What’s the first thing you learned in basic obedience class?  Not the first thing you taught your dog (which was probably sit) but the first thing you learned?

If I remember correctly, it’s not to repeat your command.  I ask my dog to sit, if (s)he does not sit, I use a treat and lure the dog into a sit.  When I am walking Delilah and call her to me, I reward her when she comes, if she does not come I say, “Too bad” and I put the treat away.  I wait a few seconds and I try again, usually the next time she’s very quick to respond.

For a long time Delilah and I went to a drop in obedience class and there was this couple that had a pair of labs and they about drove me to drink.   Okay truth here.  It doesn’t take much to drive me to drink, but that’s entirely NOT the point.   The point is these people would say, “Sit, sit, sit, sit” and then “Stay, stay, stay, stay” until it took all my energy not to swing my leash and whap them upside their head with the clip.

When I’m out cruising the neighborhood with the dogs, I naturally notice the houses with dogs.  There’s one house we pass that has a German Shepherd dog and the dog barks incessantly.  She hears us from about two to three houses away and she barks until we are at least two three houses beyond her.

Now don’t get me wrong, my dogs bark when other dogs walk past, but not to that degree.  AND if my dogs are barking like lunatics, I go and check the situation out and typically call them away from it.  Unless of course it’s something that requires my attention.

So this dog is barking her fool head off as we walk past and the owner comes outside and I hear, “Chloe come, Chloe come, Chloe come, Chloe come, Chloe come, Chloe come.”

I wanted to scream, “Chloe is not coming. Walk over to your dog and get her.”

In the truth is stranger than fiction category, yesterday when we were walking past that house the woman stopped me to compliment me on how beautiful the dogs are.  As we stood chatting for a few minutes she informed me that Chloe always alerts her when dogs are walking by and that she can’t walk Chloe because Chloe loses her mind when she sees another dog.  Of course, “she only wants to play.”  But I wonder if she actually had the opportunity, if she would even know how.

How do you explain proper socialization to people?  Or the importance of exposing your dog to many situations to help them become a well-rounded dog?

How do you handle situations like this?

When winter is too harsh and we can’t walk in our woods, whenever possible we take the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood.  There’s one house we pass that has two dogs and an invisible fence.  One of the dogs simply sits and watches as we walk past.  The other dog watches and then runs posturing and barking along the top of the yard as we walk past.

This does not sit well with one of my dogs.  In fact, she thinks it’s her job to give that dog what for.

When it first happened it took me by surprise.  The dog seemed to come from nowhere (which could have been due to the fact the house is set below the street line.)  In fact, I noticed the first dog, quietly sitting there watching us and as we began to walk past the other dog came running up barking and Delilah went to the end of her leash growling and barking back and I’m certain I heard her say, “You want a piece of me?”

After that first time, my guard was up and so was Delilah’s.  She knew exactly where that house and dog were.  And as we approached, she again went to the end of her leash looking for a fight.  I think her philosophy is I’ll get you before you get me.

I would stop, call her to me or lure her with “look” and give her a treat and it’s true there were times when I was wrestling her past that house and dog.

Sometimes I think dog training is too complicated.  Not that I don’t think my dog can follow instructions, it’s more like me trying to remember what command to use for what behavior I want.  The trouble (for me) with having so many commands is when a situation happens, I can never remember the correct command and I think I end up confusing the hell out of my dog.

“Stop!” “No.” “Come” “Here” “This Way.”

It’s no wonder my dog has no idea what I want.

And then it hit me.  K.I.S.S.

Keep it simple stupid.

I’ve been working Delilah on her “leave it” command.  And I’m thrilled with her progress.  It not only works in the house if I drop something (although I still better be quick with my foot or hand) it’s also been working on our walks.

I use it in the woods to keep her away from unsavory items such as dog poop, I use it on the street to keep her away from someone’s stray garbage and just the other day I used the same command when THE DOG came charging at us.

 

And it worked.  Sure her hair was still up and she paused a moment, but a quick “leave it” from me and a treat at hand and we marched past that dog like we were in a parade.

Do you find dog commands as confusing as I do?  What commands if any do you use routinely?  What works best for your dog?