A well-trained dog is a joy to be around. He is welcome almost anywhere, as he behaves with other people and with other dogs. He knows the easy way to stay and comes when called. It’s great to take him out for a walk, and you can let him loose to play in the park. They will take it on trips and family outings. He could be a family member in any sense of the word.
The most important benefit to your dog is its safety, the safety of others, and your own. A dog that listens and does what it’s told rarely gets into trouble. Rather than being enslaved by a leash or rope, a trained dog is actually a free dog: it will be trusted to stay on command, not to jump on people, to come when called and so he doesn’t follow a moggy down the street.
After that, ranked by importance, a well-trained dog is one that
* Does not jump on people.
* Does not ask at the table
* Does not disturb guests.
* Comes when called
* Does not pull on the leash
Note that these wishes, with one exception, are expressed in the negative form, ie “dog, don’t do that.”
For training needs, you want to phrase these desires in a positive way so that you can teach your dog exactly what you would expect of him. This is what the new list of needs for a well-trained dog looks like:
*Sit when I tell you.
* Go somewhere and relax.
* Lie down when I tell you and stay there.
* Come when they call you.
* Walk on a loose leash.
The “Sit” and “Down-Stay” commands are the lego blocks for a well-trained dog; if Tommy doesn’t know anything else, you can live with him. Of course, your Tommy may have some additional wrinkles that need correcting, some of which are more management issues than training. You may enjoy landscaping, as does my Beagle, who enjoys digging holes in the backyard and can do it with fantastic speed and strength.
Unless you are ready to put up with what can become large digging projects, the best defense is to use this digging energy with plenty of exercise, training, and supervision. Another favorite pastime for some dogs is raiding the garbage.
Prevention is the cure here: put litter where your dog can’t reach it. One of my Dachshunds learned to open the cooler by pulling on the towel we hung on the door handle and to help himself with anything he could reach. Prevention was the solution. We removed the towel and solved the problem. With these simple guidelines, you can identify if a two is properly trained or not.