Your canine companion is not acting out just to get on your last nerve. Dogs speak a different language; because they cannot learn English, we must speak "dog."
Many dogs will pick up on hand signals faster than spoken commands. Try accompanying spoken commands with hand gestures to give your dog a better understanding of what is expected.
Dogs respond to energy. When they are misbehaving, calmly tell them, "no." If you scream and shout, you may only cause the dog to become nervous and excited. A nervous and excited dog is likely to continue to misbehave.
If a behavior is wrong one day, it must continue to be wrong in the following days. Remain consistent with the rules, just as you would with a child.
It may take time for a dog to perform the way you expect them to. Failure on the first day does not spell doom for the rest of the training. Keep trying.
Before working on commands with your dog, drain some of the dog's energy by taking him for a walk or playing fetch at the dog park. A tired dog may be more focused than a dog that is bursting with the desire to run and play.
Thanks Listmaker! I get the same thing from my old English sheepdog- he responds to my energy instead of my words. The toughest thing for me is to not yell when he misbehaves.
You've got great tips to help a dog figure out what you need. My Aussie is so intuitive and reads my body language before I even realize I'm sending him signals.
select one here...