You reward your dog numerous times per day. There are a million things that your dog finds rewarding that you control in your every day life. Being cognizant of what those rewards are and how you use them will make a huge difference in how well behaved your dog is.
Take for example opening the back door for your dog to go out. Your dog jumps and barks at the back door because he sees a squirrel outside. Without thinking about it you open the door because it makes the barking stop, which is rewarding to us. Now lets look at what you are training. Your dog is learning anytime he see a squirrel if he loses his mind, you will let him go chase the squirrel, from the dog's point of view there is very little that is a much higher reward than chasing a squirrel to most dogs. The dog doesn't understand the difference of being on leash and squirrels aren't available but in the back yard they are, or you can chase the squirrel as long as you don't cross the road.
Spend the next few days paying attention to all the behaviours your dog does that you really wish he would stop. Start trying to figure out how they are being rewarded. Keep in mind there are behaviours that are self reinforcing such as barking and are much harder to change because of that.
Remember for a behaviour to be repeated it must be being rewarded. A behaviour without rewards will eventually fade.
Take for example opening the back door for your dog to go out. Your dog jumps and barks at the back door because he sees a squirrel outside. Without thinking about it you open the door because it makes the barking stop, which is rewarding to us. Now lets look at what you are training. Your dog is learning anytime he see a squirrel if he loses his mind, you will let him go chase the squirrel, from the dog's point of view there is very little that is a much higher reward than chasing a squirrel to most dogs. The dog doesn't understand the difference of being on leash and squirrels aren't available but in the back yard they are, or you can chase the squirrel as long as you don't cross the road.
Spend the next few days paying attention to all the behaviours your dog does that you really wish he would stop. Start trying to figure out how they are being rewarded. Keep in mind there are behaviours that are self reinforcing such as barking and are much harder to change because of that.
Remember for a behaviour to be repeated it must be being rewarded. A behaviour without rewards will eventually fade.
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