have to do is be stern with your voice. A quick “no” or a “bad dog” will do just fine. Remember though you have to catch them in the act of doing something for the dog obedience training to be effective. What I do not want you to do is physically hurt or strike your dog. Not only does this hurt the animal, they are also not going to have a clue what they are being punished for.