Many people think that training your pet has to be some complex, time-consuming, teeth-pulling type of experience. Why is that? In most cases it is simply because they have never been shown how to train their pets the right way. When you make the decision to train your pet properly, and you should make that decision, then get started by training your pet by the numbers.

What exactly is training the pets by the numbers? Well simply it is a series of steps used to train your pets. Which steps you take are up to you and the level of training you wish to pursue. But you must follow the steps. You see, you will decide the steps that you must take with your pets, based on the training methods you are going to learn and use. But there are a few things you should know before you get started. Let's take a look at the basic steps to get you headed in the right direction.

Number 1: Establish a routine for your pet

Most of us have a daily routine. We get up in the morning, eat breakfast, shower, shave, get dressed, etc… We almost always follow that routine. Well dogs are creatures of habits just like us, and would love a routine. This makes their life a lot less complicated. They can sleep when it is time, and play when you want, not when they want. This establishes you as a dominant figure in their eyes. This will make training much easier.

Number 2: Establish simple command structures

When we grew up our parents told us to do things or not to do things with simply commands. We started out learning "NO", not "Joe didn't I tell you not to do that?", and this is because we did not understand English yet. Our dogs are the same way. They do not understand English, (or any other language). So you cannot expect them to learn full sentence and grammar structure. Use the acronym K.I.S,S, - Keep It Super Simple. Use one or two words for each command at most.

Number 3: Determine your pet's triggers

Some of us love cake, ice cream, or chocolate. Others would rather have fruit. Some people can read a book or sit at the computer all day. The point is that we all have things that we love doing, and other stuff that we dislike. These are called triggers. Your pets have triggers as well. Some pets will do just about anything for a good treat. Other dogs will spit the treat back out and wait for something else. You need to learn what things your pet will respond to. This could be a favorite toy, treat, or just hugs and attention.

Number 4: Maintain consistency throughout your training

Once you have steps 1-3 done, you should know what your pet's routine is, what commands you are going to use, and what motivates it to respond. When using these things in combination you can pick a dedicated time for training, provide short simple commands for the pet to follow and provide a highly desirable incentive or treat as a reward. Now it is up to you to follow these as consistently as possible. Avoid changing your pet's routine if at all possible. Feed them at regular intervals, train them at the same time of day, etc. You are further reinforcing a pattern of behavior. Consistent use of the same commands will avoid confusing your pet. Nothing is worse then learning 10 words that all mean "sit". Provide your pet with what they love when they do a good job. Even we like to be rewarded for a job well done.

These steps are often overlooked because we are in a hurry to train our dogs. But much like constructing a building we must lay a foundation that we can build upon. By creating that basic structure and learning what motivates your pet, you will be much closer to a rewarding training experience that will last a lifetime.