Alexandria, VA – Kick off 2026 by joining the global International Train Your Dog Month! The Association for Professional Dog Training International’s (APDT) annual celebration is more than an event—it’s a call to action for dog lovers worldwide to recognize the importance of professional training. Together, we can create a community dedicated to strengthening bonds, reducing behavioral issues, and improving family life everywhere.
Launched by APDT in 2010, the Train Your Dog Month initiative raises awareness of the importance of training and socialization, emphasizing positive methods that are both effective and rewarding, while enhancing the human-canine relationship. It’s become a powerful movement promoting dog-friendly, science-based training techniques and responsible pet ownership.
Training Your Dog: Do’s and Don’ts
Over the past 25 years, pet parents have become more educated and savvier on dog training methods. Studies done in recent years show how dogs think, how they learn, and how reinforcement drives behaviors. Here are a few do’s and don’ts that can help you and your dog on your training journey:
Do’s: Things To Remember and Do More Of…
- All living things will repeat behaviors that are rewarding and avoid behaviors that are not. Reinforce the behaviors that you want. Also, reward them for good behavior even if you didn’t ask for it. It’s called “capturing” good behaviors.
- Think about what you want your dog to do. It’s easier to reinforce the behaviors you want than to correct the ones you don’t. We want to teach our dogs a repertoire of good behaviors to replace the ones we don’t like.
- Consistency is key. Dogs learn best through repetition and consistency, and they learn better with short training intervals and integrating that training into their everyday lives. All family members must be on the same page with cues and rewarding the same good behavior.
- Dogs are a different species – they don’t come into your home knowing how to behave. Behaviors such as jumping, barking, digging, and counter-surfing are normal, self-reinforcing behaviors, but not appropriate in our human homes. This is why it’s essential to use high-value rewards to train the behaviors that you want.
- Be kind and patient with your dog. Training takes time. If you’re having difficulty teaching your dog a behavior, go back to the basics, make it easier, raise the value of the reinforcers, train in a less distracting environment, or take a break.
- Start training inside the home where your dog is comfortable. Proof those behaviors in non-distracting environments first and add distractions slowly to set your dog up for success.
Don’ts: Things You Should Avoid
- Don’t use your dog’s name in a negative way or in association with things your dog doesn’t like. Their names should be associated with good things, so they always want to respond to it. Remember, their name is half of the recall.
- Avoid repeating cues or calling their name too often; this is known in psychology as “learned irrelevance,” where it becomes background noise and they ignore it. Add the cue after the dog learns the behavior and avoid repeating a command endlessly.
- Don’t give your dog attention and inadvertently reward bad behavior. Sometimes this means interrupting (kissy noise, puppy puppy), redirecting, and reinforcing a good behavior instead. If your dog jumps on you, walk away from them. At the same time, teach them that keeping four feet on the floor is more reinforcing.
- Don’t use aversive techniques such as choke chains, prong collars, and shock collars. Old-fashioned punishment-based correction training is unnecessary and, unfortunately, leads to other behavior concerns.
Unfortunately, untrained dogs often end up in shelters due to behavior that could have been prevented with proper socialization and training. Train Your Dog 2026 promotes a strong, rewarding, and life-long relationship with our canine companions. So, get on the training wagon for a dog that’s a joy to live with. You’ll both be happier and healthier for it.
Sandy Modell, CPDT-KA, is the Founder, Owner, and Head of Training of Wholistic Hound Academy, Alexandria’s award-winning, premier canine training and learning center. Visit www.wholistichound.com to enroll in our programs, like us on Facebook.com/wholistichound, and follow us on Instagram at Instagram.com/wholistichound.
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