Commands VS Cues

We've all been there. We're looking at our dog, they're looking at us and we're asking for a simple behaviour.

"Sit, SIT, siiiitttttt, Sit, Sit Sit!!" eventually our dog sits and we think we've got what we wanted so we reward our dog.

However, what we're actually teaching them is to respond to something they see as potentially pestering, annoying, fearful etc (we usually end up pointing a finger or hand above our dog's head when we are doing this!).

What if we switched things up and taught our dogs to think for themselves? So we ask for the behaviour 'Sit'. Then we wait, we wait some more, and perhaps a few minutes longer and they then sit! When this happens we reward, reward, reward. Why? Because the dog then learns that they are being rewarded for the behaviour and will start to offer it more willingly with the initial cue.

Still not getting the behaviour you want? Why not try luring your dog and rewarding, still much better than tons of commands!

If we let our dogs think and use their brains to work through behaviours, they are more likely to stick and transfer into real life.

Basically, let's stop nagging our dogs! It doesn't work and it doesn't get results so let's teach them in a way they understand.