Basic Dog Training Online Course

Before you dive into the actual work of training your dog, it is important that you think through the goals you want to achieve with your training.  Please read through the following steps and complete the associated exercises in each step to help you arrive at goals and expectations for your dog.

Step 1 – Define Who Your Dog is

You need to have a base level of understanding about your dog to be able to set realistic goals and expectations.  To do that, start by answering these questions below.  You can print this worksheet which contains these questions.

• What is your dog's breed or mix of breeds? Use a best guess if you are not sure.
• What is the age of your dog? Under 6 months=puppy;  6-24 months=adolescent (sometimes up to 36-months); 24-36 months and up=adult.
• Based on their breed and age, what are the common characteristics you should expect? Hopefully you did your research before getting your dog, but if not, please research your dog's breed(s) now.
• What is your dog's background/history? Is your dog from an experienced reputable breeder, a backyard (inexperienced) breeder, a rescue, a shelter, a pet store/puppy mill dog, other?  Be sure to get a detailed background if possible about your dog and what they are like from whomever you are getting your dog.
• Are they fed a high quality diet, either a raw dog food diet or a high quality commercial brand? See our Resource Guide for Making Healthy Food Choices For Your Dog. To learn how to feed raw, see our  Raw Dog Food Preparation Video & Guide.
• Do they receive proper physical exercise daily based on their breed and age?
• Do they receive proper mental stimulation daily based on their breed and age? These are opportunities to use their brain to learn and solve puzzles/problems.

Be honest in answering these questions because they will help form the basis for developing realistic goals and expectations, which we discuss below.

Step 2 –  Well-trained vs Well-behaved

When setting your goals and expectations, keep in mind what you really want. Do you want a well-trained dog? Do you want a well-behaved dog? Keep in mind that those two have some similarities but are different. You can have a well-trained dog who is not terribly well-behaved. You might have a pretty well-behaved dog who actually has very little formal training. What's the difference?

A well-behaved dog is one who makes good choices on his own without always being told what to do. If a dog does what he is told, then he is probably a well-trained dog who, for example, sits for greetings when told to do so. However, a well-behaved dog will make the choice to greet politely without having to be reminded or told what to do. Likewise, while a well-trained dog might heel when told, a well-behaved dog will walk nicely on a loose leash without needing frequent reminders.

While you certainly might want a well-trained dog who listens and does as you ask, you should be working toward a well-behaved dog as well. If your dog does what he’s told but makes poor choices when left to his own devices, then you will still encounter many problems. You certainly don’t want to have to be telling your dog what to do every minute of the day!

Our training is designed to help you not just achieve a well-trained dog, but one that is also well-behaved.  We can tell you in our experience, all families that come to us for group classes or private training want a well-behaved dog. However, most other training programs only focus on a well-trained dog.

Step 3 – Your Goals

In this step, you will set your goals for your dog.

Think of your goals along these dimensions:

• What do you want for a well-trained dog, as we described above, and what does that look like to you?
• What do you want for a well-behaved dog, as we described above, and what does that look like to you?

Think of activities or situations you will find yourself in with your dog.  Below are common ones people have for their dogs:

• Minimal barking when other people visit
• Greeting politely (and not jumping) when you walk in the door, when guests come over
• Waiting politely to be fed meals
• Paws and noses off the countertops and tables
• Staying off furniture
• Walking nicely on a loose leash
• Coming when called
• Hanging out quietly when you are on the phone or working at your desk
• Only chewing on appropriate chew toys and items
• Being relaxed and comfortable when traveling in a vehicle
• Being able to be off leash at dog parks or hikes but making sure they stay close and respond when asked

Write those goals down in the same worksheet that you already used to complete Step 1.

Step 4 – Putting it all together….Define realistic expectations based on your dog and your goals

Completing the information in the first three steps and writing it down will help you develop realistic expectations for your dog.

Look at the goals you listed. Now consider them in relation to your questions answered above. While these might be your ultimate goals, do you need to set some smaller goals for the short-term? For example, one of your goals might be that your dog sit politely until given permission to greet when visitors arrive at your home. However, you currently have a 6 month old Golden Retriever who has just started training. He LOVES everyone and cannot sit still for more than two seconds. Although sitting politely might be your long-term goal, you might need a shorter term goal that is more realistic for your dog at this stage.

When you go through these steps and write everything down, hopefully it will help you to make sense of your goals for your dog and determine what is currently realistic based on their background, prior training, and your ability to meet their needs.