BASIC OBEDIENCE COMMANDS are great to know, but only if your dog or puppy can understand both the words and the signals you use to communicate to your canine!
Many canine trainers use fancy words or complicated hand signals to command obedience from a dog or a puppy, but the canine is confused by the wrong approach of the trainer!
In the following photos of dogs or puppies, and their owner and/or trainer, at SHILOH K9 OBEDIENCE, LLC, you will be able to see the hand singals and read the command words that are used to command the canines we train at our facility!
First of all, as you look down through the page, you will be viewing our starting point with all of the pooches. We begin our engagement and marker training with each dog or puppy with what we call, “WATCH ME,” Work!
THE TRAINING TREAT STARTS AT THE DOG’S NOSE –
THE HUMAN BRINGS THE TREAT UP TO THEIR OWN NOSE, AND THEN THEY SAY: WATCH ME!”
When The Dog Looks Up At The Owner, The Owner Puts The Treat In The Dog’s Mouth And Says: “YES!”
“WATCH ME!” – “Yes, Good Girl, ZUZU!”
When our dogs love to make eye contact with us we are able to have them want to give us their undivided attention! This obviously makes engaging and commanding our K9 friends much more enjoyable and profitable to both the dog and the human alike!
“WATCH ME!” – Good Boys, Kiko & Trooper!
“HOW ABOUT A TWO-FOR–ONE WATCH ME?”
THERE ARE “FIVE” BASIC K9 OBEDIENCE COMMANDS…
BASIC OBEDIENCE COMMANDS are great to know, but only if your dog or puppy can understand both the words and the signals you use to communicate to your canine!
Many canine trainers use fancy words or complicated hand signals to command obedience from a dog or a puppy, but the canine is confused by the wrong approach of the trainer!
In the following photos of dogs or puppies, and their owner and/or trainer, at SHILOH K9 OBEDIENCE, LLC, you will be able to see the hand signals and read the command words that are used to command the canines we train at our facility!
COME
SIT
DOWN
STAY
HEEL
IN THESE PICTURES WE ARE HIGHLIGHTING OUR COMMAND TO COME…
We will be communicating with both THE WORD “COME,” AND THE COMBINATION OF “HAND SIGNALS” THAT WILL EXCITE AND DIRECT YOUR DOG OR PUPPY TO RUN TO YOUR FEET, SIT IN FRONT OF YOU, AND WATCH YOU! IT IS FUN AND HELPFUL FOR BOTH THE HUMAN HANDLER AND THE CANINE TO PROPERYLY INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER!
TEACHING THE COMMAND TO COME…
Communicating with both THE WORD “COME,” AND THE COMBINATION OF “HAND SIGNALS” THAT WILL EXCITE AND DIRECT YOUR DOG OR PUPPY TO RUN TO YOUR FEET, SIT IN FRONT OF YOU, AND WATCH YOU, IS FUN AND HELPFUL FOR BOTH THE HUMAN HANDLER AND THE CANINE!
Abbi, our co-worker and assistant dog trainer, was communicating to Phoebe, a young female German Shepherd Dog, to COME!
The first thing Abbi does is to say the word COME, and at the same time, she waves her hand over the top of her head to excite two dogs, at the same time, to COME!
Abbi then continues to excite and praise the dogs for moving toward her by continuing to say; “GOOD DOGS, GOOD DOGS, GOOD DOGS!”
Both dogs continue to run towards and line up with Abbi’s hand signal.
As both dogs are just about to touch their noses to Abbi’s fingertips, as she is holding a treat-reward, the dogs start to follow Abbi’s hands that are about to come together up to her nose!
FINALLY!!!
To help our human clients remember the last hand signal to prompt their dog to sit and look up at them – we say to them;
“PRAY THAT YOUR DOG SITS AND LOOKS AT YOU!”
The dogs have COME to sit at Abbi’s feet, look up at her hands pressed together, and await their treat-reward to be fed to them by Abbi. She affirms the dog’s obedience by giving both dogs a tasty treat and using our marker word, “YES!”
