How to train your dog

5 minute sessions, 3 times a day.

Three five minute sessions for a total of fifteen minutes a day will help you maintain good progress with your dog.  Consistency is key for good dog training, and is more beneficial than long duration training sessions,  

Condition Reinforcement

A conditioned reinforcement can be a bell, whistle, clicker, or a vocal "good".  It can take five minutes for a dog to learn a treat is coming after the conditioned reinforcement.  When you see your dog automatically respond to his conditioned reinforcement, he has learned the association.  The conditioned reinforcement makes it easy to communicate to your dog when you mark the correct response. 

Shape a Behavior

Once your dog discovers a behavior brings a reward, he will repeat that behavior more frequently.  At this level, you can start to shape the behavior by choosing to reward a behavior that is closer to the behavior goal.  Take each step by step slowly.  The dog will need to guess what behavior you want and you need to tell him "that's correct" by giving the conditioned reinforcement and reward.  Keep the behavior happening, but in small doses ask for more.  

Capture

One simple way to train your dog is by capturing the behavior.  This is only possible if your dog has been conditionally reinforced.  You simply catch your dog doing the behavior or wait till your dog does the behavior and give him the conditioned reinforcement.