Basic Dog Training really boils down to building a good relationship with your dog.  Your dog needs to have respect for you as his owner, and he also needs to realise that you are leader of the pack.  Once you have taken the position of master and leader of the pack, and the dog accepts your position you will find you have a much happier and more secure pet.
The more modern method of basic dog training tends to work around treats and praise when your dog does what you ask of him, therefore concentrating on the positive aspects of the dogs behaviour.    The older way was perhaps more around the telling off and punishing whenever bad behaviour was shown by your dog.  This will only lead to your dog becoming frightened of you, and this is something that should never, ever happen.

If you carry out basic dog training by rewarding your dog when he obeys you, rather than punishing him when he does not, you will find that training your dog is a much more enjoyable experience.  Once your dog is well trained and respects you as his master, then he will always want to please you and make you happy – this in turn will lead to a better behaved dog when you are out meeting other people and other dogs, as well as when you are at home.

An example of how this type of basic dog training would work when you are trying to get your dog to come to you when called would be to call your dogs name to get his attention, and then to let him see that you are holding a treat (if your dog is not really motivated by food, then try a favourite toy), call his name and the command word you are using for recall (usually this is “come”), and once he has come to you offer him the reward and give him lots of praise.  He will soon learn as all dogs love to receive praise from their owners.

Using positive training methds are also a good way to retrain a dog that has picked up bad habits.  Your dog will very quickly realise that their good behaviour will result in your praise and also a treat.  So even if your dog is way past puppy stage, it is not to late to teach it how to behave properly and you will soon have a well behaved and well trained dog on your hands.

Watch a free sample basic dog training lesson here