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As the age-old adage goes: “Your dogs and your children only make the mistakes you’ve decided to tolerate.” While parenting your non-furry kids is beyond the scope of this article, getting the furry kids to be polite and pleasant members of the household is not only achievable but also necessary. Here are a few basics aimed at preventing some of the bad manners that can escalate to truly miserable or dangerous situations. The Three Critical Commands • Come • Stay • Leave it You can survive as a partner with your pet without fetch, speak, or roll over, but these three commands can save your sanity and your dog’s life. Other sources or trainers might prioritize a different top three, but come, stay and leave it seem to cover the important bases, as you’ll see below. No matter what else you do or don’t teach your dog, for safety’s sake, make sure these three are reliably ingrained in your dog’s mind. Come The importance of the “come” command, or recall, seems pretty obvious. You are at the dog park and it’s time to go. Millie’s leash has broken and she is now barreling down the road chasing a car, deer or jogger. You need to be able to regain control and get her back quickly and with minimal fuss. Stay The “stay” (or “wait”) command may seem more optional, but in those moments when you’re on one side of the road and Patches is on the other, you need an ironclad “stay” from him and nothing else will do. Loading and unloading dogs from your car in a busy parking lot is a perfect example of a situation in which “stay” can be life saving. In pretty much any emergency situation right after “come” you’ll find you need “stay” to help keep Patches with you and under control, especially if you don’t have a leash. Leave It “Leave it,” if you teach it to mean “pay no attention to the thing you are currently interested in” is another incredibly important command. This can improve neighborly relationships (the cat next door lives in peace) and prevent Gretchen from consuming disgusting items and then regurgitating them on the living room floor. You can use “leave it” to mean almost anything from “don’t chase that jogger or bicyclist” to “don’t eat that rat poison!” A Few Additional Deal Breakers Always feed your dog at his/her mealtimes, and only in her/her dog bowl. Period. Do not feed from the table, as you cook or as you clean up. Do not allow guests or grandparents to undermine your authority on this one, or you’ll have to deal with begging from the table. Always walk through doorways first, in front of your dog. If for some reason you can’t or don’t want to do so, then use a verbal release (“ok,” for example) to cue your dog that s/he is being given permission to do something typically forbidden. Always make your dog wait for his/her food at mealtimes. Use “sit” and then “stay” or “wait” while you put the food in the bowl and set the bowl down. You signal the release with a verbal or non-verbal cue (again, “ok” works just fine, but if you want to train using hand signals that’s fine too). This is very important as it teaches Buffy that you own her food and not the other way around. It eliminates food aggression, which is extremely important. No dog of yours should ever growl at you when you go near his or her food. Bonding as Prevention While there are many different styles of training and many of them are effective and humane, no matter which one you choose make sure that you recognize your dog’s efforts and praise him/her for trying to comply. Catch Buffy being good and let her know what a good dog she is. Unlike cats, dogs live to please you. Letting them know they succeeded will increase your bond infinitely. You can bond with Bonzo by engaging in a variety of activities with him. Train him, but also spend time with him grooming, petting, playing and just hanging out with him. Many dog breeds are inherently social and really thrive on contact with humans. It is relatively rare that a dog does not need or want to be bonded with his owners. The human-canine bond is one of the most profound joys of dog ownership. Honor it and deepen it and watch your dog blossom into a delightful and protective companion. Do you need help training your dog? Visit our website at www.HelpfulDogTrainingTips.com for dog training tips on housebreaking, dog obedience, signaling, dog bite prevention, and more!
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