What would you guess is the most overused word in dog training?
No?
Here?
Leave it?
Sit?
Come?
All good guesses, but wrong. It’s your dog’s name.
Your dog’s name doesn’t mean much
By itself, after your dog has learned it, the name doesn’t mean much. If you’re just being goofy and making up silly songs to sing to your dog (like we do!), it’s a lyric you try to find lots of rhymes for. Just hanging in the air – it doesn’t give your dog enough information to work with.
Attention!
Calling your dog’s name should be used for attention as in: Hey Fido! Perk up your ears because I’m going to tell you something else! By itself, the name is not a command, and gives your dog no information.
But by itself it’s not a command, a correction, a celebration, or anything else. It’s the alert that should tell your dog that more information is coming:
Fido, come!
Rover, sit!
Spot, place!
Repetition becomes part of the behavior
One of the most common tendencies we see in our students is the habit of repeating themselves. Or adding an “oh!” to the dog’s name, as if that conveyed more information than just the name by itself. If there’s something you want your dog to do, just say it!
And give your dog a second!
And give the dog a moment to figure out what the word is and take action.
Saying it again, before your dog has a chance to process the conversation, will lead to your dog assuming that the repetition is part of the behavior. That’s why we don’t “correct” errors – we start again. Otherwise the error and the “re-do” become part of the behavior.
A friend of ours has a Viszla who’s a very good dog. But his “mom” says “dog, stay!” at least three times before she leaves him. Consequently, if he hears “stay” once, or twice, he doesn’t do it. Three times is the charm for this guy. Because that’s what he’s been taught. Not on purpose, but nevertheless, it’s stuck.
It’s difficult to catch yourself – we all do it. We call our dog’s names and expect them to do something – stop eating dirt, come to us, sit, whatever. But without telling them what we want, how are they supposed to know?
Dogs aren’t mind-readers!
If you want to practice getting your dog’s attention – call his/her name. And reward when he/she looks at you.
Whenever there’s something more you want your dog to do when you call, include that “something” when you call. Give him a chance to figure it out, and reward when he does.
