Most dog trainers believe that the best way to train any dog is using a method called positive reinforcement training. For those who are doing home dog obedience training this process simply entails using positive reinforcement for good behavior and ignoring bad behavior.

A dog’s natural instinct is to please her owner. Positive reinforcement uses this instinct and allows your dog to learn what it is you want her to do. This type of training has more meaning to your dog because she is able to learn what you want her to do using her own mental capacity.

Here are some quick tips you can use to implement this training method at home:

1. Pick good rewards. You need to keep your dog’s interest level up in what you are doing. A pat on the head or saying “good girl” will lose a dogs interest pretty quickly. Use tempting rewards such as food treats and physical affection to reinforce your dog’s good behavior. Dog trainers call these primary incentives and dogs are very responsive to these.

2. Timing is important. Good behavior and obedience needs to be rewarded the moment it happens. This way your dog begins to understand what behavior is being rewarded. This is where clicker training can be used. Using a small metal device that emits a click when pushed you click the clicker the moment your dog follows a command successfully. To reinforce the meaning of the clicker a treat should also be offered.

3. Use the same commands consistently. If you want your dog to sit don’t use “sit” one time, “sit down” the next, or “down” later on. This is confusing for a dog because they learn through repetition. Pick a command and stick with it for each behavior you desire.

If you are training your dog at home you will need to learn to reward your dog in a meaningful fashion. If you know what your dog likes as far as physical attention and treats you will know what works as far as rewards go. Some dogs prefer edible treats while others enjoy playing with a favorite toy.

If you are using food treats for your home dog training reinforcement you need to be aware that many dog trainers have found that dogs actually respond better if they receive treats in a more sporadic fashion. Apparently it keeps their attention better because they remain interested in what you are teaching them if rewards are given intermittently.

Positive reinforcement training is a great home dog obedience training process to use because it is relatively easy. Ignoring bad behavior is the cornerstone of this method because a dog being ignored is an unhappy dog. This can do more to motivate your dog to do what you ask more then just about anything else.

There are many choices when it comes to rewarding your dog with a treat for obeying your commands, and these treats make a big difference in your dog’s attitude towards you in learning new tricks, and why wouldn’t they? To get anything in life you have to give something back and dogs are no different, you help them and they’ll help you. Simple.

But what are the best rewards and treats to give your dog in times of good behavior? Well for starters you won’t be short of treats to try, the markets as it is now is full to the brim of all the fancy rewards and treats you could ever think of.

One of the favourite for dog owners is to treat their dog to homemade treats from recipes that can be found across the internet in many places.

Consumer products are also a good choice when rewarding your dog; these include chewing toys which can be very rewarding for puppies and dogs alike. Saving one of their favourite toys for when they behave well makes everything more exciting for your dog and causes them to want to perform more for this reward.

If a chew toy is not to your dogs liking then they may instead enjoy a tug toy, tug toys are good for your dog’s teeth the same as chew toys are and it enhances the relationship between you and your dog as you play with them. Be careful while using these toys as some dogs may think of this game as good behaviour and will start tugging on trousers or other annoying or destructive things.

The last toys I am going to talk about are the throwing toys; these are good to calm your dog down when they are over active or if you just want to reward your dog with quality playing time for their good behavior. These toys range from a simple tennis ball to special durable dog Frisbees and help you to react with your dog wile also training playing the ‘fetch’ game.

There are lots more dog toys available, probably at your local pet shop. It is a good idea to keep in mind what textures and current toys your dog likes to play with or chew before making your choice but as long as your dog enjoys it, it can be used as a good reward and training method.