My training philosophy - A contextual and historical framework for understanding dogs

I haven't really mentioned my general dog training philosophy. My dog training philosophy stems from understanding the evolutionary history of dogs. Dogs are the first domesticated animal in history. Based on tests of mitochrondial DNA which indicate a 1% divergence from Canis Lupis, which places the date of divergence from wolves at more than 100,000 years ago. You can find the original study here and a less technical overview published by the The Atlantic here. Based on the mitochondrial DNA divergence occurred at least 100,000 years ago and possibly more than 135,000 years ago. This means that dogs have evolved around humans, have depended on humans for survival. Dogs have a intuitive understanding of what humans wants. Dogs generally want to please their humans who provide security, food and a safe environment. The symbiotic relationship between human and dog is a close one. Humans can use this evolutionary relationship to their training advantage. Dogs can be trained with positive reinforcement. More aggressive negative reinforcement is generally not necessary and can be even detrimental to your relationship with your dog.

• For initial training use a treat that you only use for training - Make sure these treats are only used for training.
  
• Use positive reinforcement. Enthuisastic praise goes a long way. Men generally need to be more enthuasistic in their praise, raising the register in their voice.
  
• When correcting your dog, lower your voice. This is often a problem for women who need to lower their voice and don't.
  
• Work slowly, taking a five minute break every 15 minutes or so. Dogs have a greater attention span than many animals but they still need breaks to absorb what they have learned.