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Dog training comprises:
Classical Conditioning and Progressive Desensitization — to change the dog's perceptions towards unfamiliar people, other dogs, and novel aspects of the environment, by a) forming positive associations between these potentially scary stimuli and subsequent praise and rewards, such as, food, toys, games, etc., and unfortunately, b) by forming negative associations between people, dogs, and specific scenarios and subsequent aversive stimuli. Changing feelings changes behavior.

Operant Conditioning — to increase the frequency of desirable behaviors and decrease the frequency and eventually eliminate undesirable behaviors. Changing behavior changes feelings. For example, cuing Sit and Shush imbues calm and confidence.
Combining Associative Learning and Operant Conditioning in The Basic Training Sequence — to reliably cue and reinforce desirable behavior and reliably cue the cessation of undesirable behavior.

In terms of teaching basic manners, i.e., cued responses, such as, Come, Sit, Down, Stand, Stay, Heel, Watch, etc., my working definition of training is:

Teaching dogs to respond reliably, promptly, and happily to a single verbal cue, in any scenario, including when off-leash, at a distance, and distracted, and without the continued need for any training aid whatsoever, especially including, food lures, food rewards, hand-contact, leashes, collars, halters, and harnesses.

Some popularly held notions are that 'training is training', and 'a trainer is a trainer'. However, given a hundred dog trainers, each one would use different techniques that vary considerably in terms of ease, speed, effectiveness, and enjoyment.

Enjoyment
It should go without saying that training should be enjoyable. Why treat our best friend like our worst enemy? Moreover, when training is FUN, both dogs and owners want to play the Training Game with each other. Tail wags, smiles, and laughter all around.

Effectiveness
Also though, training must be effective; if training is not effective, it's not training! In the definition above, you’ll notice that all three of my woolly adverbs may be objectively quantified. In terms of 'reliably' and 'promptly', Response-Reliability Percentages offer a combined index of verbal comprehension and motivation to respond, and when tested before and after a single training session (Test-Train-Test), the difference reflects improvement, i.e., Proof of Training and Proof of the Speed of Training. Also, I routinely train dogs off-leash in safe surroundings, so that I can continually evaluate the dog’s eagerness and consent to train with me, 'happily'.

Obviously, cuing behaviors is essential to accurately quantify their response-reliability, i.e., the percentage of times the dog responds following a single verbal instruction. The formula is simple:
(# Performed Responses) divided by (# Verbal Cues given) x 100

You'll learn so much when you calculate RR%s in different scenarios. Without a doubt, the most common reason for a dog to be non-compliant is that they have difficulty comprehending common commands in some novel or distracting scenarios.

For example, if you score a Down-Sit-Down-Sit-Down-Sit body position-change sequence using verbal cues only (no body movement allowed) with a well-trained dog, toe-to-toe in front of and facing you, but then, instruct your dog to Down-Stay, take two steps backwards, turn your back towards to your dog, and repeat the sequence, the RR% often goes from 95% to 10%. However, if you then turn round, face, and approach your dog and say, "Sit", your dog immediately sits.

As your dog's defense attorney, I would posit: rather than dissing or trying to dominate you, your dog has difficulty interpreting the instruction to Sit, when you are two yards away and your back is turned. So... what would make you think your dog would sit if their back were turned and they were 40 yards away, running, and chasing a squirrel?

The effectiveness of training is paramount; however, outside of competitions and trials, the degree of effectiveness is rarely measured before, during, or after training. Dog trainers tend to discuss the nature of dog training more that its effect on changing behavior; subjective views of whether training is nice or nasty, rather than objective evaluation of whether it works, how well it works, and how quickly it works, i.e., effectiveness for changing behavior. The nice/nasty debate is moot, if one, or the other, or neither technique works that well. Often, we are emoting about how we feel about equipment, rather than discussing and debating the effectiveness of 'dog training'.

When we analyze different training techniques as a behaviorist (observing and quantifying behavior), we often find that a speedy change in behavior (in the right direction) is not always apparent.

In Barking Up the Right Tree, I describe an impromptu study I did in the early 80s, wherein I counted the number of leash corrections I observed in a DTC heeling exercise. The number was identical the following week. Well, if the number of leash corrections for perceived heeling problems remained the same, presumably the number of 'infractions' remained the same, so therefore, the perceived leash 'corrections' were not corrections, but simply leash-jerks. Similarly, observing and quantifying before-and-after, response-reliability percentages or stay-durations in a variety of positive reinforcement classes offers a wide range of improvement, or decline, especially in classes of adolescent dogs.

Ease and Speed of Training are Also Important?
Given that dog training should be effective and enjoyable, training should be quick and easy. If a training technique is too complicated, some owners may not have the requisite skill-set and so, fail to succeed. Similarly, if training is too time-consuming, owners might be less likely to devote sufficient time.

Training is not just about training dogs, equally important is teaching people how to train their dogs. Many trainers tend to underestimate their wealth of experience and expertise and so often, what may come so naturally and effortlessly to them may be challenging and confusing for novice dog owners, especially children. If training is not enjoyable, quick, easy, and highly effective, owners might feel overwhelmed, become frustrated, and give up, causing their dog to miss out on their education. Not fair!

Wonderfully, Lure-Reward Training is HANDS DOWN the easiest, quickest, and most effective reward-training technique on the planet for putting behaviors on cue, i.e., for teaching dogs ESL. Consequently, owners feel as fulfilled and as happy as their dogs.