Here are my top ten insider, dog expert training tips

These common sense, dog expert tips are from various sources but have one thing in common: They are true and work!

Sandwich difficult exercises between easier ones.

Always finish a training session on a high point and stop training when the dog has the most fun. He’ll be keen to start up again. He also remembers if training is a drag.

Vary your rewards and attention to get your dog curious to find out what happens next. Get him addicted to you.

A dog expert advice that is important but not as easy to understand by the average dog owner is to pay attention to associations the dog forms, become classical conditioned and contribute to unwanted behaviors. For example cues that send your dog into an over-aroused frame of mind, such as a leash, car keys, putting your hikers on, flushing the toilet, doorbell, can opener. If your dog, for example, is triggered by you grabbing the leash, and is already charged up before you leave the house, nice loose-leash walking likely won’t happen.

A dog who pulls will do so as long as someone follows. Don’t follow.


Acknowledge good behavior or it becomes extinct. It is one of the fundamental mistakes dog experts rarely make, but many dog owners do make. If your dog doesn’t get any feedback from you, he’s in a mental vacuum and either looks for feedback from the environment or does what he feels like doing and acts like a dog.

Fast touches and patting arouses a dog. Some dogs are aroused by any hands-on handling. Soft, even strokes and cuddling are calming.

If you see something that could be a problem for your dog, don’t focus on it. It’ll get your dog’s interest and he will focus on it as well, and becomes aroused, or reactive and less attentive to you.


Don’t begin to do distance training if you don’t get reliable behavior when you are close.

Don’t expect obedience around distractions if your dog isn’t obedient without distractions.

Something that not only dog owners, but also pros and even some who advertise to be a dog expert get wrong is the failure to deal with dog problems where and how they occur. Make sure when you look for help that your dog expert doesn't make that mistake. For example: If a dog is food bowl aggressive, hand feeding won’t make a difference – work with a food bowl. Or, if a dog is on-leash aggressive, don’t train off-leash good behavior. Work while the dog is on-leash or you will never have good on-leash behavior.