There is a lot to consider when you are house training a dog, from toilet training to teaching it not to get up on the furniture.
But the learning is not just focused on the dog, you need to be learning what it takes to house train a dog too.
Possibly the most common mistake that new dog trainers make when teaching a dog for the first time is to shout a lot...
however this will rarely get the results that you desire.
For example when toilet training a dog you might think that shouting at it when it chooses to relieve itself inside is a good idea.
But it doesn't work on two levels 1) The dog will just think that it is wrong to go in front of you, a backwards step if you want to take it out on a walk or to the garden to relieve itself.
2) They don't grasp that something they did in the past is wrong, so if you shout at them for relieving themselves when you weren't there they won't understand what you are talking about - even if you 'rub their noses in it' Why Positive Reinforcement is the Way Forward Unlike negative training, positive reinforcement is something that dogs instinctively understand.
By rewarding them in a positive way with attention and food the dog understands - and they learn very quickly from such rewards and are keen to earn them again.
House training a dog takes time for the dogs to learn what you want, but research has shown that positive, not negative, reinforcement is the best way forward - positive gets results quickly, by contrast it seems that negative methods of training a dog can be slower and less accurate.