Probably the most important thing you can teach your dog is impulse control. Using the Premack Principle, also known as “gramma’s law”, in other words you must eat your liver before you can have dessert.” A good time at our house to work on it is at their dinner time. I waited for the dogs to sit, less likely behavior, in order to get to eat, high probability behavior. This use of life rewards also works for dogs excited to have leash put on when you are going out for walks. Dog gets excited, you hang leash back up, and walk away and keep trying until you get the behavior you’d like, sitting for the leash. Eventually you will get to where the behavior you don’t want is taken to extinction and the dog will only provide the behavior you would like. Takes a lot of time and patience but well worth it in the long run.
Happy Training!
Nan
Now And Zen Dog Training 