Basic dog training is a fun and rewarding experience for both of you. It’s important to begin training your dog at an early age to get the foundations right before your puppy grows into an adult dog.
Find out how to teach your dog basic exercises in our guide.
Dogs are fast learners, and with your loving guidance, teaching life skills such as toilet training and sleep training, as well training your dog how to ‘come’, ‘sit’, ‘stay’ will nurture your relationship as well as encourage good behaviour. Well-trained dogs are less likely to stray, and generally have more freedom and fulfilling lives compared to their untrained counterparts.
Young puppies make eager pupils, so you can start with basic dog training as soon as you get them home. It’s a myth that pups need to be at least six months old before they can be properly trained – the younger they are, the easier it is to teach them. Think of them as little furry sponges, waiting to soak up all the learning you can give them!
Here you’ll find lots of advice on the basics of dog training. For more detailed and advanced dog training advice or to find a good training class, contact a professional accredited trainer.
Basic dog training top tips.
- How to get your dog’s attention (teach them their name).
- How to teach a dog to sit.
- How to teach a dog to lie down.
- Teaching your dog to stay or wait.
How to teach your dog to leave it.
If your dog is walking towards the chocolate bar you have left on the table or the medication you have dropped, can you confidently ask them to 'leave it' and be sure that they’ll know what you're asking of them?
Training your dog to leave it could save their life, so in this article we have six easy-to-follow steps.
Over the next couple of weeks, when you’re relaxing with your dog, try these steps and it won’t be long before your dog understands what you mean by the cue ‘leave it’.
Step One:
Hold a small piece of food in your fist so that your dog does not have easy access to it.
Slowly extend the food towards your dog’s nose and let them work out how they are going to get it out of your hand. They’ll probably try smelling, nibbling, or pawing at the treat.
Eventually they will back away slightly to have another think about how to best get it. They instant they make any motion to move their head away, praise them with your reward word and give them a piece of food from your other hand. It’s important that the reward comes from the other hand so your dog doesn’t learn to go back to the thing you’re asking them to leave!
Repeat this exercise a few times until your dog consistently makes the decision to take their nose away from the food and get rewarded from the other hand.
Step Two:
Now add the words ‘leave it’ while your dog is in the act of moving their head away. This builds up an association between the cue and the action.
Repeat this process a number of times. It doesn't matter how long it takes; every dog learns at a different pace some might take a few minutes while others might take a few weeks!
Once your dog can do this reliably, ask them to ‘leave it’ as soon as you present your hand to them; then reward them (from the other hand) for moving their head away.
Step Three:
Put the food in your open palm so that your dog can see and smell it.
Show your dog the food in your open palm and ask them to ‘leave it.’ in the same quiet voice you have been using. ‘Ask’, don't shout!
If your dog tries to eat it, just close your hand. Try again, but if you need to do this more than twice in a row, go back a stage… it just means that you’ve moved on a bit too fast, and your dog needs more practice.
Step Four:
Only move on to this when your dog is reliably responding to the words in step three.
Put the food on the floor and ask your dog to ‘leave it’.
Repeat the process, rewarding your dog with a treat in your hand, not the one on the floor.
Step Five:
Put your dog on their harness and lead and walk past the treat on the floor with them.
As your dog looks at it, say ‘leave it’ without pulling on the lead, then praise and reward your dog with a treat from your hand when they walk past it. If they grab the treat, don’t try to get it out of their mouth or tell them they've done something wrong; they haven't. Go back to the previous stage where your dog was successful and practise some more until they are ready to move onto this next stage.
Step Six:
Keep repeating the exercise by placing other objects on the floor – preferably the types of things you want your dog to leave alone. Don’t practice with your dog's toys… as this can be confusing for your dog.
How to teach your dog ‘off’. If you find your dog on piece of furniture they are not allowed to be on, say ‘off’ and encourage them to come to you.
When they come ‘off,' reward them calmly with praise and a treat.
If you do have ‘no go’ places for your dog, consistency is important. If one member of the family turns a blind eye to the house rules or if you sometimes let them do it for a treat, you've had it!
If they growl at you for attempting to remove them, back off, and seek the help of a qualified behaviourist via your vet’s referral as soon as possible. Don’t attempt to tackle any aggression problems yourself, as you may make things worse.
How to teach your dog ‘let’s go’.
This cue is one to practice so that it can help you and your dog get out of a situation quickly if you need to. For ‘let’s go’ to become an automatic response,and something your dog responds to immediately, it’s going to take some practice.
Just as with any other cue, you need to start somewhere with limited distractions. You’ll need your finest treats and your finest high energy voice.
As you’re walking, without pulling on the lead, turn in the opposite direction and encourage your dog to turn and walk with you, offering praise and rewards.
You’ll need lots of energy and your dog’s favourite treats because this has to be to be something that’s instilled as an instinctive a cue for your dog to follow. Imagine you’re creating the walkies equivalent of opening a packet of biscuits. You know that the sound of that packet opening means you have your dog’s full attention. That’s the sort of response you’re looking for.
After a few turns with high energy, fun and your dog’s favourite treats, start introducing the ‘let’s go’ cue as you turn and your dog comes with you.
Practice, practice, practice. Keep it fun, keep the rewards coming and make sure your dog knows that at the sound of ‘let’s go’ they don’t need to look around, they don’t need to hesitate, they just need to be with you.
Vary the distraction levels and soon, you’ll be ready to try when you’re out and about. The reason it’s important to practice this often is so that your dog doesn’t think twice when they hear that cue. That means, for example, if you see someone in the distance that you’re not sure they’ll want to meet, you can say ‘let’s go’ and your dog is ready to turn and walk with you at speed. They don’t do it because you have the treats with you there and then, they do it because of the hundreds of times you’ve played this game before, great treats have come their way.
Always consult your vet if you have any concerns about your pet’s health, as they can recommend individual advice or treatment options. For detailed behavioural advice tailored specifically for your pet, we suggest you contact a qualified pet behaviourist.
Looking for advice on how to train an older dog, or learning more puppy training skills? Read our guides, next!