• Find what motivates/rewards your dog. Withhold motivators/rewards before your training sessions so your dog will be even more motivated!
• Keep your session short. Three or four short, ten-minute sessions can be far more effective than one 30-minute session.
• Have a plan. If you are working on crate training, stick to crate training. Even if your dog offers a perfect sit keep with your plan.
• Stay focused during your session. Do not answer the phone or talk to anyone else in the room. When you stay focused your dog will stay focused too.
• Once you have trained your dog a new behavior and he’s performing it consistently on cue, then follow the three D’s so he will perform the behavior anywhere. They are best learned in this order:

1. Duration. Send your dog to his crate and reward him. The next time, wait until he’s standing in his crate for a second before rewarding him. Incrementally increase the seconds and you will have a dog that goes into his crate and stays in his crate.

2. Distraction. Have your dog sit and stay . Wave your arms, jump up and down, squeak a toy, set food on the ground.

3. Distance. Have your dog jump into the car. Take him out, step one foot farther away, and send him into the car. Start sending him from farther distances. Another way to teach distance is to give your dog the Down cue while standing in front of him. Take a step back and give the cue. Increase the distance so that, in the event of an emergency, you can give him a hand signal or verbal cue from anywhere within sight and he will drop on command.

If it seems that your dog is ignoring you or doesn’t understand then take your training backwards a few steps. Often called "going back to kindergarten," it keeps you from getting frustrated and keeps your dog set up for success and not failure.