Obedience training can be one of the most useful and rewarding experiences for you and your dog. Obedience training is useful in many ways including the following:

• Establishes owners as leaders. Good leaders are calm, confident, and expect commands to be carried out.
• Gives you tools to communicate with each other and establishes a stronger relationship.
• Makes everyday life more enjoyable for you and your dog. A well-trained dog will be more welcome at your friends' houses. Also, having your dog always come means more off-leash fun.
• Provides opportunity for bonding between you and your dog.
• Provides mental exercise for your dog. This is extremely important for dogs - most dogs love to think and learn.
• Builds confidence in your dog.
• Gives you tools in case you have a problem down the road. Should your dog ever have an aggression problem, the more tools you and an animal behaviorist have to work with, the better.

There are many ways to provide obedience training for your dog including books, videos, personal trainers and group classes. It is highly recommended that you and your dog take a group class. There are many classes in the Madison area to choose from - here are a few tips for choosing a group class that will be right for your dog:

• Choose a business that uses positive reinforcement such as praise, treats, toys as reward when the dog does something right.
• Ask if you can observe a class - make sure you feel comfortable with the class and the methods being used. Owners and dogs should be having fun!
• Ask if family members can attend. It's important to get the whole family involved.

If you are adopting a puppy, socialization classes are very important. These are classes that combine obedience (no, they're not too young to start training!) and playtime so that puppies love other dogs and people. Besides, it's fun to show off your cute, new puppy.

You don't need to stop at one class - there are tons of different classes to choose from including agility, fly ball, tricks training classes and tracking.

One final note - sometimes group classes may not be the best learning environment for your dog. A new environment with lots of dogs and lots of people can be too much for some dogs. Ask your veterinarian or other animal professional if this may be the case with your dog.

A Few Training Tips

Here are a few training tips to help you get started while you are waiting to take a class:

• Use positive reinforcement as opposed to punishment. The technique of positive reinforcement rewards the dog when he does a desired behavior so that the chance he will do the behavior again increases.
• Time reinforcements so that your dog gets the reward the second she does something you liked. If your reinforcement is late, you may accidentally reinforce the wrong behavior.
• Make sure your dog decides what is motivating to him or her and then use this as the reinforcement. Reinforcements can be treats, toys, petting, going outside, going for a walk, getting to play, etc.
• Be consistent - make sure that everyone in the family knows the rules and follows them. Also, make sure the entire household knows the tricks your dog understands and how to ask for them appropriately (i.e. Does she know "down" or "lie down").
• Ask for commands in a manner that you would like them to be carried out: calmly and confidently.

Why use positive reinforcement vs. punishment

• Positive reinforcement rewards the good things your dog does while punishment may stop only the "bad" things your dog does.
• Positive reinforcement helps you establish yourself as a respectful leader. You give a command, your dog does it, then she gets her ball. This sets up your dog to work for you. Punishment (especially hitting, yanking your dog's leash) can teach your dog to fear and distrust you.
• Positive reinforcement promotes a fun relationship - this is why you got a dog, right...to have more fun in your life.

Teaching your dog to sit

Use a treat to lure your dog into a sit and then reward your dog with a treat. Move your hand with treat straight back towards your dog's tail and voila, your dog is sitting.

What should I do when my dog is getting into the garbage?

If your dog is doing something that you have decided is inappropriate, such as eating out of the garbage, use a remote correction. A common remote correction to use is an empty pop can sealed with pennies inside. You can use tape to seal the pennies inside. Let's say your dog is eating the garbage. You have your remote correction ready, along with some tasty treats. You say "No" as a verbal correction and your dog keeps on munching away as he does not know what the meaning of "No" is...yet. (If he does happen to come away from the garbage, reward him with praise and a treat.) You then throw the pop can right next to him (not at him!) and he looks up, startled. It's important that he does not see you throw the can. Now, you call your dog to you and reward him with those treats. You are his safety net from that scary can. This has taught your dog a couple of things: one, you're a safe, calm owner and two, when you say "No" something scary may fall out of the sky...in other words, your "No" is being backed up so that eventually when you say "No" your dog will immediately stop what he is doing without the can.