Teaching your dog obedience is important for many reasons. It is critical to maintaining a harmonious relationship – your dog needs discipline and boundaries, and you need structure. By teaching your dog the rules of the home when they are a puppy, you have a better chance of making sure they are happy and content throughout their life.
There are some basic commands that every dog should learn: for instance, “come”, “no”, “sit” and “stay”, for instance. But your dog is capable of learning many more complex commands, and if your find that he is adept at learning – you may want to give these a try.
Basic Commands & Beyond
Often, teaching your dog more complex commands is simply a matter of combining two more basic commands. Here are some quick tips on how to teach your dog some new tricks!
- Leave It: The leave it command is integral to your dog’s safety, not to mention your sanity. Training them to not touch an object they would normally covet is a skill that will be necessary in many types of circumstances.
- Wait & Okay: The wait command is similar to stay, but generally indicates that the command is temporary or short lived. The “okay” command is to let the dog know that it is ok to continue what he was doing. Combining “wait” and “okay” teaches your dog to slow down and take a break, then continue on his way when you affirm him doing so.
- Bring It: Some dogs will have an easier time with this command than others. Retrievers, for instance, understand instinctually to bring you an object. Still, every dog can be taught to bring an object to you on command. Your dog will have to understand the “come” command before learning this trick.
- Leap: You can teach the dog to jump over objects by combining the “stay” and “come” command, as long as you have an object between you that is easily navigated.
- Go or Place: Once your dog understands this command, you should be able to point to a location and he will head over to a specified point. This is a useful command when you want to have your dog settle down.
- Beg and Shake: Two of the favorite behaviors to teach a dog is the “shake” and “beg” commands. They are crowd pleasers and your dog will love the interaction as well.
- Roll Over: This is one of the more complicated behaviors to teach a dog, but once mastered your dog will enjoy the playfulness of it all. If you can get them to lay on their side, simply move a treat away to one side until they flop on their side, then continue.
- Speak: This is another behavior that can be a little tricky to teach certain dogs, but they can eventually learn to bark on command if you encourage them with their favorite treat.
- Find It: One of the most difficult commands to teach your dog is “find it”. This will include having them search for a favorite toy or treat. First put it in an obvious place, then eventually make it more difficult. This is a great behavior to teach your dog to reduce anxiety when you leave for the day – they will associate your leaving with the fun of finding their favorite thing.
Training your dog is a great opportunity to build a bond and trust between the two of you. If you need assistance in behavioral training, call the experts at Gulf Coast K9 Dog Training. Whether a two week course or basic commands, we have the expertise you need.
