They’re Mans’ best friend, one of the most devoted companions anyone could ask for, and all they need from us is to teach them what to do.

With their alertness, quick responses and animation it is sometimes easy to feel they have the emotions of a human. Canines, however, are animals who understand pack behavior. The mistakes we need to avoid are almost always related to people not understanding the difference between human and canine instincts.

See if any of these mistakes remind you of anyone you know…

Mistake #One: Calling your dog to come to you only to do something he experiences as unpleasant.

Imagine your dog is outdoors romping in the grass, rolling around and loving life. You summon him into the house and before he knows it he’s been plunked into a bath or getting flea medicine, or ear drops.

Or, he’s racing with other dogs at the dog park, you shout his name, and snap on the leash…maybe he didn’t come right away so first you shout his name, then complain sternly as you attach the leash and hurry to the car.

Can you see why your dog may become even more reluctant to come when called? It can become a no-win situation as you are more stressed every time you need him to come, and he gets worse and worse responding to you. Have you ever seen someone yell at their dog to come, and then when it’s cowering at their feet they are even more angry about the dog’s reluctance to obey?

Never call your dog to you and punish him after he comes to you. You will stifle any enthusiasm he has for coming to you when you ask him. Besides, to effectively punish a dog for a behavior, you need to do it immediately so the dog understands what the bad behavior was. Any later is too late.

Instead, do this: call your dog over sometimes while he’s in the middle of playing. Give him a treat, pet him, squeeze him …. and then let him free to play again. This will teach him that coming to you doesn’t result in something negative for him.

Mistake #Two: Being Inconsistent

Dogs learn best by repetition. They learn by doing something and experiencing the same outcome over and over again.

If you let your dog jump up on you when you’re in casual jeans and a tee, he will be just as enthusiastic when you’re in a suit or a white dress. He just knows you showed him it is fun.

If you are inconsistent and train your dog ‘sometimes’, or only correct him according to your own mood and time constraints, your dog will not learn anything. He will be confused and not see you as the leader of the pack.

Mistake #Three: Expecting Too Much Too Soon

Dogs learn at different rates and they require repetition and expected outcomes. This is affected by their breed, their age, their individual temperament, and outside distractions. If you place high expectations on your dog, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. You may also get frustrated at your dog for not performing quickly enough, and he will try to get away from you if you are getting overtly impatient.

Keep remembering training is a process; some training will be surprisingly easy while others may take much longer. You pooch is going to be part of your family for years, so teaching him how you want him to behave is worth the time it takes.

Mistake #Four: Little Positive Reinforcement

When your dog is learning, he needs regular rewards to teach him that he’s on the right track. Too few rewards and he won’t quite understand when he’s right. In the early stages of training, it’s better to give him too many rewards than too few.

Mistake #Five: Too Much Negative Reinforcement

Punishment isn’t the best way to train your dog. For it to be effective, it has to be delivered at the exact time your dog is doing the wrong thing, otherwise he won’t connect the punishment with the behavior. This isn’t easy; if you walk into a mess it is frustrating but your dog will most likely not connect your anger with the mess. He lives in the moment.

Mistake #Six: Rubbing your dog’s nose into his mess

This is not appropriate under any circumstance. It is downright cruel. It can have several effects:

• Your dog will be afraid of you,
• Your dog will think that he needs to hide when he has to eliminate, and
• Your dog may even think that having to eliminate is bad.

None of these are desirable.

Remember what we said about punishment in mistake #Five?  If you punish your dog for doing this after the fact, he won’t know why he is in trouble.

Simply put your dog in another room and clean the mess privately and quietly.

Mistake #Seven: Correcting a dog in the wrong place or after something happened.

Dogs live in the moment. If you punish your dog even a few minutes after he’s done the wrong thing, he won’t relate that punishment to his behavior. He’ll think you’re punishing him for something else, and he’ll get confused.

