When I was young my best buddy was my Border Collie.  We did everything together.  She was with me when I rode my horse & in my stall when I was doing barn chores.  She was smart and learned tricks and various helpful things fast.  She’d open gates for me and carry items to the barn.  She also knew when I was sad.  One time I was sitting on a step crying and she came over and put her head on my lap.  She was trying to console me, and it worked. Dogs are by nature Pack animals and to her I was her leader.  Dogs go by scent, body language, and energy and when I look back I could see all of that in her. Out of instinct I must have been training her right.  I was a young girl and was never mean or shouted at her.  When training her I would reward her when she did something right with either a small treat and later with my affection by patting her, or hugging her and always telling her “good girl”.

Have you ever seen someone with their dog on a leash and the dog was out in front of them pulling?  You know who the leader is there!  It doesn’t take long to train a dog to walk on a leash correctly.  The more you pull, the more they pull.  Stop till the dog is calm & beside you.  Be sure their collar is right behind their head.  Start walking with your body held up straight & with a loose leash.  If the dog starts going too fast, give a slight upward pull and then loosen, and then start walking again. You might have to stop more often to calm the dog down.

Just like the dog trainer Brandon McMillan says, the first things a dog needs to learn are:  sit, stay, down, come, off, heal and no.  These are commands a dog can learn easily and both of you will get along much better. If your dog doesn’t know how to sit, have a small treat in your hand higher than his head.  Then move your hand toward the back of his head while saying the word “sit”.  Normally a dog will sit and if he does, reward him for this behavior.  Do this over and over while still saying “sit”.  It won’t take long before just the word is needed for him to respond.

Teaching your dog basic things is fun and easy and both of you will enjoy each other.  Just remember, dogs are like mirror images of you.  If you are a mean, crabby person, you’ll have a mean crabby dog that will get along with no one.