Here are a few of the different ways you can inspire your dog to please.

1. Praise and affection
Does your dog sleep on your bed? Cuddle on the couch by your side when you watch TV? Do you look at your dog, become overwhelmed by his cuteness and run over to give him a belly rub? If your dog nuzzles your hand do your pet him? If you answered yes to any or all of the above you are not a good candidate to train with praise and affection. Your dog is already getting all the praise and affection he could ever want for free. Start to have him "work " for some of that attention. Work is anything you ask him to do: sit, down, shake, come etc. etc.

2. Food/treats
Do you leave your dogs food bowl down all day "just in case he 's hungry "? Do you give your dog a treat sometimes just for looking at you and tilting his little head to the side? We can still use food as a motivator. From now on your dog will have to "work " for his meals and treats.

3. Toys/play
Does your dog have unlimited access to his toys? If he brings you his ball or his tug rope do you respond by playing fetch or tug? We can still use toys as a motivator! Put all your dog 's toys away where he can 't reach them. When you are ready to train/play with him take out one or two toys he really likes and have him work before each throw or tug.

4. Everything else
Does your dog bounce at the end of his leash with excitement before leaving your home to go for a walk? Does he forge ahead of you out of doors and elevators? Pull you down the stairs? Throw himself against the dog run door until you manage to open it, clip his leash off and let him in? What else does your dog REALLY REALLY want in life? Make a list of all the things your dog loves and from now on make him work for them.

5. Fear of punishment
In today 's "quick fix " society people often want to use aversive training methods such as pinch collars, shock collars, citronella collars, rolled up newspaper, shaker cans, etc. Punishment based training can work quickly but is not long term effective and can often backfire.

People get frustrated when their dog doesn 't learn quickly so they resort to fear based training methods. Do you really want your dog to be afraid of you? Would you like to work hard all week to find that your "paycheck " is simply that you avoided a pinch, shock, or chin swat?

Proponents of fear based methods often say dogs who are trained with food will only work for food. This is only true if you give your dog a treat for each and every thing he does. The secret is to be a "slot machine " not a "coke machine " to your dog. Reward your dog often when he is learning a new skill and once he 's 100% reliable start to reward him every 3rd, 4th or 5th time. Vary the reward- sometimes it 's a belly rub, sometimes a game of tug, sometimes a biscuit, and every once in a while it 's a big fat piece of steak (JACKPOT!).