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Health & Fitness

Use Your Words

It is important to communicate with your dog using words that the dog already knows.

 

I am the grandmother of a set of almost 18-month-old twin boys. The twins, Jack and Michael, are beginning to talk. My daughter has taught them sign language, which they have been using for months and now they are adding new words every day to their vocabulary. Occasionally, they revert back to random sounds and pointing or crying when they want something. My daughter will quietly say “use your words.” They will quiet down and, for example, sign and say ”more” or "up.”

So what does this have to do with dog training? I frequently see people get frustrated with their dogs and begin to speak and sometimes berate their dogs with full sentences: ”Knock it off. Stop Pulling. Stop It.” The dog just continues, usually with more vigor, doing the undesired behavior. And I say to the handler, “Use your words.” In other words use the cue/command words that the dog knows to redirect the behavior to a more desired response.

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When you first begin to train a dog you need to make a list of cue words with a definition of the behavior you expect the dog to perform. For example, the cue SIT means the dog should put its bottom on the ground. This list allows everyone in the family to use the same cue for the same behavior. Both the dog and the family will appreciate the consistency.

Dogs communicate with other dogs by visual body cues and use their voices only occasionally to growl or bark. Some dogs tend to use sound more than others. My dog, Gaby, is very vocal when greeting favorite people or other dogs. Her vocalness can sometimes be a put off to dogs meeting Gaby for the first time. A dog’s awareness of body language is one of the reasons that hand signals are very effective when giving cues to a dog. It is much the same as the way the twins were able to learn sign language before they were able to use words effectively.

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So the next time your dog is being difficult remember to "use your words." Cue the dog to do something that it knows how to do. When it does the cued behavior, praise the dog and then go back and work on the original behavior/problem using words that you have actually taught your dog.

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