How to teach your dog the basic commands

[HuskyCouture]

Sit:

1. Stand in front of your dog.
2. Hold a treat right near your pet's nose, just out of his or her reach.
3. Slowly move the treat over your pup's head and toward his or her tail.
4. Say your dog's name, and give the command "Sit."
5. Keep the treat at nose level. If the treat is held too high, the dog will jump.
6. Say the word "good" at the exact second the dog sits.
7. Praise abundantly and give your pet a treat for any movement that resembles the sit position.
8. Release your pet from the sit position with the "release" or "free" command
9. Repeat for 5 minutes.

Lie Down:

1. Have dog sit in front of you.
2. Kneel down and hold a treat in your hand right near dog's nose.
3. Give the command DOWN and slowly bring the treat straight down keeping treat near the nose.
4. Praise abundantly and give him the treat for any slight movement towards a down position. Be sure to say the word GOOD when praising.
5. Release dog.
6. Repeat for 5 minutes.

Stay:

1. Start with the sit command. Tell your dog to sit. And praise him for doing this.
2. Stand in front of your dog and say "Stay" give him a hand command at the same time. I make a fist, but you can do which ever hand signal you want.
3. Now take one step back. If your dog stays give him a treat immediately and say good boy. Your dog will probably try to follow you at first. When he does, just put your dog back into a sit and repeat this until he does not.
4. Repeat this several times only taking one step back. Only reward your dog when he actually stays.
5. After several successful stays at one step back, take two and reward your dog for staying.
6. Next, take three steps, four steps, and then stand across the room. Once you can stand across the room, tell him to stay and go and around the corner and see if he will stay even when he cannot see you.

Leave It:

1. Have your dog lay down. Take a treat and place it on the floor/ground about 3' or more from your dog. As you do this, firmly repeat the command "leave it", or whatever words you want for your command to be. Your dog will probably already looking at the treat. When your dog starts to make any motion towards the treat, correct him/her by saying firmly "no... leave it". A firm voice is very critical... not yelling, but a firm tone of voice and body language. The dog should leave the treat. And the dog will probably be looking at you, looking at the treat and wondering what is going on. First time make the dog wait 5 minutes all the while repeating the command "leave it". If your dog is successful, then pick up the treat and give it to the dog and praise him/her. Never let the dog get the treat himself/herself... you always pick it up and give it.
   
   
   
   If your dog was not successful, don't give up. But you stay closer to the treat than the dog that way if he/she does not listen to you, you can snatch the treat up before the dog gets it. If the dog gets the treat, it's a reward and we don't want to reward for doing the wrong thing.
   
   
   
   Continue to do this making the dog wait longer and longer... 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes. Eventually, he/she may start turning their back to the treat when you say the command "leave it". Which is a good thing.
   
   
   
   Repeat doing this same step for a few days. When your dog seems to have this down to a science, move on to the next step.
2. Do everything just like you did in Step 1 but move the treat closer to your dog. Having him/her "leave it" for the same amounts of time.
   
   
   
   Repeat doing this same step for a few days moving the treat closer and closer to your dog. When your dog seems to have this down to a science, move on to the next step.
3. Up until now, you've been watching your dog to make sure he/she performs the command "leave it". Now, do the same things as in Steps 1 and 2 only now, turn your back. Start doing something else, but keeping some attention on your dog. If your dog starts to move for the treat tell him/her "leave it" without even looking at your dog. This should be sufficient reinforcement at this point and your dog should now know you have eyes in the back of your head. He/She should leave the treat.
   
   
   
   Continue this process of acting as if you are ignoring your dog for a few days. Then continue on to the next step.
4. Now that your dog sees you as some sort of super power, it's time to put all of your previous work to the test... same set up as all before... put the treat in front of your dog and say "leave it", firmly. Now, leave the room or area in which your dog is at. Stay gone for only a minute, return. If the treat is still there, keep repeating this staying out of the area of the dog for longer periods of time.
   
