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Ask Yvette

Dear Yvette,

I heard that some trainers don't use a command when they are first teaching a dog something new. What is the logic behind this? Would it not make sense to add the word as soon as possible so the dog starts to make a connection between the word and the action?

Sam

I suppose if you were teaching a person a new language, then it would make sense to use words. Over time, they would try to make the connection between your words and their meaning. The use of language makes us unique.

Dogs are not programmed to understand the spoken word. Their strength comes in the ability to read body language. If you watch two dogs interact, they participate in a wide range of body postures that only they completely understand. We can only guess as to their meaning. When people try to teach a dog something, we are bringing together two very different worlds.

Let's look at how the average new pet person teaches a dog to sit. First they say, “Fido sit.” The dog usually ignores this. The owner then falls into a pattern of, “Sit…sit…Fido…sit!” Eventually, either the dog guesses correctly, or the human takes the dog by the collar. With the other hand they push the dog's butt down.

A bright dog might figure out the command with a great deal of frustration. It is more likely that the dog learns to ignore the owner. You're just repeating yourself over and over.

If the dog has any handling issues, than the owner is taking a risk. When you lean over a dog, as you do when you push down on a dog's hindquarters, your face and throat are beside the dog's mouth. I personally have no idea why you would want to do this. It's just plain dangerous. If you have a child in the home, it's even worse. Do you really want a child to copy this with a friend's dog of unknown temperament?

To add to the confusion, if you are working with a small dog, you are probably leaning over at the waist during training. Just because you are saying sit, it does not mean your dog even registers the words. It is more likely that the dog notices that when you bend over at the waist, you are happy they put their butt on the ground.

The reason you teach a dog to sit without the command is so you can avoid all these problems. You reward the dog for sitting until they throw sits at you over and over. When that happens, you can start adding the command. The dog will likely be right, and you can reward that. If he's occasionally wrong, they don't get a treat. The dog notices that the words are important. Your final step is to proof your work. You teach the dog that similar words are not important.

By putting the steps backwards, you get a dog that sits the first time you ask without nagging.

Yvette is an award winning pet writer and pet behavior columnist. She also is the author of Meeting Milo, a North American dog bite prevention program to reduce the approximately 2 million children bit by dogs annually. She is the owner of AwesomeDogs.ca and works as a behavior consultant in London, Ontario.

This column was originally featured in The Londoner
See more of Yvette... www.awesomedogs.ca
www.meetingmilo.com

Yvette has 2 dogs of her own, KIKI and KAYA. Take a look...

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