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WHAT GETS REWARDED GETS REPEATED! Dogs do not come programmed to respond to commands, you need to teach them. Dogs in multi-dog household should be trained separately initially. To establish a good relationship with you dog train him/her using positive reward based methods. Most dogs respond well to food rewards but praise, smiling, play and touch are also rewarding or reinforcing (makes the behaviour stronger) to your dog. Dogs primarily learn by association e.g. when an owner picks up a lead the dog gets excited – he has associated the lead with going for a walk. This has occurred because behaviour is more likely to be repeated if it is rewarded or found to be rewarding. However, dogs do not generalise well. This means just because you have taught your dog to sit in the kitchen he may not do so when you ask him to sit in the living room .To generalise behaviour it is necessary to train in a variety of locations. Dogs read our body language exceptionally well – so do smile and sound pleased when your dog does something well.
Socialising puppies with other dogs does not mean encouraging puppies to play with other puppies or dogs with little or no control, or allowing your puppy to run up and “socialize” with every dog they see on a walk. Dogs need to be able to interact peacefully and mannerly with other dogs – this is the true meaning of “socialisation“. Sandra Gilliland – Dog Training
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