I used to be the training manager for one of the largest protection dog companies on earth. As a company we would import some of the finest dogs from Europe to the United States and would spend months training them to protect home and family, be obedient companions and be the best pets anyone could ever hope for.
The investment for dogs of this caliber was regularly $25,000 per dog and up, and nearly every client we worked with would attest to how valuable an investment it was to have an impeccably obedient canine companion that could also guard them.
By the time we were done with these high-priced dogs, they would respond quickly and accurately to 20 or 30 commands.
Do you want to know the funny thing, though? After owning one of these dogs for months, most clients would report back that although the dog would obey any command quickly and happily, there were really only two or three commands used on a daily basis. Most clients would have need to tell their dog “come,” “down,” “come-on” and not much beyond that.
As people we are very verbal creatures. We talk and talk, and when we aren’t talking we turn on the radio or television to listen to and watch other people talk. It is very natural for us to also want to talk to our dogs. This is fine; there is no problem with this.
The problem, though, is in the commands we give our dogs. We give them too many! If you were to categorize and document the commands most people give their dogs on a daily basis you might find a list of 20 or more. What I’ve found is that most dogs are far better off with better selected and fewer commands. In fact, most people could easily stand to trim a list of 20 commands down to six or seven.
What do I mean by that? Most people I see tell their dogs to “sit” and then “stay.” Why bother saying “stay” once your dog has sat or lied down on command? You already told him to sit; you didn’t release your dog. If your dog does get up from a sitting position before you’ve asked him, you don’t have a “stay” problem, you’ve got a problem getting your dog to understand what “sit” means.
If you ask your child to clean his or her room and the child picks up one toy, do you call that good? Of course not. Your request isn’t complete until the child has finished picking up the room.
I teach my dogs that once I’ve asked them to sit, lie down, wait at the door, heel by my side, come when called, etc., to keep doing it until I’ve asked them to do something else or released them. I call it my “concept of permanence” and in doing so I only have to ask my dogs to lie down once, to heel once, to come once and so on.
It doesn’t stop there, though. I go into so many homes where the dog owner has a dozen words for the dog’s issues. When the dog jumps, the owner says “off,” “down” and “no jump.” When the puppy nips, the owner says “ouch,” “no bite” and “easy.” Why muddy the waters with so many commands? If your dog does something you don’t like, why not stick to a single word like “no” or “uh-uh”?
The bottom line is dogs are smart. If we need them to understand 20 commands, they can do it. Personally, though, I like to simplify things for them so we’re not giving needless commands. The more commands you give, the easier it is for those commands to become ignored.
Happy training.
Do you use a stay command? What do you think of weeding this command out of your training?
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