Dog Commands - Introduction
In response to a few questions, I decided it is worth incorporating some articles on the standard commands for dog training. Although I thought these are basic, on thinking about it I’ve realised that we all teach dogs in our own way, which is absolutely fine, but a couple of reasons emerged as to why this might be worthwhile:
- some methods take longer than others
- more importantly, if not taught efficiently, some dogs learn variations or additional aspects that might not be quite what is required later and “unlearning” is not much fun for you or your dog
The next few posts are about the individual main commands, and can be found quickly by referring to the category list on the right hand side of this page.
They will cover:
- Sit
- Stay
- Come
- Down / Lie
- Heel
- Other (Quiet, Fetch & Give)
The training of these basic commands are for teaching your dog while it is young and not to the level required for advanced training for shows, etc. These are intended as the basics, while exhibition standards require much tighter control for measures of obedience to be assessed, for example.
In addition, there are also the links around the website which put these commands into context in different situations, as well as the other posts which discuss common behavioral problems, which is the main subject for this site. To make these commands effective, the over-riding points to remember are:
- repetition and consistency, initially when training a puppy and later as part of the normal day-to-day activity with your dog
- a calm and patient approach and tone of voice
- praising, but as your dog grows through the puppy stage, without being over-enthusiastic as it could break a spell in which he is being particularly receptive and more training could be included
- rewarding at the right point and ideally in a reducing pattern as your dog grows and everything about the basic training is becoming natural as it should.
Any dog is best trained when it is at its most alert, not tired (for most of the commands) and possibly even a little hungry. As the dog will be a puppy when learning the basic commands, a short session using food rewards then a smaller meal can prove highly effective.
