Sometimes dog owners think that once they have signed their dogs up for a basic dog obedience class, their work is done. "There," they think, "now my dog will learn how to behave himself!"

Whoa! Not so fast! Just signing a dog up for an obedience class isn't going to turn an unruly dog into a well-behaved one. There are basically three mistakes that owners make during the process of teaching their dogs obedience.

The first mistake that owners make is that they are INCONSISTENT. Dog training does not happen during the hour or so at the weekly or biweekly dog training class. No! Dog training happens constantly. Dog training never stops. You must constantly work with your dog at home to help him to learn to obey your commands. The dog trainer from whom you are taking the dog training course isn't training the dog. He or she is actually training YOU to train your dog.

The second mistake that owners make is that they are IMPATIENT. Dog training does NOT happen over night. You aren't going to take your untrained dog to an obedience class on Monday night and magically have a well-trained and obedient dog on Tuesday morning.

The third mistake that owners make is that they are WORKING when they are training their dog. Dogs don't understand the concept of work. Dogs see their training sessions as PLAY, and they see their training sessions as quality time that they are getting to spend with you.

So here is the bottom line. If you want to have a well-trained, obedient, and loving dog, sign him up for an obedience class and then keep your own head screwed on straight. The dog will learn but only if you are CONSISTENT, PATIENT, and HAVING FUN!