5 Basic Commands Every Dog Should Know

Whether you have a new puppy or you have rescued a dog, you will need to build a relationship with them. The best way to do this is to use a lot of treats and praise for all behavior you like. Another great thing to do is to give your dog a relaxing massage over their whole body. They may not like all of it at first, but you can make it a pleasurable experience. This will not only help with bonding, it will also make a better experience going to the groomer and vet.

For the safety of your dog it is important to know a few commands. These can be verbal or hand signals. If you use hand signals we recommend teaching them words as well so that if someone else needs to call them they know the word as well.

It goes without saying that your puppy dog should know their name. They should have an identification tag with their name and your number on it so that if they would ever get lost someone could contact you. We recommend the tags that slide on the collar rather than hanging down as this can be a chew toy or get caught.

Come

Whether you be in your home, at work, or outside your dog needs to know when you call them that they will come to you. It is not a game of hide and seek, or keep away, but to come to you and wait for what you would like to tell them.

Sit

Every dog should know that sit means to come and sit in front of you or beside you. This is a command that is easy to teach and
should be used throughout the day to reinforce the command.

Stay

You can teach your dog a sit/stay or a down/stay, we recommend teaching both. They are both valuable and can be used throughout the day. If you are teaching both make sure that they are staying in a sit/stay and not sliding into a down/stay because you are asking different things of them.

Down

This is for your dog to lay down. When teaching this your dog must know how to sit and then you can lure them into a down position.

Off

We use the term off instead of down for a dog who is jumping. They will get confused if you use the same word.

If you have never had a dog and are new to dog commands we strongly recommend that you join a class to learn how to properly teach your dog. There are many ways to train a dog, we find that our Australian Labradoodles learn best through positive training. There will be a time that your puppy is testing you, a trainer will be able to help you through this as well.

At Ashford Manor Labradoodles we work with our puppy families to educate them on many different topics. It is important that even if you are a seasoned dog owner you would read through information on training a puppy as we tend to forget the amount of work it takes.

Happy Dog Training!

Cheryl Sabens

Ashford Manor Labradoodles

Indiana Australian Labradoodle Breeder

765-714-1436