“Bull,” You may say, “He knows because he looks guilty!”. No, he doesn’t. He’s cowering and looking frightened because of your body language and your tone of voice. He’s not guilty, he’s scared of you, and this is not a good way to build a close connection with your canine companion.

Mistake #Eight: Ignoring bad behavior and hoping your dog will “grow out of it”

If your dog is doing something wrong, and is enjoying it, he’s getting a reward for doing it – the enjoyment. This is no different to him getting a reward for sitting. Any reward means that the behavior is likely to be repeated. Can you see why waiting for your dog to grow out of it won’t work? He’s getting a reward for it, so he will repeat it.

Teach your dog what the right behavior is instead.

Mistake #Nine: Using pain in the learning process.

There is no need to cause your dog any pain while you are training him. This is counterproductive. Sure, your dog may do what he’s told to avoid being struck, but is this the type of connection you want with your dog? I’d rather my dog did as I asked because I give him treats, and because he has respect for me.

This also applies to mental pain, such as yelling and screaming at your dog. This is just as frightening and confusing.

Mistake #10: Taking your dog back in the house as soon as he eliminates.

This is similar to the first two scenarios in mistake #1.

It’s great to be able to rely on your dog to go outside to pee, but while he’s there, he’ll enjoy sniffing around for a minute or two. Give him the opportunity to do so, and he’ll make more effort to go outside when he needs to go.

Of course, there will be occasions where you just don’t have time to allow him the luxury of sniffing around, but if you can do it most of the time, he’ll appreciate it.

Mistake #11: Training your dog with treats and then weaning him off them

It’s important to keep rewarding your dog for good behavior, but when he has learned what you want him to do, you need to start to vary the reward schedule. Only reward the best performances and your dog’s responses will be quicker, and more precise.

A lack of reward will see a behavior fade gradually over time, so don’t cut out rewards completely.

You may want to end a particularly good training session with a jackpot – an extra few treats to show your dog he has done particularly well.

Mistake #12: You can solve your dog’s problems from home in an obedience class.

Dog obedience classes teach basic obedience commands, such as sit, drop and stay. They won’t fix behavioral problems such as jumping, barking, biting, and similar bad habits. It doesn’t matter how good a trainer is, these are hard to resolve in a group setting.

To deal with behavioral problems, get one-on-one help from a professional trainer or even a veterinary behaviorist. This is particularly the case if your dog is aggressive.

Mistake #13: Dogs love you and are meant to please you.

Love is a very human emotion, and you can’t say for sure that dogs feel the same. Sure, they respect you and enjoy being with you, but love you? Most experts say no.

Dogs actually are very much involved in pleasing themselves. If they weren’t, you wouldn’t be having training or behavioral problems at all.

Don’t assume your dog should do what you ask him to, just because he loves you. Would you go to work every day just out of love for your boss? I don’t think so.

Mistake #14: Not using the right tone

Dogs can learn up to several hundred words in the English language, but even if they never get to that level, they can understand tone.

Listen to the sounds dogs make. They will growl in a deep tone when they are not happy, and yelp or bark in a high pitched tone when they are pleased or excited.

You can also use these tones to make it easier to communicate with your dog. What do you think your dog’s response would be if you told him to sit over and over again in a shrill high pitched voice? He’d think you were playing or happy and he wouldn’t be likely to sit at all.

A command such as “Sit” should be given with a deep, firm tone of voice.

A command such as “Heel” should be given in a happier, high pitch tone of voice to encourage your dog to come along with you.

Use the right tone for different commands. It’s just another way you can communicate with your dog.

Mistake #15: Thinking the training is over.

Many people think once their dog learns the basic commands and is well mannered when you take him anywhere, his training is over.

That isn’t true. Training is a lifelong learning process and it’s never complete. There’s no need to stop. Your dog loves to learn and it’s good for keeping his mind active and alleviating boredom . Why not think about training him to do some tricks, or to enjoy dog sports?

These are just 15 of many dog training mistakes that come to mind. Do you know anyone guilty of any of them?