Have you named your dog?

Sat, 18 Jan 2020 23:28:12 GMT

Have you named your dog?

This may seem a funny question: "Have you named you dog?", (for those that have and the dog recognises it then that is fine) but it is something that needs some thought:

Is it a name that you (and your partner and family) are comfortable shouting quite loudly in a public park?
When shouting it, as above, is it very clear and able to pierce through background noise?
Does it have the equivalent penetration against background noise (babble) when said at conversation level when the dog is, for example at heel (close)?

Words of all kinds can be divided into hard and soft sounding and generally a hard sounding and quite short name works best for preceding imperative commands. Most hard words start with a hard consonant like ‘Kim’. This name is good as it is short and can be ‘barked out’ forcefully by you, the pack leader, for an urgent command but can have a diminutive for play such as ‘Kimmy’. This also has the advantage of helping distinguish the “I mean it” (imperative) and the play such as running off with the toy as a part of a game. One of my parent’s dogs was called Karri and they invented a diminutive Kaz (or sometimes Kazwaz) for play and non-urgent communication.

Use the Commands That Work for You

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 16:47:17 GMT

Command are words that you and dog share with each other.

The most commonly used commands: 'heel' (or 'close'), 'sit', 'down', 'off', 'wait', 'stay', 'leave',' 'come' and 'bed' are very specific in the way they are used:

Dogs name followed by:

Heel or Close = walk quite closely to my (usually) left leg (but ideally not touching it)
Sit = sit down (and stay there – can be reinforced by the ‘stay’ command for long ‘sits’)
Down = lie down (and stay there – can be reinforced by the ‘stay’ command for long ‘downs’)
Off = get off an object or person (and stay off)
Wait = wait in the same spot until I give you another command
Stay = stay in the same spot until I return and release you
Leave = leave the object, person, food, dropped item, etc
Come = come straight to me
Bed = go to your bed, blanket, etc

These terms are pretty standard – with one benefit being that anyone who knows them can control your dog if you become incapacitated. However in some cases the dog may perform to different commands or perform a different action to the command given depending on past training.

afff4808

Have you named your dog?

Have you named your dog?

Use the Commands That Work for You