Words To Use For Dog Commands

You should start training your dog as soon as possible. Puppies will struggle early on, but as they develop, you can give them basic commands which can become more advanced as they grow. Whether a puppy or adult dog, it is important to choose your words carefully while training your dog. Here are a few tips on selecting the right command words for your dog:

• The words you choose should end with a hard consonant, like a C, T, X or K. They give your command a hard finish which allows them to distinguish commands more easily.
• They should be short command words, preferably having a single syllable. Select one word for one action, and be consistent. Say it only once, as repeating the command can confuse the dog and they may not understand you. The dog should associate that word with the action to be done instantly.
• They should not be too common or ones which you will use at unrelated times. Don’t choose a word that you often say at home or over the phone. Your dog will be used to hearing it and it will not associate it with the right command or get confused.

Teaching your dog commands is not only for your benefit. It means you can have more control over your dog, but more importantly it provides essential mental and physical stimulation. It can also strengthen the bond between dog and owner as well as providing safety in different situations. Here are some beginner command words that will teach basic respect and discipline traits to your dog:

• Watch me: this is one of the basic commands to use when you need to get your dog’s attention. Once you grab its attention and it is fixated on you, you can start teaching it other commands.

• Come: if your dog has gone a distance away from you, you can call it towards you by giving it the ‘come’ command. This is a helpful command with which you can protect your dog from getting into a fight with other dogs or when it runs away to chase something.

• Sit: this is a necessary command that can be helpful in preventing certain bothersome behaviors in your dog, such as jumping on others while going for walk. When you give this command to your pooch, it should sit immediately and not move from its place.

• Stand: with this word, you can ask your dog to stand. Sometimes, the dog needs to be in standing position, such as while brushing it, while the veterinarian examines it or when you want to take it out for a walk. When your dog hears this word, it will stand still without moving or reacting. It can be a helpful command if you want to wash or brush your dog, apply flea treatment to its body or get them up for any action.

• Stay: this is a practical command that keeps your dog self-controlled, especially if it is a hyper-active breed.

• Heel: this is a command with which you can ask your dog to walk beside you. It is a useful one as it teaches your doggy to behave as well as maintain their safety. This is a practical command that can be of help when you have not leashed your dog and your hands are not free. Particularly useful when they are a puppy as they can otherwise get excited and run off.

• Wait: walk your dog near a closed door, command it to ‘wait’, then open the door and let the dog in. By repeating this step several times, the dog will learn that it needs stay in its current position until something else happens. With this command, you will teach your dog that it should not run away through public doors, hallways, store entrances and others. It should wait and hold its current position until you give it your next command.

• Off: you can use this word to command your dog to get off something, such as a person, home furniture, etc.

• Drop it: you may use this word when you want a dog to drop something that they are not supposed to grab in their teeth.

• Crate: you must have given a specific place in your home to your dog, such as a crate, bed, carpet, blanket or an area on the floor. When you want your dog to go to that place and stay there, you can give it the ‘crate’ command. This is a useful command that you can give when guests are arriving at your home and you want the place clear of pets. While you are trying to sleep and your dog is not in a mood to do so, you can use this command to ask the dog to immediately head to its bed.

Once your dog gets the basic commands firmly implanted in its head, you can move forward with the advanced command words. Some of them might be:

• Speak: usually you would not want your dog to bark at inappropriate times, but sometimes, you want it to bark, especially when you want to alert someone or want to make some noise. In that situation, this command comes handy.

• Stop: when your dog hears this command, it will stop whatever it was doing. It can be helpful when your dog tries to eat some garbage on the street, bite at its tail, chew things or jump up on passersby.

• Back up: if your dog is getting agitated due to guests or other dogs around it, you can use this command to ask it to back up. With this command, the dog will go leave a situation and hopefully regain its composure.

• Steady: you may use this command when you know that your pooch may get excited or distracted by certain things around it. After receiving this command, the dog will stay close to you and hold its temper.

• Shake: this is a cute command which asks the dog to offer its paw and shake hands. Kids and guests really enjoy this gesture.

• Roll over: with this command, the dog will roll over and present its stomach to you.

• Fetch: this is a good command which you can see people using at dog parks or backyards. When you throw a toy, ball or bone at a distance, give the fetch command to your dog after which it will return the item back to you.

• Attack: this command is often used with security K-9’s. With this command, the dog attacks a threat to itself or its owner. It is only to be used by professionals and is for restraint, not to injure a person.

• Touch: when you give this command to your dog, it comes running and touches the palm of your hand. You can hold your hand at a height and give the touch command. The dog will jump up high to touch your hand. Once it learns this command, you can direct it to go and touch other objects, such as hitting the light switch or even locking a door.

• Find: most dogs are natural retrievers and playing a search game with your dog indoors or outdoors can be really fun. You can hide something and then give the find command to your dog to go and search for it. As the skill advances, your dog will be able to find lost people and missing things too.

These words are able to be used for their corresponding action. However, dogs will be unable to distinguish language in the same way, so it is possible to associate an action with any word. Instead of using the word ‘walk’ to go for a walk, you can say ‘shark’ or anything that works for you. You can get creative, but just ensure it is a command word you don't mind using in public. If used a swear word or something which might be funny to you in your own home, the same might not be said if the wrong person overhears it.

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