The Basics of Obedience Training
Contact/Focus
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right" to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to keep eye contact in any situation. A reliable eye contact is essential in further obedience training.
This is a easy one. Most dogs will look at you many times through the day, and the object of this exercise is teaching your dog that giving you eye contact is a good thing. I've never actually given this a name; it's just one of those things that are supposed to come naturally as your training goes on.
You just start off with some nice treats that your dog is willing to work for, and a clicker (can be left out for those of you who don't use clicker training). Hold the treat in your fist, and show it to your dog. He/she will probably start trying to get it, but don't let go. As soon as your dog gives you a quick glance, click and give treat. Most dogs will pick up on this after just a few repetitions, and will start looking at you to get the treat.
After your dog has gotten the point it's time to make things harder. Your dog should learn to catch your eye while moving, sitting, laying down, standing, in heel position, and no matter what's going on around you. Start off at home, and slowly increase disturbing factors. Only your imagination sets the limits of where and under what circumstances your dog should be able to remain focused on you. If you want you can put some sort of command on the behavior by pairing the behavior with the command.
Sit
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right" and contact to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to sit on command under any circumstances.
Again, this is an easy one. Wait until your dog sits down, and as soon as it's behind hits the floor, click and give treat. Keep this up until your dog promptly sits down. Then put a command to the behavior just as your dog is about to sit. After a few repetitions your dog should understand what the command means. Remember though to stop rewarding slow sits as soon as your dog seems to have gotten the point. Only the fast ones are good enough for obedience, so why keep rewarding them longer than necessary?
Once your dog sits every time you ask him/her to, go on to more advanced situations. Your dog should learn to sit while following you, start with small steps backwards, your dog following you, and go on until you can walk at a normal pace. Your dog should also be able to sit from both standing and laying down, sit in heel position (see further down) and sit at a distance. Also remember to practice in a busy environment.
Down
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right" and contact to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to sit on command under any circumstances.
Stand
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right" and contact to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to stand on command under any circumstances.
Heel
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right", sit and contact to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to heel on command under any circumstances, and to follow you regardless of pace or what direction you're headed. Every time you stop, your dog should sit without being given any command.
Come
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right" and contact to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to come to you on command under any circumstances.
Retrieve - Hold
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right" and contact to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to hold, without chewing, anything you decide to give him/her. To pick up an object from the ground and hold on command under any circumstances.
Target
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right" and contact
to learn this exercise. Goal: Teaching your dog to touch a target with it's nose or paw.
I suggest you teach your dog at least one nose target and one paw target. For the nose target you can use either your finger/first or a target stick. For a paw target you can use a post-it, lid or a mouse pad.
Nose target: Hold the target of your choice out in front of your dog's nose. Do not touch the nose with the target, but let the dog touch it him/her self. As soon as the dog sniffs the target (most dogs will out of curiosity), click and give treat. Continue until you clearly see that the dog touches the target to get a click. When the dog's gotten the point, you can start moving the target to make the dog follow it. When the dog follows the target to the right, left, back, forth, in circle, etc, you can safely assume that the dog's gotten the whole idea. And you can use this target in future training. I'd advise you to do a little pure target training once in a while, just to make sure that the dog will still follow it.
Paw target: Put the mouse pad on the ground between you and the dog. The dog might sniff it, and you can choose to click the first couple of times. Most dogs will try to get to you and the treats, and end up stepping on the target. Click as soon as one of the front paws touches the target. Repeat this until the dog clearly steps on the target to get a click. Then you can start making the training a little more advanced. Lay the target to your side, so that the dog has to take a little step away from you to step on the target, then increase the length between you and the target to a couple of feet. When the dog can go a few feet to step on the target, it's about time to really increase the length. You want the dog to be able to run out to the target, and it's easier achieved with longer distances. The dog is more likely to run 30 feet, than running 5-6 feet.
Doggie-Zen
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right" and contact to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to wait for your signal before taking a treat or doing something it really wants to (like greeting another dog) under any circumstances.
Back Up
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right" and contact to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to really think about where it places it's hind legs.
Stay
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right" sit, down, stand and contact to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to stay on command under any circumstances.
Retrieve - Let Go
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right" hold and contact to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to let go on your command under any circumstances.
Jump
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right", come and contact to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to jump over a hurdle on command under any circumstances.
Scent Discrimination
Your dog needs to know: click equals "you did something right" and contact to learn this exercise.Goal: Teaching your dog to pick the item you've touched from several similar items.