Old Trainer: My adopted dog is tough to train. Where do I start?

Dear Old Trainer: We adopted Stormy, a beautiful mixed breed, at Christmas. He is smart but has no training. It sounded easy in your column, but now that I’m faced with real training I’m worried I’ll mess up. I want to do it, but don’t know where to begin.

Daria, Emporia, Kansas

A: The first step is to relax. Dogs learn faster when they have a good time, so make training a game. You only achieve maximum training efficiency if you and Stormy have fun doing it.

Play with Stormy before each training session. All dogs concentrate better after they burn off a little energy. Keep the sessions short—five to 10 minutes—but hold half a dozen or so per day.

Training is as easy as I make it sound if you are confident. Dogs learn fast when the trainer is confident. Stormy will know if you aren’t and train you to play ball with him instead of listening to a bunch of boring words he’s never heard before.

Five steps to teach any command:

1. Show Stormy what you want him to do.

2. Give the command in your normal speaking voice.

3. Give him 10 seconds to think about what he’s supposed to do when the hears that word.

4. When he does it right, praise him and love on him.

5. Add a hand signal for each command.

I use the same routine—the sit/stay/come sequence—with every dog I train.

I start with “sit” for two reasons—one, it’s easy to teach and two, a dog sitting on command is in the perfect body position to learn additional commands.

Stand in front of Stormy and say “sit.” Give him a few seconds to wonder why you are making that new sound, then press down with one hand where his tail meets his body and lift his chin with the other (hand signal: extend your index finger at him, palm down, then point to the ground as you say sit).

As soon as he sits, pet him and praise him. Use the word “sit” over and over while you brag on him.

Once he learns it, add the rest of the sequence. While he is sitting, step back a few inches. say, “stay.” (hand signal: hold up your hand, palm toward him, same as a traffic cop).

Stormy may move toward you. If he does, restrain him in the sit position with one hand, give the hand signal with the other, and repeat “stay.”.

If he stays for even a few seconds, pet him and praise him. He knows the command at that point, but keep working to teach him to stay until you tell him to move.

The “stay” command becomes easy to teach as you add the third step, “come,” while still working on “stay.” When Stormy stays for a few seconds, say “come,” hold your hand out, palm up, and motion him forward with your fingers. When he comes to you, love on him and brag on him.

Those three commands form a base for all further training so work on them every day.

Next week we’ll discuss the other basic commands all dogs should know, indirect and reverse training, and how easy it is to train your dog to the point he is under complete voice command