Obedience training for dogs is one of the best things that you can put in place for your pet dog – a well trained dog is going to be far happier than a dog who has not been trained at all.
You need to remember that a dog is a pack animal, and without the proper obedience training they can easily resort to habits you are not going to be happy with.  An untrained dog can chew everything he sees, mess in your home, dig up your prize veg, bark at anything that moves and generally cause you a real headache.  So it is far better for both him and you to take part in some kind of obedience training.

Training your dog will only strengthen the bond between you, and the correct form of training will show your dog that you are in fact his pack leader.  Dogs, just like us, have their own personalities – they can be fearful, submissive, dominant or stubborn which can make training a little harder, but by no means impossible.

Obedience training can be undertaken at home, by visiting a local dog training class, or with an individual dog trainer.  There are some really good dog training videos that are a great help in getting your dog trained, for example the popular Sit Stay Fetch (more details here) or Dove Cresswells Dog Training Online (more details here).  With either of these, you will be able to train your dog in your own time, and they both provide lots of sound advice.

Once you have your dog trained, you will find that it is a great pleasure to take him out and about without him being a risk, or causing a nuisance to others.  Obedience training for dogs is a win win situation – you gain because you know that your dog will obey you, and he gains because he is taught how to behave in the way you want him to, and he knows you are his pack leader.

Owning a dog is a huge responsibility, and training forms a large part of that.  Remember to be consistent when you are training your dog and show lots of patience – don’t punish or shout at him when he makes a mistake, instead reward him when he does it right.  You should both find training fun not a chore.

You will soon find that you have a well trained dog on your hands, and that going through obedience training for him was worth every minute.