When new to dog training many inexperienced owners start off with the fancy stuff, such as trying to teach their dog how to sit pretty. Some wonder why the dog “does not get it” and eventually give up on dog training thinking their dog is just not smart enough. In reality dogs may have different learning speeds just as humans, but in general every dog is smart enough for dog training.

It is actually a good idea to start with obedience exercises, for example sit, lie down or stay on command for two simple reasons:

Those exercises are a lot easier to teach than many trick exercises simply because they involve actions that are more natural to the dog. A dog naturally sits, walks or waits at some point. So it is a lot easier to “catch” those behaviors, reward and train them during dog training. Once the dog is used to the training it will become easier to train more complicated exercises and the already learned ones may even help on the way to the more complex stuff.

The basic obedience exercises are also a perfect way for your dog to mature into a well behaved citizen. So starting off with these actually serves two purposes.