Since you asked…
Readers who enjoyed my “doggiest” stories (A Boy & his Dog, Fly Boy, Submerged Hopes) have still commented on how well-behaved those dogs are, and several have requested some dog training tips. I’m not a professional, but will post a series of techniques that worked for us, having raised multiple dogs from puppies but also shepherded two feral, non-housebroken wild-and-crazy dogs into Stellar Citizens.
You know what’s funny, though? An awful lot of this is about the trainers, not the dogs.
The first—and fantastic—thing about dogs is that generally, they WANT to do the right thing—not all of them, of course—but most of them. This means that half the battle is simply making sure they know what it is you want, by sending the right signals and not sending the wrong signals. It’s easy to do the latter by accident, especially if misbehavior is funny or the dog’s just a puppy, so be careful not to inadvertently reinforce Bad Tricks by laughing or paying extra attention.
The second thing is that one must be consistent. Pick the behaviors you want but be ready to reinforce those every time, and from every member of the family—It’s not fair for Fluffy if she gets scolded for jumping on the leather couch if the kids let her do it when you’re not there. And one horrible, decades-old experiment we learned about in medical school was how to induce psychosis in dogs: to simply be so inconsistent with praise vs punishment that the dog never knew what to do or expect. Do you need punishment for your dog? It’s not necessary to smack a dog or yell; what dogs crave most of all is Attention from Humans and play with other dogs. So in general, negative consequences consisting of removing your attention or stopping play will be enough to discourage unwanted behavior.
The third thing is that a lot of the training can be done through conditioned responses to natural behavior—essentially, taking advantage of coincidences. What on earth does that mean? It means that as part of teaching a dog to “sit,” “lie down,” or whatever other command you want, you simply watch, and when the dog happens to do it, you chime in with, “Yes, sit! Good sit, Killer!” and provide adoration, through tone or rubbing ears, a “mini-party” with a couple of Cheerios or other non-messy, bitty dog treats (best not to have too many snacks, though, to keep a balanced diet, avoid weight gain, and prevent a dog from deciding it will ONLY behave for food), or a toy or game.
It won’t take the dog long to associate the repeated phrase with the behavior which gets it acceptance and adoration. Can you help by gently making the dog “assume the position?” You can, but you want the dog to learn by voice commands alone, so it’s best to phase out the physical prompts quickly. Can you add a hand command? Yes, and it’s a good idea, because you might be on the phone or with a mouth full of ice cream. Choose one, and make sure the whole family knows it. Practice both every day, and soon it will be second nature.
Who cares about “sit,” anyway? On the surface, it might seem useless, but “sit” is polite, as opposed to jumping, grabbing, dashing for the door, etc. The stability is nice for advanced tricks like “catch,” it’s groundwork for some other commands, like “stay,” and it’s a calming exercise, so that excited dogs can gain some self-control.
We’ll do more beyond “sit” later. Ideally, it’s best to get consensus on what behaviors you’d like to see even before you get a dog. Regardless, why not chat with your family about what you want to see, both for harmony within the house and for fun?
Worried your dog will be overwhelmed if you teach too many commands? It’s unlikely; a dog of average intelligence can learn 165 words and signs, a smart one over 200, and the “word’s smartest dog,” a Border Collie mix, learned over a thousand! If you have specific requests, let me know!
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