Five Principles of Dog Training

2. CONSISTENCY

Consistency is needed to create set habits. One of the best dog training tips is to make sure there is ongoing conditioning intended to create ritual behavior. Consistency means promptly reacting the same way to a dog’s behavior in all situations. This means whether you are cooking, cleaning, entertaining guests, preparing the kids for school, watching the big game, etc. You must keep in mind that your dog is always learning from you. Habits will not be created until a dog has displayed repeated behavior without motivation for at least thirty days. Establishing a consistent bathroom regimen for your dog is crucial, as it helps them understand when and where it’s appropriate to do their business. This means there is a window of training time to teach new behaviors and a supervision time frame to create these new behaviors as habits. Reliable, off-leash dog training cannot occur until habits are established. When you miss opportunities to influence your dog’s behavior, you will dramatically delay the whole habit-forming/off-leash training process, which is why you should begin to start training your puppy quickly and consistently.