Hooray! You've stocked up on the small snacks, and you're ready to train away! Decide beforehand what command words you want to use. Even if your pup has been trained in the past, it doesn't hurt to give him a refresher. North's main command words are sit, down, stay, drop it, on by, out, and off. Research has indicated that an intelligent dog can develop a vocabulary of well over 50 words so don't sell your pup short!
As a pet owner, you'll choose different trigger words and commands necessary to your life. For example, living in Manhattan with my puppy, "on by" was a necessity off the bat — this let North know that it's not time to stop and greet every person we pass (hence go "on by" them) but, if you live in an area where you seldom encounter people, this is probably not first on your list. Similarly, we still struggle with "off" as he inevitably tries to jump on favorite visitors for kisses. Remember training is an ongoing process, and voice commands should be chosen carefully — see tips when you read more.
- Words that end in a hard consonant (C, K, T, X) are better than those that end in a vowel because they have a hard finish and can be quickly and articulately said.
- Keep your voice crisp and cheerful. At no point during training, should you act as if your pup will be getting punished if he responds.
- Use short commands, preferably one syllable. Choose one word for each action to keep consistency. Say the word once to get the result. Repeating it can be confusing for the dog, and can result in him finally performing the task but simply because he is trying to figure out your cues, not because he has made the connection. Your goal is to get your pup to associate that one word with the one duty instantly.
- When teaching your pet to come, that command often needs more than one word associated with it. With new pups, you have to first attract the dog's attention by saying his name, then you issue the command (come), and then you say "good boy" so your pup knows he's not in trouble.
- After your pup comes and does the tasks you have asked, use a finish command like "free" or "release." Some trainers advise against using common words like "okay" although others teach this — I like to make North hold a "sit" at the front door before our walk, next to his dish before getting food, and at each red-light corner so I chose my finish command of "let's go."
Gorgeous
Vanessa Bruno
Halston
Awww now I want a pup to train!
1I've been trying to train my kitty...he's way too stubborn though
2I agree aschwebb, i want a pup to train too! And NurseDeAnna, Kitties train us
3My dogs know a wide variety of words and the tones that come with it. They know the usual like sit, down, stay, and come but they also know some other good ones
4-stand: to go from a sit or down position to standing on all fours (extremely helpful when grooming)
-heel: The dog will circle behind me and stop sitting on my left side
-high five: One of dogs sits on his hindlegs and puts one paw up for a high five
-out, stop and enough: self explanatory
*chuckles* Once upon a time, while my ex-fiancé and I were training our new puppy, we read an article that suggested (while trying to housebreak) that we use a command word everytime the little guy did his business outside so that over time, he would more or less, "go" on command.
They suggested using a word that doesn't come up often in conversation. We chose (and I don't remember why, exactly, its been years) zucchini.
Oddly enough, it worked pretty well and was nice on those super-cold mornings to step out the back door and get him to go quickly
5We use piddle or little busy for going outside...we started with piddle which works okay but when she stayed with my brother he used little busy and it worked great.
These are some great tricks. I am having a hard time getting her to come...but we're working on it.
6it's hard to find words that aren't generally used in conversation but won't make you seem crazy if you say them in front of people...
7Thanks! These are great tips. Oh and those that say they want a pup to train...feel free to come borrow mine.
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