TRAINING YOUR K9 FRIEND TO SIT!!!
Perhaps you have found your attempts to train your dog or puppy to “SIT” has either been fairly easy, or more difficult than you thought it might be!
USING BOTH A VERBAL COMMAND AND A VISUAL HAND SIGNAL IS THE BEST METHOD TO TRAIN YOUR K9 FRIEND TO SIT!
When you build trust between yourself and your K9 friend, then commanding your dog to SIT is much more easy and enjoyable for both human and dog alike!
This dog’s owner is commanding this wonderful canine companion of hers to SIT! When the owner’s index finger points upward in front of her dog’s face, she also verbalizes the command word, “SIT”
Without hesitation, her dog immediately reads the hand signal to SIT and does so with eagerness! “YES, GOOD SIT!”
TRAINING YOUR K9 FRIEND TO (LAY) DOWN!!!
Perhaps you have found your attempts to train your dog or puppy to [Lay] “DOWN” has either been fairly easy, or more difficult than you thought it might be!
It needs to be understood by us as dog owners, (and especially by dog trainers), that the command for a dog or a puppy to “DOWN,” and then to “STAY” in that “DOWN” position, is THE MOST CONTROL a human being can kindly exercise over a canine!
When a canine obeys the “DOWN” command, then it is giving itself over to a major act of willing submission to its human handler!
The following series of pictures will show us the value of, and various uses of, commanding a dog to [Lay] “DOWN” in all kinds of daily life interactions taking place between dogs and people!
“No Trooper, that is NOT how to train Molly to [Lay] “DOWN!”” “She is upside down…” “Besides, you DO NOT force a dog to obey any command…”
Meet EVA and her German Shepherd puppy, COPPER!
STEP #1 Eva uses our hand signal, (with all four fingers pointing downward), and says to her pup; “DOWN!”
STEP #2 PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE are absolutely necessary in every aspect of dog training!!!
Eva keeps her hand signal in place as Copper works to solve the problem of what he has to do to get the food treat that Eva is holding in her hand, as she keeps pointing to the floor.
Copper finally settles into a DOWN position and relaxes in place!
In the picture above, you can see that Copper is down on his haunches, but he has not yet turned over to one side or the other on his right or left hip!
In this picture below, you can see that Copper has turned on his left hip and is now committed to staying DOWN!
STEP #3 It is as soon as this happens that Eva gives her great puppy his treat reward and says; “YES, GOOD DOWN!!!”
Having your dog or puppy obeying the command to “DOWN” means that your canine companion will “DOWN & STAY” in the exact place that you point to while saying “DOWN!”
If your dog or puppy stands up or crawls to move to a different location, then you need to relocate your canine back to the spot that you first pointed to for your dog or puppy to DOWN!
X marks the spot!
“YES!” “GOOD DOWN, GOOD BOY, COPPER!!!”
Rewarding your dog or puppy with praise and a tasty treat will mark in the canine’s mind that it has pleased you as its human handler!
TRAINING YOUR K9 FRIEND TO STAY!!!
Stay, Stay, STAY!!!
Why won’t my puppy or dog STAY???
THREE MAJOR ERRORS are made by humans when trying to train their K9 friend to STAY in one place!
Most dog handlers or trainers or owners will be too much in a big hurry to train their K9 friend to obey any command!
THE PROBLEM is not THE DOG – it is THE HUMAN!!!
To quote a common-sense dog trainer;
“SLOW IS FAST IN DOG TRAINING!”
THE FIRST ERROR made by us as humans is to command our K9 friend to STAY and then just walk away from the puppy or dog too far, too fast, for too long of a time!
[The K9 IS GOING to MOVE and FOLLOW us…]
THE SECOND ERROR made by us as humans is to command our K9 friend to STAY and then give the K9 a treat and/or to pet the dog as it moves out of its STAY POSITION!
