Owners are not the only ones that get frustrated during training. Long or repetitive sessions can also be tedious for the dog. A bored dog usually stops paying attention and will have a harder time learning. "Keeping the training sessions short, from 15 seconds up to five minutes a session, and practicing many of these sessions throughout the day is much better than doing one or two long sessions everyday," says Owen. "Introducing new learning experiences that keep a dog’s interest and build a dog’s excitement in learning itself is very important. This happens when you link a dog’s natural tendencies or breed instincts with new behaviors: retrieving for retrievers, pulling wagons or you on skates for northern breeds, 'hunting' for toys and food treats for all dogs, etc."
If you focus on making the session a fun activity instead of a chore, dogs will pick up on tricks faster. Some breeds are more prone to boredom than others, but to be safe, concentrate on making the training session as dynamic as possible.
Rewards are also a big part of training. These include physical rewards (treats) as well as plain praise. "Use EVERY single reward that a dog wants as a reward including walks, food, attention, games, etc.," says Millman. "Use your voice as a reward. Dogs react to verbal praise, body movement, running, changes in direction as fun 'games'.”
Mistake #4: Being Ambivalent
"Consistency is very important in training," says Millman. "If, at the beginning, of teaching a new cue, sometimes you say 'Come' and other times you say 'Come over here' you can cause confusion. On the other hand, dogs can understand the meaning of numerous physical and verbal cues to mean the same thing. It is important to teach one cue and then add more later."
Confusing your dog will lead to failure. When you stick to a specific command or word, your dog is likely to grasp the concept better. "It all has to do with the memory process," says Owen. "Repetition forms a 'grove' of sorts in our brain which allows information to flow and connect. The deeper the groove, so to speak, the easier it is for the information we’ve stored through repetition to be accessed."