You may have noticed that I never refer to commands when talking about our training. No one likes being told what to do and I am sure you wouldn't command your best friend to go for a walk but if you ask nicely you will probably get a better result, for me it's more of a request and if they don't want to join in that's fine too.

I think the best results come from short training sessions, just a few minutes at a time but having said that training should occur constantly. Don't wait for them to do something naughty that requires correction, instead reward them for doing good. 

Example: If they are hanging around while you prepare food, ignore them and when they do give up and go and lay on their bed immediately take them a reward and before you know it they will go to their bed and wait patiently.  

By observing your dog you will notice things they can already do that you can build on.

Example: each time you see them sitting naturally say 'sit' and give them a reward or you might see them in the sphinx position so you could say 'down' and give them a reward, you'll be amazed how quickly they pick up on these words.  

I often apologise for my baby voice when posting training videos. I don't realise I am doing it until I watch them back. As embarrassing as it is I do think it is important to use a sweet encouraging voice. Remember that a dog has similar brain cognitive development as a human toddler and you wouldn't use a gruff voice to ask a child to do something and expect them to respond well. Be mindful of your body language too which is equally important and try to keep your hand signals consistent.

TRAINING SHOULD BE FUN! your dog will be excited to interact with you which helps to build your relationship too. 

We always start with the touch game, it's super easy so success and rewards come quickly for you both. Once you master this and move on to something a bit more complex it's great to be able to drop back to it at anytime to keep things fun.