Dogs are personalities, they’re individuals and they’re all different. If your dog is easy going and your life with them is perfect then congratulate yourself, give your dog a hug and be happy that you have a unicorn. For the rest of us, our dogs might resemble more of a work in progress. That’s fine too. Here are some dog commands that might make your day-to-day easier. And how to get those commands embedded..
What are the most important dog commands?
This totally depends on how you live with your dog. If you live next to a busy road then your most important command will be whatever you use to stop the dog from running out of the door whenever you open it. If your dog gets over-excited with visitors then maybe a “place” command to send your dog to its bed might be your highest priority so guests can get in the door without ensuing chaos. It’s really a personal preference thing so I thought it might be useful to run through a few common commands so you can pick those that are useful to you and focus on them.
So in no particular order, let’s look at:
- Go to your bed / place / crate (go there and relax)
- Free dog (work is over, now it’s your time to do what you like)
- Wait (pause before continuing)
- Stay (I’ll be back, I want you to remain calm until I return)
- Leave it (stop what you’re doing)
- Drop (open your mouth)
- Yes (well done, now carry on)
- Recall
It’s worth pointing out that commands should ideally be one word. If that word is a short one then even better. Dogs are clever but the easier you make it for them, the easier you are making it for yourself.
1. Go to your bed
Firstly, it doesn’t matter where you are sending your dog, their bed, their crate (assuming they are trained to be happy being in a crate), or some other place. If they have more than one bed, place etc then these should have different names so they know where you are sending them. If your dog has just one bed you might find it useful to introduce another. It’s very useful if you have an old towel, lay it on the floor, teach your dog that this one is called “place” and train him to relax on it. When you travel with your dog, whether it is visiting the in-laws at Christmas or going to the pub for the evening, you can roll up the towel, take it with you and the dog has a ready-made bed that has lots of good associations of calmness and relaxation.
So, starting from scratch and assuming that your dog has no association with the command bed/place etc, put a simple slip lead on him and calmly walk him to his bed. As he steps onto the bed give him a reward, food, or if he gets excited by food then some calm praise is better, remember that we want the bed command to invoke calmness, not induce excitement. Lead the dog away from the bed and then back again. This time as he steps on, say “bed” (or “place” or whatever command you want to use) and reward again. Lead the dog off and then back again, say the command as he steps on and then get the dog to sit, then reward. Repeat again but this time put the dog into a down, then reward again. In effect, what you are doing is building an association with the command and the dog going to his bed and going through the levels of relaxation. A this point it might be worth giving the dog a little break, depends on their ability to concentrate. When you come back to it you can repeat again.
After repeating this exercise a few times you can change the outcome a little. After putting the dog into a down, reward as normal, but then don’t lead the dog away. Sit down next to the dog and wait for them to relax further. Depending on the dog this might take some time. As the dog moves down through the levels of relaxation you can give some calm affection. For example, a dog going from a stand to a sit is starting to relax, a sit to a down is dropping down another gear, an alert down (head up, back straight) to rolling onto one hip is the next level of relaxation, when they finally rest their head on the floor or on their paws they have relaxed even further. Every time they relax a little, reward with calm, gentle praise. Once the dog has relaxed you can lead them away and repeat.
By this point the dog should have an association between being told to go to its bed and going there, and most importantly, relaxing once it gets there. As with all obedience training, it is best to practice when there are no distractions. Then when there is a distraction, you have set the dog up for success.
2. Free dog
We expect a lot from our dogs, they should be responsive to our commands, engaged with us, focussed on where we are and what we are doing and hanging off our every word. So when we don’t need this from them it’s nice to give them the reassurance to have a little break and do their own thing, sniff stuff, mark territory, be a dog and do doggy stuff. So just be clear with them. When you’re walking, do the structured part of the walk with the dog walking to heel and engaged with you and then when you get to a suitable place you can let them off the short lead, or transfer them onto a long-line, and say “break”, or “free dog” or whatever command you want to signify this with. It doesn’t mean they can ignore you, they still need to come back if called for example, but they are not expected to have the same laser focus. Then when the time comes you can put them back on the short lead, tell them to heel and they know they’re working again.
It’s similar when you are doing obedience work too. Do the work, expect engagement and then give them the release command so they know that’s the end of the exercise. Imagine being a child in a classroom and the teacher doesn’t tell you when the lesson ends; it would be weird if they just walked out. “Break” is the dog equivalent of the teacher saying, “Thanks for your attention, that’s all for today. See you next time.”
3. Wait
There are times when you might want your dog to pause before doing something. Waiting at the door before you leave for your walk, waiting on the curb before crossing the road, and many others. Calmness and tone of voice are very important here, if you’re building excitement – and suspense – then you’re making it harder for the dog to not do the thing you want it to hold off from doing. This is the most important thing to think about when teaching a wait and the importance of this cannot be stressed enough.
Start by putting a lead on your dog so you have the best possible control of him. Put him into a sit and place something on the floor in front of him about one meter away. This should be something mildly interesting but not super-exiting, maybe a toy unless your dog is very play-driven. As you put it on the floor say “wait” and be ready to give your dog a light correction but flicking the lead because he will almost certainly move forward to investigate what you have put down. In effect, you have given the dog a command and the dog has ignored you so you have corrected the dog for this. As long as he responds to this correction and stops trying to approach the item you can then give the free dog command to allow them to move forward and investigate. Don’t expect miracles to begin with, a brief pause is all you are looking for and then allow the dog to do what it wants. As you progress you can expect the dog to wait for longer. This association with “wait” will then be transferable to other scenarios like waiting at the door or before crossing the road.
4. Stay
This is different to wait. Wait is a pause, stay is short for “stay where you, be calm and relaxed, I’m coming back later then I’ll reward you.” This is how we solve separation anxiety, which is rarely actually true anxiety, it’s almost always the dog trying to remind you that you have been a little absent minded and left him at home while you go out on your own – he’s calling the pack back together.
So, how do we explain to the dog that he should remain relaxed on his bed while you disappear off to do something else? First of all, build a good “bed” command. When your dog is nice and relaxed in their bed you can stand over them, say “stay” and walk backwards a few steps, keep facing them. Walk straight back to them and give some very calm, gentle affection. Say “stay” again and walk backwards again but go a little further this time. Pause for a second, then go back and again, share some calm affection. You have to be careful not to build excitement in the dog, or he will follow you, which is the opposite of what you are trying to achieve. For the third attempt, say “stay”, and this time turn around and walk away the same distance as last time, pause for a second and then return to the dog. Reward calmly and then give the dog his break command.
Don’t try to do too many repetitions or go too far away to soon. It is vital that your dog stays in his bed in order to build the association that “stay” means “I stay here and my owner returns to give me cuddles.” If you push too hard too soon the association the dog will get is one of him following you which is the absolute opposite of what we are trying to achieve here. If he does follow, you have to reset and do a successful repetition where he stays in place before you can end the exercise. This is crucial so his most recent memory is of him doing the right thing, not the wrong thing. If he does follow you at any point you can offer a small correction and lead him back to his bed and try again with you walking less far and pausing for less time.
Slowly build the distance and time you are away from him until you can leave the house. After a week or two of good practice you’ll be able to leave the dog home alone without any problems.
In summary
Having some basic commands achieves many things but something often overlooked is that it gives the dog accountability. You’re having a conversation with him, “I expect this from you.” And hopefully he’ll reply, “Here you go.” At that point everyone’s lives become easier.
Until next time, enjoy your dog.
Nick
