Teach exercises always in a positive way
By training positively the dog learns fastest and he is open to learn. If a dog is taught under pressure, coercion or with corrections, he will learn less quickly. This because he is afraid to make mistakes.
Positive means that it must be fun for the dog. Therefore, we always use rewards for the dog during the learning process. A dog will therefore always have to be motivated during training to want to get his reward. The reward can be for example a piece of food or a ball. If for some reason there is no motivation, it is not wise to start training.
Positively reinforce the desired behavior
By always positively reinforcing the desired behavior directly in the beginning, the dog learns very quickly. A dog needs about 1,000 to 1,500 repetitions to fully understand what is intended. These repetitions are necessary to lay a good foundation for a particular exercise. This seems like a lot, but especially by using food, this number of repetitions is quickly reached.
A common mistake is to immediately postpone the reward in the early stages of learning an exercise. Only when the dog clearly understands what he needs to do to get his reward, can we expand the exercise in small steps. By training positively, the dog quickly learns all kinds of exercises and he also learns the corresponding commands. After a while, of course, you do not need to reward all the time. This is because the commands in combination with the desired behavior have been learned positively.
