Choosing Puppy Commands
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 18:49 | 
Author: marvyn | 
You know that you want to give your dog commands, but how do you decide which words to use? You know that once you train a dog to know a certain word, you are stuck with that word for the rest of the dog's life. That's a lot of pressure!
Take for example, the “down” command. When your friends and neighbors come over to your house, there's a good chance one of them will tell your dog to get down from something. They do not mean, however, for your dog to lie down on the floor. There is some ambiguity in the word. If you yourself frequently tell your dog to get down off the couch, you could confuse a dog that has been taught that down means something else.
Another tough one is the recall. The recall command should mean to your dog that it is to come to you the second it hears the command and to sit in front of you, awaiting further instruction from you. This is probably not the same word you want to use to call the dog into the house at night, or what you say when you tell the dog to “come on and jump in the car.”
To confuse matters even further, there is some merit to being original. If everybody in a room is calling his or her dog at the same time, and everyone is using the same command, it can be confusing for your dog. For that reason, even though I'm going to share some examples for you, you might want to come up with your own unique commands. (Just be sure you can remember them.)
It is probably easier, and safer, to choose odd words than it is to retrain ourselves away from saying common ones. If you are bilingual, you might consider training your dog in a language that won't be used around the dog except by you. Many people choose German commands, because the language features sounds that dogs respond well to. If you plan on using English, focus on words that are short, with distinctive sounds, and that end with a consonant. If you don't want to use “down,” don't substitute the word “lay,” because it sounds too much like “stay” and it's not terribly emphatic sounding. Some popular words to substitute for “down” are “drop” or “park.” Some substitutes for stay are “freeze” and “wait.” Instead of “come” for the recall, try “now” or “front.”
Whatever you choose, be consistent. Once you've made a word a command for your dog, you should never say that word unless you mean it as the command.
Take for example, the “down” command. When your friends and neighbors come over to your house, there's a good chance one of them will tell your dog to get down from something. They do not mean, however, for your dog to lie down on the floor. There is some ambiguity in the word. If you yourself frequently tell your dog to get down off the couch, you could confuse a dog that has been taught that down means something else.
Another tough one is the recall. The recall command should mean to your dog that it is to come to you the second it hears the command and to sit in front of you, awaiting further instruction from you. This is probably not the same word you want to use to call the dog into the house at night, or what you say when you tell the dog to “come on and jump in the car.”
To confuse matters even further, there is some merit to being original. If everybody in a room is calling his or her dog at the same time, and everyone is using the same command, it can be confusing for your dog. For that reason, even though I'm going to share some examples for you, you might want to come up with your own unique commands. (Just be sure you can remember them.)
It is probably easier, and safer, to choose odd words than it is to retrain ourselves away from saying common ones. If you are bilingual, you might consider training your dog in a language that won't be used around the dog except by you. Many people choose German commands, because the language features sounds that dogs respond well to. If you plan on using English, focus on words that are short, with distinctive sounds, and that end with a consonant. If you don't want to use “down,” don't substitute the word “lay,” because it sounds too much like “stay” and it's not terribly emphatic sounding. Some popular words to substitute for “down” are “drop” or “park.” Some substitutes for stay are “freeze” and “wait.” Instead of “come” for the recall, try “now” or “front.”
Whatever you choose, be consistent. Once you've made a word a command for your dog, you should never say that word unless you mean it as the command.