The Purple Guide to Learning Dog Training in 10 Days

Chapter 1: First Day

Welcome to day one. You're here because you've got a dog, or maybe a friend's dog, and you've wondered if you could teach it something. Not a circus trick. Just the basics, or maybe one reliable behavior that makes life a little easier. That's a perfectly good reason to start. This first session is short on purpose, because the goal today is not to teach your dog everything. The goal is to show you what training actually looks like, from the inside, so you can decide if it's something you want to do for the next nine days.

Before I tell you what to do, let me set your expectations honestly. You will probably feel a little awkward. You'll likely fumble with the treats. Your dog will probably look at you like you've lost your mind at some point. All of that is normal. Training a dog is a skill like any other, and day one is about touching the tools and seeing how they feel in your hands, not about perfection.

Here's the first thing you need to gather. A small handful of soft treats that your dog actually finds exciting. Not their regular kibble if they eat it without enthusiasm. Something a little special, like tiny bits of boiled chicken, cut-up hot dog, or even little cubes of cheese. The pieces should be about the size of a pea or smaller. You want them small because you'll be giving a lot of them, and