Teaching your new puppy how to behave is never an easy task.
There is so much information about which commands you should teach your dog, but even if you’re not into advanced training, there are some basic commands every dog should know, in order to make your and your dog’s life better and easier.
Why Are Commands Important?
Teaching your dog commands won’t only make your dog smarter, but it will also enable you to have a stronger bond with your dog. When your pup knows some of the basic commands, you will have a much better control of him in potentially dangerous situations (such as walking your dog off leash, being near traffic, being close to small kids, etc.)
If you want to breed your dog, your dog will probably need to participate in dog shows. Being able to obey basic commands will certainly give your pup higher rankings and lead to a better pedigree.
But that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to teach your dog any commands if you’re not planning to breed him. For instance, if you like to spend time playing games with your dog, you might want to teach him a cool or funny trick. Achieving such a thing will be much easier if he learns several commands such as ‘Sit’ or ‘Stay’.
Positive Reinforcement
Before listing out 10 basic commands that you should teach your dog, let’s say a word or two about the correct approach to training dogs.
The only approach that has proved to work best with all dogs is the positive reinforcement. This approach enables you to establish a good communication with your dog and to be able to control desired and unwanted behavior.
Whenever your dog does something you asked of him, praise him with kind words or cuddles or give him a treat. This approach avoids punishment at all costs, because those “harsh” methods often end up confusion your dog by creating wrong messages.
Therefore, be patient and praise your dog whenever he’s been a “good boy”.
Here’s the list of 10 basic commands to teach your dog:
Stay
First and most important command is the ‘Stay’ command. Although it is not one of the attractive show-off skills, the ‘Stay’ command is the foundation for more complex training tasks, and the skill you rely on to keep your dog away from harm’s way or running into traffic.
Sit
‘Sit’ is a very important command, especially for indoor pet dogs. The ‘Sit’ command provides you with much needed control over the dog`s actions, and presents the basic skill for further training tasks based on gaining your dog’s attention.
Silence
It`s pretty obvious why the ‘Silence’ command is so important. Some dogs bark for fun, some in order to scare off the intruders, but in any case, training the dog to quit making noise when being told will make your cohabitation with the dog a pleasant life experience and will provide you with control in any situation.
Come
Along with the ‘Stay’ command, ‘Come’ is also crucial regarding the safety of your dog as well as the safety of others. ‘Come’ and ‘Stay’ training should some as first training tasks you take upon your dog and yourself. Here’s a more in-depth article on dog recall training.
Look
The ‘Look’ command is very basic and a very useful one as well. The word ‘Look’ is supposed to be the signal for your dog to focus its attention to you. By doing that, the ‘Look’ command is the foundation for more complex training tasks.
Drop
The ‘Drop’ training is important for multiple reasons, two of those being keeping your dog from eating something that might be harmful and preventing your dog from chewing up and destroying your things that aren’t supposed to be chewing toys.
Wait
‘Wait’ and ‘Sit’ commands come hand in hand. The ‘Wait’ command is designed to teach your dog self-control, while at the same time focusing its attention to the command that will follow. Keep in mind, though, that not all breeds are equally prone to self-discipline.
With me
A much needed skill your dog should be trained to have is being summoned with ‘With me’ command. It combines focusing your dog`s attention as well as keeping the dog closely by your side. This command is especially important when it comes to outdoor activities.
Lay down
‘Lay down’ should be the skill which follows the ‘Sit’ command that your dog has already accepted. ‘Lay down’ is super-important, for both outdoor and indoor pets, providing you with control over your dog`s actions especially around other people and small children.
Leave it
‘Leave it’ is another command that is based on focusing the dog`s attention onto yourself. The ‘Leave it’ command is designed to enable your dog with the skill to stop doing whatever it was previously doing, and re-direct the attention to what you are about to do next.
Hope you found this article interesting. If so, feel free to spread the word!
[social]
