Dogs may not understand English, but they do understand rewards. It is a basic principle that would be beneficial to your training work. A stupid commandor can only shout at illiterate beings, and make no benefits to resort to violence to lively animals. Whether or not your dog is on the top ten list of the smartest, he or she can be trained.
First, you should learn the conditioned response found by Ivan Pavlov, a Russion psychologist, and physician, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1904. The neutral stimulus could be any event that does not result in an overt behavioral response from the organism under investigation. Pavlov referred to this as a conditioned stimulus. Conversely, presentation of the significant stimulus necessarily evokes an innate, often reflexive, response. A wise dog trainer will use a reward system that will teach the dog what is acceptable and not acceptable behavior. This means rewarding good behavior and not rewarding bad behavior.
Dogs must be trained with clarity and consistency. Clarity means that the command you want him to obey is clear and the same each time. Be as simple with a dog as you would be with a baby. For example, if you want the dog to heal, use that word each time. Perhaps at first accompany it with a pat on your leg or a shortening of the leash until he gets the idea. Then wean him so that he responds only to the word.
Consistency, say the best books on dog training, carries the idea that reward and conduct must be predictable. If the dog does what you say, then he gets some type of reward. If he does not, then he loses the reward, every time. If you are serious about training one day, and the next day it is all play and no expectation, then the dog will be confused and the time needed to train him extended.
Have a regular time of training your dog. Hit and miss training sessions mean that the goal will take longer to reach. Make sure these training sessions are not too long, for example, 15-20 minutes is sufficient. Set one goal for each session. Repeat the command until the time is up or the dog learns it.
One good rule of thumb is this, roughly every two to four hours take your dog out to do his business. Even if they do not have to go at that particular time, do so anyway. Patiently go over the same command daily until he catches on. Advanced tricks may take months to master. It will be worth all the work for him to learn.
Obviously, therefore, a good trainer is one who helps YOU figure out how to train your dog. It is not a trainer’s job to teach your dog. Typically, you only see your trainer for one hour a week. Training requires short, daily sessions. YOU are the one training your dog. (Sending a dog away to be trained is a separate consideration, with its own set of potential problems.) A good trainer has several methods under their belt and helps you figure out which ones work best with your dog.