[The K9 is FALSELY REWARDED for the WRONG behavior…]
THE THIRD ERROR made by us as humans is to command our K9 friend to STAY with a hand signal that is confusing to the dog and/or to use the command to STAY with a verbal tone that is too weak or too over-stimulating to the dog!!
The K9 at best wonders if it is to WAIT or to WIGGLE AROUND!
ULTIMATELY, A PUPPY or DOG should be TRAINED to OBEY the COMMAND to STAY – whether the K9 is STANDING, SITTING, or LAYING DOWN!
One of our clients demonstrates the control command over her dog to STAY!
Here are the steps in training the K9 to STAY!
Step #1 The human handler places a “TIGHTLY CLOSED FIST” in front of the dog’s face and says in a firm, but friendly, voice; “STAY!”
Step #2 Making certain that whether the dog has been commanded to STAY in a STANDING, SITTING or a DOWN position, it is necessary that the dog handler is certain that the K9 is paying attention to both the hand signal and the verbal command.
Making certain that whether the dog has been commanded to STAY in a STANDING, SITTING or a DOWN position, it is necessary that the dog handler is certain that the K9 is paying attention to both the hand signal and the verbal command.
If the dog STAYS IN PLACE… -all is good!
Step #3 When the K9 actually STAYS IN PLACE without moving upwards or away from the place it has been commanded to STAY, then..
Step #4 THEN… then the dog handler returns to the dog and affirms its obedience with a marker word, i.e. “YES,” and the K9 is given a food reward at the same time to congratulate it for its obedience!
TRAINING YOUR K9 FRIEND TO HEEL!!!
Training a canine to “HEEL” means to condition your puppy or adult dog to walk at your side (left side, being the traditional standard), at the speed you are walking and in the direction you are walking, without dragging behind you or pulling ahead of you!
The most important part of training and conditioning a canine to HEEL is to have your ten pound puppy, and especially your hundred pound adult dog, STOP when you stop walking!
If you are walking on a sidewalk in a town or in your neighborhood and you need to stop for the cars and trucks speeding down the road that are passing by you – then you need your canine to STOP too!
The following pictures will demonstrate our method for conditioning your puppy or dog to automatically SIT and LOOK at you (positioned just behind your feet), so that your canine’s focus is on you and not on the squirrel that is running out into the road in front of a racing vehicle.
JUST THINK WHAT YOU AND YOUR CANINE WOULD LOOK LIKE IF IT PULLED YOU OFF THE CURB INTO THE PATH OF A FAST MOVING VEHICLE!
So how do we train and condition our canine companion to HEEL?
With a short length of the dog’s leash allowing our arm to mostly rest at our side, and with our arm not moving all around or allowing our hand sliding up and down the leash, we have the dog on our left side and begin to walk as soon as we give the dog the command to “HEEL!”
As soon as the dog begins to move in our direction we direct its eyes toward our eyes by frequently saying; “GOOD DOG, GOOD GIRL,” (or “GOOD BOY” – as the case may be).
Engaging our canine companion to keep its focus on us is vital to having the dog in tune with us step by step – and when we stop, the dog will be able to do the same because will be anticipating our each and every action or inaction!
To train and condition your puppy or dog to STOP and SIT and WATCH you as soon as you STOP is accomplished by prompting the canine to scent a food reward in your right hand that you bring to the dog’s nose…
(while simultaneously bringing your left leash hand back of your thigh and keeping it there to lock the dog into position at your side and slightly behind you)…
Then, you immediately bring the food treat up to your own nose to prompt the dog to sit and watch you!
Abbi immediately gives the dog a food reward and marks in its mind how well it obeyed the HEELING command from start to stop, by saying to the dog; “YES, GOOD DOG, GOOD HEEL!”
Do You Want To Learn The WORDS, BODY-LANGUAGE, and HAND-SIGNALS that will positively motivate your pooch to love to obey you?
Call us and make an appointment today!!!
Phone: 989-429-9138
Ask For: DAVID
TRAINING & BOARDING CENTER, LLC.
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