Building a stronger bond with your dog can be done in many different ways but doing some training each day will help begin that. Behavior issues and some other reasons can be getting in the way but I am going to start here with a dog without any major behavior issues.

Your dogs day consists of the quiet times when there are no distractions or one on one time which is when he or she would listen or somewhat listen the best. But then there are the busy times or distractions such as deliveries to your home, people, other dogs, animals (birds, squirrels, cats, rabbits etc), things to chew on, jumping, barking at noises, digging, over excited and so on.

One way to build a stronger bond with your dog is using something consistently that he or she wants over anything else which can be you presenting treats or a toy. Let’s start with the treats. Buy a treat holder that clips onto your waste so you do not have to keep going back to the bag to get more and find a treat that is high value for your dog. This can take a little bit of trying some different kinds to see which one she likes best but it is a very important step. Ok so now you have your treat bad loaded with high value treats for your dog so let’s move on to the next step!

Hold the treat by your dogs nose and move away a couple pf steps and once your dog follows you to get it say the word “good” and then give the treat. Reload with another treat right away or the little time in between without one will cause your dog to lose focus or get distracted by something else. This takes time to learn how to do fluently and in a timely manner. Practicing this over and over and over will start to get your dog more engaged or focused on you, and now you have what we call a lure.

The lure can then be used to shape behaviors. I will do another article on shaping behaviors. Right now learn and practice the presentation, delivery, and timing of the treat reward. Do this in a low distraction area where your dog is staying focused on you the whole time and not getting distracted by noises, other dogs, people, etc. You want to work on learning this first part of the system really well before advancing to the next stage.

Have fun and enjoy practicing! Check back for my next training article or subscribe to get notified!