A dog is the best companion in the world and a great source of affection. No matter how dear your dog is to you, it has to be well trained with good habits and discipline through obedience training. Discipline in a dog need not be achieved by being harsh or strict; it can be done through love, affirmation and affection. Train your pet dog to be obedient and listen to you. There are many important lessons a dog learns from obedience training like coming when called and house breaking. A dog develops behavior problems when it is not taught how to behave or when the dog is upset.

Training a dog is an art and there are specific ways to do it. You cannot just tell a dog and expect it to follow what you say. Below are some points that are a primer for you before actually training your dog.

• Do not dominate your dog by giving him commands or being strict with him. Initially every dog misbehaves and at this point just cut your dog some slack. You know your dog best, so have reasonable expectations form your dog and do not expect him to do something extraordinary.
• Always heap praise on your dog and giving him a reward is your choice. However we suggest that you reward him occasionally. Your dog will love it when you praise and it is the main reason why he is trying to perform his best when you teach him something. Praising your dog after training also as it strengthens the bond between you and your dog and improves many things like trust, obedience and affection for both of you.
• Be little liberal with your dog while training. Never punish your dog, only encourage him to do better. By punishing your dog, you are killing its spirit to do something for you. His feelings get hurt when you punish him and it will work against you in the end.
• If you have to tell him that he is wrong give him a penalty like making him repeat several times. Your dog will feel guilty. Also know to tell the difference between a mistake and deliberation. Dogs seldom do anything deliberately; they always go wrong unknowingly. If your dog is repeating the same mistake again and again try to correct him through communicating. Use penalty as a last option.

Training the dog to be obedient requires a lot of patience. Dogs are good learners and it is possible to teach them anything. People have used patience as their key and have imparted obedience training dogs to save lives and recognize different patterns of crime. Treat your dog as your own child and see how your dog rewards you back.

Consistency is another key element in training. You can’t train your dog for one day and then follow up the next week. You should dedicate some time everyday training your dog. Dogs have a short memory and forget what they have been taught very easily.