Have you ever been involved
in a construction project? On several occasions, I have. When we moved to Williamsport, in 1976, we
had to find an office location. We found a large, open, space available for our
office on the top (fourth) floor of a downtown office building. The dental
supply company we used drew up a blueprint of our proposed office. I poured
over those prints, imagining myself walking through the office, working in the
office, interacting with patients in the office, and as I did so, I could see
that the direction of the swing of one doors needed to be reversed, in another
area a swing door needed to be replaced with a pocket door. Certain light
switches needed to be moved. I found that changing lines on blue prints was
much easier and cheaper than changing physical walls later. I took the same tact
here when considering obedience commands. Planning ahead means better results
later. Mid-course corrections will certainly be required, but they should be fewer,
and that is beneficial.
How many words can a dog
learn? Probably many more than are needed. The problem isn’t so much on the
dog’s side, but more so on the human’s side. Many have observed that English is
not only a foreign language to a dog, but it is a trans-species method of
communication for a creature that does not even use words, but instead communicates
using body language. I wanted to be very careful to condition Jaydee to relate
certain sounds, sounds that I call words, with very specific behaviors that I wanted
her to perform. During the training process, I tried to say the command word
once, and only once. If she responded, I would offer a treat and/or praise. If
she did not respond, then I would do or say something that would encourage her
to respond.
Whenever possible, I tried to
select command words that were single syllables. If commands were two words,
and the second word was “it” as in “Drop it”, or “Leave it”, I trained myself
to drop the “it”. Secondly, the command, Sit, ends in “it” and I was concerned
that this might be a source of confusion for the pup.
The following list was
primarily drawn up during the process of reading and watching, before even
bringing JayDee home. Later, I modified it as JayDee and I began to work
together. A number of months later, I went back through the list so that I
could add appropriate commentary. My hope is that you can profit from my
experience.
Commands
1. All done (anytime the particular activity is over, but
especially when petting is over)
2. Around (Finish - return to Heel position by walking
around my right side to my left side) (The hand signal is the right hand at the
front and swings around to the right side)
3. Back (up) (The hand signal is both hands by your
sides, palms facing forward and a slight swinging motion forwards and back)
4. Ball (get the spherical object)
5. Belly Up
6. Bravo (play bow)
7. Brush Your Teeth
8. Busy, Busy (urinate)
9. Catch
10. Check It Out (when coming upon a strange, or “scary”
object)
11. Close (Some prefer the command “Swing”. Return to Heel
by going wide to my left and swinging around into the Heel position)
12. Come (I do not use this for anything)
13. Dad, Mom, Daniel, Esther (I wanted JayDee to be able
to identify each of us by name)
14. Down (Pronounced as if it was spelled “Dhown”, this
keeps it soft. ) (The hand signal is the right arm bent at the elbow, parallel
to the ground, the index finger pointing at the dog and rotating the wrist so
that the finger points to the ground. This signal is faded so that the right
arm is hanging down and the wrist is rotated so that the index finger points at
the dog and is then rotated so that the finger points to the ground. Let your
voice tone follow your wrist motion.)
15. Down in Motion (the handler continues to walk forward;
most effective if this command is given as the handler steps forward with his
right foot.)
16. Down/Stay (The hand signal is the right hand, with the
fingers pointing at a 45o angle to the ground is brought crisply in
front of the dog’s muzzle, stopping 6” from her nose)
17. Drop (anything in the mouth onto ground; some handlers
prefer “Out”) (The visual signal is a head nod, the eyes going from level to
the spot on the ground where the object will drop)
18. Easy (warning that a 180o reversal is about
to occur)
19. Eight (Figure eight around and through the legs)
20. Enough (stop what you are doing)
21. Eyes (as in Watch Me) (The hand signal is the index
finger of the left hand, brought up and points to the outside corner of the
handler’s left eye)
22. Fetch (I prefer “Get It” and in this instance, for no good reason, I violate my own rule regarding "it")
23. Find
24. Fly (Instead of using the traditional command, Come. I
was forced to find a different word because during the early relationship
period, I would use “come on” as a source of encouragement, and Valli had
observed that I had destroyed the value of the word in the process. Secondly,
the word “Fly” is not one that I typically use very often so the only time
JayDee hears it is when I give forth the Recall command. The physical signal is
both arms spread wide in the universal “welcome”, palms forward)
25. Free Dog (release from a behavior)
26. Frisbee (get the flying disk)
27. Front (The hand signal is the left hand at the side
and swings around to the front)
28. Gentle (with mouth)
29. Get It (I prefer this to “Fetch” even though it is two
syllables and ends in “it”)
30. Give (out of mouth into hand) (The hand signal is the
right hand is extended towards the dog’s muzzle, palm up)
31. Go (away from the handler) (The hand signal starts
with the left arm down by the handler’s side, fingers pointing towards the
ground, the arm bends at the elbow and is brought parallel to the ground, the
index finger points forward)
32. Hard (As in: Was that hard – JayDee presses the Easy
Button with her paw)
33. Heel
34. Hello (Say hello – when greeting new people)
35. High Five (The visual signal is the right hand facing
the dog, slightly to the dog’s left, held up like a stop sign. Initially the
fingers pointing to the handler’s right and rotated in a 90o arc so
the fingers are pointing straight up)
36. High Ten (The visual signal is to hold both hands facing
the dog held up like stop signs. Initially the fingers of each hand pointing away
from the handler and rotated in a 90o arc so the fingers are
pointing straight up)
37. Hold (this object in your mouth)
38. Hurry, Hurry (defecation; I had this command in the
list before JayDee came home, but I eliminated it during early puppy hood and
doubled down on Busy, Busy for both urination and defecation. The reason was
that in the beginning, I could not predict what would come out when, and
neither could JayDee. But as time went on, it became obvious that the number of
meals resulted in the number of poops. As JayDee matured, between 8 and 9
months of age, I could see the wisdom of having separate stimulative words for
each process, and therefore I reinserted this command both in the list and in
JayDee’s experience)
39. JayDee (Her name is actually a signal to “listen up”
to pay attention. We only use it in conjunction with an action command, never
with a restrictive or stop action command.)
