When I start teaching a new skill in class, a question I
often hear from clients is “What word do I say?” My answer is pretty much always “Whatever
word you want!” Dogs do not come
preloaded with a dictionary, so we can teach them to associate whatever word we
choose with any particular behavior. Of
course, there are some general guidelines that might be helpful when building
your dog’s vocabulary.
·
Don’t use
the same word for more than one behavior.
For example, if you want to say “down” when your dog is jumping up on
someone, use a different word such as “lay” when you want your dog to go into a
belly on the ground position.
·
Your word should come out of your mouth
easily. If “gentle” doesn’t roll off
your tongue, use “easy” or “nicely” to ask your dog to take treats politely
from fingers.
·
Have a clear picture of what exactly your dog
should be doing when you say the word.
For example, for my dogs, “leave it” means move your head away from that
interesting thing, and “drop it” means open your jaws. These are two separate muscle movements, so
they have different verbal cues. If you
ask your dog to “leave it” when he already has it in his mouth, it may be
confusing.
·
Have everyone in your family use the same
words. While dogs can learn multiple
words for the same behavior, it’s better to stick to one word during the early
stages of learning a new behavior.
The other thing to keep in mind is that a verbal cue is not
always the best way to get your dog to do what you want. Dogs tend to learn visual cues more quickly
(and often more reliably) than verbal cues.
So if your dog is struggling to respond to you saying “Sit!
Sit! Sit!” help him out by
following the word cue with a hand signal.
We also often give our dog visual
signals without realizing it. When we
say “sit”, we might lean forward slightly, or move our hands up slightly, and
while we think the dog is responding to the word, it’s actually the slight body
movement. If you want to give your dog’s
verbal cues a test, check out this video:
https://youtu.be/pLHEf4wuDGI
Another wonderful way to get good behavior from your dog is
to not use any word cue at all. Letting
the environment or situation be the cue is a great way to train! For example, standing near the door to go
outside and just waiting for your dog to offer a sit (without saying the word
or giving the hand signal) will teach your dog to offer a sit to go outside. Or say your dog wants to pull to greet
another dog when on a walk. You can
certainly use a “leave it” cue, or a “watch me” cue, but wouldn’t it be nice if
your dog saw the other dog and looked back to you without even being asked? When your dog first sees another dog, offer
your dog a treat by your side. Over
time, when your dog sees another dog, he will immediately come to your side,
expecting a treat, instead of pulling forward.
The other dog becomes the cue to go to your side, and you don’t have to
say a word!
Happy Training!