Measurement Guide

stroke, affectionate eye contact and a sincere “good
dog.” If your dog does not light up on any of those
three, you need to reevaluate your relationship. Each
command should be followed with a positive reward of
some fashion when your dog follows your lead.
THE FIRST COMMAND: NO
The first command your dog will learn is “No.” Usually
your dog will understand this command by the end of its
first day with you. Your dog hears this command each
time it is doing something wrong and it comprehends
the command by the way you say it. Your dog may
have been running around the house with your wife’s
pantyhose in its mouth or chewing on your prized decoy
when it hears that dreadful word. Intonation expresses
your feelings to your dog in a language that is universal.
The tone of your voice tells your dog that it is in trouble
and through repetitive use, the word “No” comes to
mean the same thing. Voila! Our first conditioned
response! (Thank you, Dr. Pavlov.)
“No” means stop what you are doing immediately. Put
yourself in your dog’s place when it hears this command
and understands it. The dog is thinking it must quickly
stop what it is doing. Your dog would gladly obey you,
if it only knew what you desired. For this reason, when
your dog does stop doing whatever it was that bothered
you, you must give another command expressing what
will please you. “No” is always followed with something
that will make you happy. When you are happy, your
dog will see it through your eyes, feel it by your touch
and hear it in your tone. And, that is your dog’s positive
reward. Even when it makes a mistake and is corrected
by the word “No,” it receives a reward by following your
next command. This is a simple and foolproof method.
THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMAND: HERE
“Here” is the most important command your dog will
ever learn. It is an escape from almost any trouble.
“Here” tells your dog to come to you immediately and
without deviation. This command is very easy for your
dog to learn if you will speak its language. Most dogs
will make a beeline to any person who kneels down
and opens up their arms. In this position you are using
postural language to welcome your dog. While you are
kneeling and your dog is running to you, add the verbal
command “Here.” Shower your dog with positive verbal
rewards while stroking its shoulder.
Let’s take a second again and discuss how much
positive reward to give a dog when it follows
your commands. Do you remember how your dog
communicates to you that it understands and accepts
your actions? When your dog swallows, it says, “I
understand.” So, back off the positive rewards when
your dog says it understands and accepts your thank
you by swallowing. Continually stroking your dog’s
shoulder and praising it will eventually lessen the
sincerity of your reward and that could be a huge
mistake. Training your dog to come to you with the
“Here” command is done along with the postural
position of kneeling and opening up your arms.
The leash (or lead) should be used in training your dog
on the command “Here” as soon as it is comfortable
with the leash. Give the command “Here” and apply
a slight tug on the leash. Be sure to release the leash
pressure the instant the dog starts coming toward
you. Many people try to maintain leash pressure until
the dog is at their side. While this works, it can be too
much pressure and your dog does not get the reward
of turning the pressure off while it is coming to you.
If your dog hesitates or fails to come directly to you,
give another tug with the lead and repeat “Here.”
If you need another
reason to make sure your
dog is 100 percent reliable
in responding to
your obedience
commands, let me give
you something to think
about. Any training issue
you encounter during your
dog’s life will trace back
to one of three problems:
1) Your dog does not want
to come to you;
2) Your dog does not want
to go with you; or
3) Your dog will not
stay still.
A dog that has been
properly obedience-
trained pays attention.
Lack of attention is what
you are seeing with a dog
that comes when called
most of the time – but
not all of the time. And
lack of attention is the
reason your dog might
be dragging you around
on its leash instead of
accompanying you on a
leisurely walk. That dog is
distracted and therefore
wants to do anything
except go along with you.
Those are just two
of many examples of
problems that could be
avoided by going through
a complete obedience
program.
A TRAINING TIP FROM RICK SMITH / THREE PROBLEMS YOU CAN AVOID
TRAINING
YOUR DOG
09-10
400-1131.indd 12-13 9/14/09 11:09:11 AM