Humans and dogs speak totally different languages, which can make teaching them seem very difficult.  What often seems like stubbornness or stupidity, however, is often just a misunderstanding.  Remember these simple ideas to keep your training on track.

1. Behavior that is rewarded will be repeated.  This applies to both wanted and unwanted behavior.  For example, if a dog is always given a treat when he lies down, he will lie down more frequently, because it pays off.  Conversely, if the dog scavenges off the kitchen counter and manages to sneak off with a sandwich, he’ll be more likely to scavenge in the future.
2. Behavior that is not rewarded will not be repeated.  This is also called extinguishing a behavior.  Using the above examples, if the dog is never rewarded for lying down, she is less likely to do so (note, however, that lying down is a self-reinforcing behavior: intrinsically rewarding, in this case , because it is a comfortable position to sleep in).  If, after a few tries at counter surfing, the dog never finds anything to eat, she will stop scavenging, because it doesn’t pay off.
3. Dogs learn through association.  Dogs are masters at learning patterns.  A leads to B which leads to C.  “Mom opening the kitchen drawer leads to putting on my leash which leads to going for a walk.  Yippee!  She’s going to the kitchen drawer!”  This is how dogs associate cues, like “sit” and “down” with the positions.  We say the word before the dog performs the action, then reward it for the correct position.
4. Dogs don’t generalize well.  This means that when they learn something new in one place, with one person, in one position, they have to learn it all over when they move to a different place, or perform it for a different person, or perform it for someone in a different position.  This is most often the reason behind “He does it at home!  He knows this, I promise!”  The good news is that dogs can learn to generalize.  Each time we work a behavior in a different place with different distractions, the dog will get better at it and take less time to learn new behaviors in those places.
5. Dogs are better at visual cues than verbal cues.  Dogs are masters of body language – it’s how they communicate with each other.  They pick up on hand signals and our body language much faster and easier than our verbal cues and will respond to those visual signals rather than the verbal cue, if we’re not careful.  This means that when we introduce verbal cues, we need to be very clear with our body language and prevent it from overshadowing our verbal cue.
6. Short but frequent repetitions are best.  On average, it takes between 50 and 100 successful repetitions of a cue-behavior-reward sequence for a dog to learn the association.  But just like us, dogs get bored and frustrated when they are asked to do the same thing over and over again.  Keep your training sessions short 5-10 minutes at a time, but do several sessions a day.  This doesn’t have to be hard!  Use commercial breaks during your favorite TV show to train your dog.  Do a session before going for a walk or before meal times.
7. Dogs learn new behaviors best in low distractions settings.  Learning something new requires concentration so set your dog up for success by teaching new behaviors in a low distraction environment.  Start in the living room of your house, or a bathroom, if you have a busy household.  After your dog has mastered the new behavior there, then move to another room in the house, the backyard, the front yard, then the park.
8. Dogs learn fastest when they are successful more often than they are unsuccessful.  Practicing a behavior incorrectly 50 times doesn’t make the dog better at the correct behavior; it makes it better at the incorrect behavior.  For example, if you call your dog from 50 feet away at the park and he ignores you, all he has practiced is ignoring you.  If you call your dog from 3 feet away and he comes to you, he has practiced coming when called. Use a “3 Strikes and You’re Out” rule: If your dog fails at a behavior twice in a row, make it easier on the third repetition so you know your dog will succeed.  Then think about an intermediate step between the successful and unsuccessful repetitions and ask for that.
9. Dogs learn best when criteria is increased gradually.  Increase your criteria in small steps.  Don’t jump from recalling your dog in the living room to the dog park and expect your dog to be successful – it’s too big a jump.  A good rule of thumb is to have an 80% success rate or better at your current level before increasing criteria.  Examples of increasing your criteria are: adding distance, distractions, length of time, a quicker response time, fading a lure, moving locations or changing your body position.
10. Dogs need to know what is expected of them: Be Consistent.  Everyone in the house needs to know and use the same cues and enforce the same house rules.  If your roommate allows your dog to jump on him, but you require “four on the floor” for greetings, your dog will continue jumping, because sometimes she is rewarded for it.

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