Want your dog to feel happy during training sessions? Then you need this trainer’s four easy tips

While there are so many wonderful parts to being a dog owner, helping our pups to learn the behavior that's expected of them can often feel like one of the most challenging parts of pet parenthood.

Even armed with a bag of the best dog treats, training our dogs to walk well on a loose leash, to not bark at the doorbell, jump up at strangers or cry when they're put in their crate all take a great deal of time, patience and consistency to teach.

And while it can often feel like a frustrating process for us humans, training can also cause unhappiness in our pups if we're not paying attention to their emotional experience.

According to Julianna DeWillems, owner and head trainer at JW Dog Training & Behavior, how you train matters, because how your dog feels matters. "Your training has an impact on the bond you have with your dog," she explains.

So, with that in mind, how exactly can you go about making training sessions more enjoyable for your fur friend? Well, in a video shared to Instagram, DeWillems outlines four steps you can take to help make the training process fun and stress-free. You can check out the clip below or read on for a summary of the key points:

"Emotions and training - they're there whether you recognize them or not," says DeWillems. "Classical conditioning is always at play. How you train impacts how your dog feels during training and this feeling can spill over into your overall relationship with your dog."