I was just reading an article on reinforcement or rewarding behavior. The main point of the article was that: behavior is consequence driven. We are likely to repeat or not to repeat behavior depending on the consequences.

Jean Donaldson, a nationally recognized dog trainer did a study years ago and found that when training a behavior, trainers were more likely to get better results because they gave three times as much feedback to the animal than their owners.

The take home message of the article was that the more often you reinforce any particular behavior, the more likely you are to see that behavior repeated. Pay attention to your dog and reward behaviors you like: attention, sits, downs, check ins on walks.

I often find that we are only aware of our dogs behavior if they are acting inappropriately. Instead of thinking in terms of what you don’t want to do. Start to think along the lines of what you do want your dog to do.