YOUR DOG'S DICTIONARY © 2004 Copyright of Sally Hopkins

YOUR DOG'S DICTIONARY

GOLDEN RULES FOR DOG-GAMES TRAINING

BE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR COMMANDS & SIGNALS AND HAVE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT YOU WANT YOUR DOG TO DO. If you are unable to communicate with your dog, or lose its trust through inconsistency, it will become confused and may even switch off and ignore any further commands or signals you may try to give it - (see Lodgers).
Always use a signal or command to mark the start of a training session (eg "Working") so that the dog will not pester you all the time in the hope of making you play or work with it - this is particularly useful when the dog is exploring the training area at the start of the session. Also mark the end of the session (eg "That'll do") so that the dog understands it can relax - (see On & Off Switches)

Don't use the word "Come" when calling your dog over the hurdles - the command is usually used to get the dog to come to us as quickly as possible and ignore anything in its path. Dogs usually interpret the command by running round the hurdles as it is far easier and quicker for them to return to their handler by veering round them than jumping over them. Instead, call the dog's name to attract its attention, and show it the motivator that you will give it if it does do the hurdles.

Never confuse a dog by having two people giving it commands at the same time. For instance in Dog-Games, the trainer or helper must not speak to the dog while it is concentrating on returning to the handler in Recall or Bounce; picking up the retrieve article in Hand; running round a traffic cone in Round; or touching a target marker on a Touch box. Not only does two people speaking to a dog break its concentration but it begins to become confused on who to listen to when it is working.

Dogs do not have our capacity of memory. Although their instincts help them recall good and bad situations they live for the moment and cannot recall what they were doing more than 3 seconds beforehand. Therefore, a dog needs to be given its reward within 3 seconds of finishing the behaviour or exercise. Otherwise it will associate the reward for something else it has just done/seen/thought about in the last few seconds.

MAKING A LIST (see Suggestions for Dog Commands & Signals)
Have you ever sat down and made a list of all the commands and body signals you have taught your dog to respond to? It is quite an eye opener, I can tell you! It is also a very useful exercise, as it helps us focus on all the different signals that we expect our dogs to recognise and understand. If the list seems muddled and unclear to us, just imagine how confusing these commands must be to our dogs!

The examples given in the Suggestions are not a definitive guide to what commands, signals and exercises should be taught to all dogs. The list is just an example of one particular dog and is used to highlight where misunderstandings and inconsistency can confuse a dog. Let's look at some of the examples in detail to help us clarify when we should use them.