   
   
   Never forget to reward your dog by handing him/her the treat and giving verbal and physical praise when he/she has done well. Don't allow your dog to get the treat themselves.
5. This is the ultimate and the last part of the training for "leave it". When you feed your dog... right in the middle of his/her eating tell him/her to "leave it". Keep saying "leave it" firmly until your dog stops eating. You may have to use his/her name prior to the command in order to gain the attention of your dog. He/She should stop eating if you have firmly established the previous steps. Make your dog wait for however long you deem appropriate... then allow the dog to return to eating his/her meal. This is a good practice for asserting your authority of your dog as well. Kind of a reminder for him/her.
6. Now, when your dog is out and about and you see him/her pick up anything they shouldn't, use this command. A dead rat, something spilt on the floor, a plant, whatever you would not want them to have. Use it! And give praise when your dog has obeyed you.

Watch Me:

1. Clip a leash onto your dog's collar and show your dog a treat to get his attention. Bring the treat up to the bridge of your nose.
2. Say "Watch me!" in an upbeat voice the moment your dog makes eye contact with you. If he doesn't make eye contact, say your dog's name and show him the treat again, repeating the action.
3. Give your dog the treat for making eye contact.
4. Repeat showing the treat, bringing it to the bridge of your nose, saying "Watch me!" and then giving the treat until you're confident that your dog is expecting the command.
5. Say "Watch me!" and wait for your dog to make eye contact. Give him a treat. Repeat this step several times.
6. Practice "Watch me!" off-leash in an enclosed area such as a backyard where there are distractions. If at any time your dog doesn't make eye contact, use a treat to lure him back to making eye contact.
7. Practice "Watch me!" on leash in a busy area that is fully of distractions. Say "Watch me!" and give him a treat when he makes eye contact

Shake Hands/Paw:

1. Choose a command (like "shake", "paw", or "put-er-there, dude". Command the dog, scoop up the paw and hold it for a few seconds. Reward and treat.
2. Repeat step 1, but wait a little longer each time before scooping up the paw. Always reward once you have the paw in your hand.
3. Eventually, you should be able to point to the paw and say the command, and the dog will put it in your hand.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 for the other paw.

all info found: ehow.com

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

added to rep - my 3 no all of these except the watch me command - gonna train that next - i have 2 use the word wait instead of stay tho as 'stay' makes bingo uncomfortable n he starts barking

[HuskyCouture]

watch me is a great one, was the first one we learned in basic obedience class. makes things a lot easier, especially during walks when another dogs passes

[Jamo]

nice1 +1

[MattSouthall]

+1 great find

[Sarah]

great post Jennet! Added to rep

[aronoiiel]

Very interesting definitely +1 gonna totally try the Watch me one Kiana knows all the others lol

[proximity]

Only thing I would change is not shoot for 5 minutes right off the bat on leave it. I'd start lower, and work my way up to 5 minutes before shooting for more.

Every sucessful attempt is a huge step in the learning process, but every failure is 2 steps back. If you start off asking more than they can do, it will generally make the learning process longer than it needs to be.

[snssewell]

For the leave it we tied Zihna to the deck and put the treat just so she could not reach it. We put a HUGE junk of treat in front of her too....Soooo Mean!!!! As soon as she looked away we used a clicker and treated her. It only took about 10 -15 minutes and we were able to put the big junk of treat on her paw without her being tied up anymore of course and she would not even look at it and sometimes even get up and get it off her and take a few steps back. So if you have to just tie them to something with the leash. It shouldn't take but a few minutes and you can untie them again.

Great find on the article +1

[Alex T]

Great find! Will have to start on the "watch me" command as soon as possible! Its the only one i've never thought about training!

[husky princess]

i've taught 'feet' so when the long lead is round his legs when is say 'feet' he lifts his leg up and sorts the lead out. He's 70% (if not more) on the ball with the command and makes life soooo much easier when out walking

working in harness commands - gee, haw, on-by, hike etc keep repeating when out walking and turning. it took storm 1 week of street walking and lots of turns and he's 100% accurate