A rewarding part of dog ownership is successfully training your dog. Training is an excellent way to bond with your dog and will help you build a good relationship with them. 

Whether young or old – all dogs can benefit from learning some basic commands. Our guides can help you with the basics of how to train your dog but we also recommend dog training classes, especially for more advanced methods such as clicker training.

A qualified behaviourist specialises in helping behavioural issues such as excessive barking, aggression, destructiveness and phobias. A dog training instructor helps owners train their pets, or teaches them to work with an animal trained to do a specific task.

If the basics such as sit, down, stay and leave are what you’re looking for – look no further…

What are the benefits of training my dog?

Teaching your dog basic obedience like sit, wait and coming back when called gives them the freedom to do the things they like to do, like running off lead and coming with you to meet friends and family, while being safe and under control.

Dogs are intelligent animals and most love to learn so training can be a great way of stopping them from getting bored.

How do dogs learn?

All training should be reward based. Giving your dog something they really like such as food, toys or praise when they show a particular behaviour means that they are more likely to do it again.

It’s important to find out what your dog really likes and what their favourite things are. Favourite treats are often small pieces of meat or cheese. The better the reward the more your dog will enjoy training and learning.

Top training tips

• Always start lessons for new tricks in a quiet room in your house away from any distractions
• Break training up into short but regular sessions so your dog isn’t overwhelmed
• Be patient, just like us, dogs all learn at different rates so don’t worry if your dog doesn’t pick things up straight away
• Always end with something your dog knows, so the session finishes positively
• Have fun!