Whether you are the happy owner of a new dog or have had your pooch for many years now, it’s never too late to start a training program. Implementing a dog training problem is the best way to make your pup the best behaved dog on the block and strengthen the bond between the two of you.

Who’s the best person to train your dog? You guessed it – You are! Not only will your dog respond better to it’s owner, but your relationship will improve because of it.

One of the most common questions we receive is from people wondering what types of dog training they should use. We thought we would go over this quickly to help you decide what path to take.

Obedience dog training is probably the most widely known. This involves instructing you dog to carry out specific activities and commands. Some of these commands are the classic ones we have all heard such as “sit, stay and heel”.

This type of training is a good way to train your dog to act in a specific way on command. It’s a great feeling saying a command and watching your dog follow directions. It feels good to be listened to!

I included a link at the bottom of this article that you can use to learn about specific dog training programs that have been proven to work. They actually combine dog obedience training along with the next form of training we are going to look at quickly – dog behavior training.

With behavior training, you are teaching you dog how to behave in everyday situations. You are shaping their behavior in the situations where you don’t want to have to launch commands at them.

Potty training is a perfect example of this type of dog training. Your dog learns not to “do their business” in the house – they are learning this behavior and applying it to their everyday life. Teaching your dog when not to bark is another example of something people work on using behavior training.

A common mistake I see is people relying too much on one style of dog training. You want to mix it up in order to make sure you are covering all the bases.

Training your dog can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience. Your best bet is use a program that incorporates both obedience and behavior training so that you get the most out of your efforts and train your pooch to be the “good boy” (or girl!) you want it to be.