I often like to talk about the three Cs of dog training: clarity, consistency, and calmness.
In classes recently, clarity has been coming up frequently. When I say clarity I mean several things. Most importantly, what do your commands mean to your dog? For example, when you tell your dog to "sit," what do you want your dog to do? Do you and him think the same thing?
You're probably thinking that you want your dog's butt to hit to the ground. Simple enough, right?
In classes recently, clarity has been coming up frequently. When I say clarity I mean several things. Most importantly, what do your commands mean to your dog? For example, when you tell your dog to "sit," what do you want your dog to do? Do you and him think the same thing?
You're probably thinking that you want your dog's butt to hit to the ground. Simple enough, right?
Nope - it's not so easy. Based on what we see in classes, your dog probably only knows how to sit right in front of you or on your left hand side in a heel. Unless your dog is pretty highly trained you probably can't tell him to sit from 20 feet away and have his butt hit the ground instantly. If you yell sit from 20 feet away and your dog runs up to you and sits in front of you, that's generally what I expect a "come" command (recall) to be. So now do "sit" and "come" mean the same thing to your dog or are they just guessing?
Also, when you say sit do you want his butt to hit the ground and then run away or do you want him to sit and wait for your next command?
My challenge would be simply to think about what the words you say to your dog mean and think about how consistent you are in reinforcing those meanings.
If my dog escapes across the street I want to know I can yell for him to sit and have him put his butt on the ground and wait for me to come grab him (ideally). If he thought sit meant for him to run up to me and put his butt on the ground right in front of me, well then I've unsafely sent him across the street again without a chaperone and I certainly wouldn't want that.
Training for clarity can make a big difference when you need it the most. If you're interested in communicating more effectively with your dog, please feel free to contact us. We'll get you started!
Also, when you say sit do you want his butt to hit the ground and then run away or do you want him to sit and wait for your next command?
My challenge would be simply to think about what the words you say to your dog mean and think about how consistent you are in reinforcing those meanings.
If my dog escapes across the street I want to know I can yell for him to sit and have him put his butt on the ground and wait for me to come grab him (ideally). If he thought sit meant for him to run up to me and put his butt on the ground right in front of me, well then I've unsafely sent him across the street again without a chaperone and I certainly wouldn't want that.
Training for clarity can make a big difference when you need it the most. If you're interested in communicating more effectively with your dog, please feel free to contact us. We'll get you started!
Post by Andrew Warner.
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