Understanding Dog Behavior

It's a good idea to learn about the antecedent of your dog's behavior. An antecedent usually activates a behavior. For example, if your dog barks at the sound of a knock on the door. Finding out what makes your dog bark can be a big help to teaching him to behave and be quiet. The pattern usually happens this way: antecedent, conduct, consequence, good behavior, and a prize. It is important to do all these things in order to teach your dog to not bark too much. An excellent way to find an antecedent is to keep note of when your dog usually starts up the barking and what has happening before the barking started. Note exactly what you think caused the barking and then see how long it takes him to calm down or stop. After doing this you will begin to notice when you are advancing in the training or if you're just going around in circles. You will know if you are doing the job right if you keep record of the minutes and seconds and each time these become less. Good dog trainers write these things down to see their results.

Follow through with consequences