quick tips
At the vet
The most important thing to teach your dog is to be calm at the vets office, so touch your dog every where, open their mouth, rub between their toes, ears, nose. Touch them in the stomach area and say the word “Medicine” or what ever word you want to use. The main goal is to teach them to stay still so they can be examined.
Teach anything!
You can teach your dog anything you want. I taught my dog that a thick piece of cardboard is a wall to keep him from running out of the kitchen. The baby gate on the other side of the kitchen he crashes into it all the time but he won’t go near the cardboard wall. (My dog is a two year old Rottweiler.)
Crates are great
Crate train your dog, once your dog understands what the crate is they will be the happiest dog around. Some people think that a crate is a negative environment. But remember all dogs are pack animals and in the wild they live in dens. They feel safe in small places.
The nose knows
Out of the five senses a dog’s main perception of the world is scent. To your dog the world is millions and millions of smells. Once you train your dog to understand the command “smell” you as an owner will be able to teach your dog to identify anything you want.
Doggie Vocab
A dog has the ability to identify a wide vocabulary of words. Whenever a new toy is introduced to a dog give it a specific name. Repeat the name several times after you have given the command “smell”. Before you know it all of your friends will be impressed with how smart your dog is by being able to retrieve each toy by name.
Potty Break
If you want to train your dog to go to the bathroom in the same specific place, put your dog on a leash and take it where you want it to go. Be consistent about not letting it wander to other places in your yard. Give your dog a command for “go to the bathroom” and once it does go, give your dog lots of praise and affection.