40. Kong (get the chewtoy)
41. Leave It (some handlers prefer “Yuck”)
42. Mine/Yours
43. Move (out of the way)
44. No Bite
45. Off (all 4 feet on the floor)
46. Okay (general release word; to walk though the
doorway, to come out of the crate, etc. The hand signal, when used, is a
physical touch on the dog’s shoulder)
47. On (walk onto something)
48. Over/Under
49. Place (go to and get in the crate)
50. Quiet/Speak (always preceded by a startle and always
followed by praise upon compliance)
51. Reach (stand up on rear feet and extend muzzle upwards.
The signal is the left arm extended forward parallel to the ground, at shoulder
height, palm down.)
52. Ready (this is an advanced command for competition;
the dog is alerted that we are ready to begin)
53. Relax (Down on side with head on the floor)
54. Roll Over
55. Say Hello (to greet a new person)
56. Score (roll larger ball into goal)
57. Send (the dog away from you) (The hand signal starts
with the left arm down by the handler’s side, fingers pointing towards the
ground, the arm bends at the elbow and is brought parallel to the ground, the
index finger points forward)
58. Settle
59. Shake (hands) (The visual signal is the right hand in
front of the dog then moving towards the dogs right paw, as would be done when
reaching to shake a person’s hand)
60. Sing (Playing a harmonica may stimulate this behavior)
61. Sit (The hand signal starts with the left arm hanging
down vertically and brought, by bending the elbow so that the extended fingers
touch the left shoulder. This signal will fade so that from the originating
position the arm movement is quite subtle the main signal are the fingers of
the left hand folding into a “come here” gesture)
62. Sit in Motion (the handler continues to walk forward;
most effective if this command is given as the handler steps forward with his
right foot.)
63. Sit/Stay (The hand signal is the right hand, with the
fingers pointing at a 45o angle to the ground is brought crisply in
front of the dog’s muzzle, stopping 6” from her nose)
64. Sniff (a release command so that the dog knows she has
the freedom on the leash to walk away a bit)
65. Speak/Quiet (Because JayDee is a particularly quiet dog,
I have avoided creating a possible problem. One of our patients related that
her then husband taught their dog to speak, and after the marriage broke up,
the wife could not get the dog to quiet down. Treat trainers relate that for a
noisy, barky, dog, put the barky behavior on a rewarded cue and then do not
offer the cue. The frequency of the behavior should diminish. The other
approach is to put the behavior on cue and then when the dog stops the noise,
offer the command “Hush” and reward that)
66. Spin Left (clockwise) (The hand signal starts with the
right arm pointing forward parallel to the ground, the index finger is pointing
down and is turned in a circular motion, in a clockwise direction)
67. Spin Right (counter clockwise) (The hand signal starts
with the left arm pointing forward parallel to the ground, the index finger is
pointing down and is turned in a circular motion, in a counter clockwise
direction)
68. Spot (As in: Go to your Spot – The Potty Place)
69. Stand (The hand signal is a level swing of your hand,
palm flat, facing the floor, moving forward away from the pup’s face.)
70. Stand/Stay (The hand signal is the right hand, with
the fingers pointing at a 45o angle to the ground is brought crisply
in front of the dog’s muzzle, stopping 6” from her nose)
71. Stay/Wait (This may be too subtle, but Stay means not
to move until I return to the handler’s Heel position and release you. I never
call JayDee from a Stay. I don’t want her to ever anticipate breaking a Stay.
The physical signal is the right palm facing the rear, right hand coming
dramatically across and stopping abruptly just touching the front of the dog’s
nose)
72. Stop (The hand signal is arms crossed at the wrist,
shoulder high, both palms forward)
73. Take
74. Touch (nose)
75. Tug
76. Tunnel
77. Turn (180o)
78. Under/Over
79. Up, Up (into the car)
80. Wait/Stay (This may be too subtle, but Wait means
another command will be coming. That command may be used prior to going through
a doorway, or to catch or retrieve an object, or to Fly to me. The physical
signal is the left palm facing the rear, fingers pointing down swinging once
right to left and back in a pendulum motion, 3 inches in front of the dog’s
nose)
81. Walk (informal, non-pulling, walking along side you)
82. Watch (me; want eye contact I prefer “Eyes”)
83. Wave (good bye)
84. Weave
85. X (as in exit banishment from the room – Dunbar suggests the word “Exit” but it sounds too much
like eggs sit!)
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Start at the very first post.
Read next post.
Start at the very first post.
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