Welcome, lively viewers, to Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. On today’s program we present part two of our three-part series featuring renowned dog trainer and animal behaviorist Carolyn Menteith along with Dogs Trust, one of the largest and oldest dog-welfare charities in the United Kingdom. In this episode, Carolyn discusses teaching our canine companions their names, how to sit and lie down, and how to consistently come to us when called.

5 TEACH YOUR DOG THEIR NAME

So to help show you how to teach your dog what his name is, I’ve got Stanley here.

When you’re sitting at home and your dog’s lying or sitting quietly and not paying any attention to you, what you need to do is to say his name really brightly, and if he turns and looks at you, throw him the treat. If he comes to you, that’s fine as well, that the reward is for actually looking at you. Stanley! Oh, good. Go. Wow! If he doesn’t look at you, don’t repeat his name, there’s no second chances on this one. He just doesn’t get a treat. Repeat it again a few minutes later instead. You want him to look at you the first time you say his name.

We’re going to teach your dog to sit when you ask him to. This is a great first exercise to teach your dog, because it’s something he does naturally anyway, and it’s a start of good canine manners. Once you’ve mastered the 4 simple steps to training the sit, then you can teach anything else.

6 TEACH YOUR DOG TO SIT

Step 1 Lure Your Dog

So the first thing we’re going to do is show the dog what we want him to do, that’s the first step. So we don’t do that by pushing him or pulling him, because that would just end up being about who’s the strongest, and that’s not what dog training is about. What we’re going to do is take a treat, hold it on the end of his nose, and we’re going to lift the treat up and back over his head. Figures, round this way! Good lad!

As his head comes up, his bottom has to go down, and then he gets the treat. Perfect! And practice that lots and lots and lots. It might take a few minutes or it might take a few weeks, but practice it until the minute you lift your hand up, your dog sits. Good lad! What a good boy!

Step 2 Make Your Dog Think

So the next thing that we need to think about is getting the dog to use his brain. I want him to think, “Ah, so if I put my bottom on the ground, fantastic!” So Figures, treat is on the end of the nose. Yes! Aren’t you good! Figgie, Figgie! Look, look, look!

Good boy! And you need to practice this again, lots, until the minute you just hold the treat, your dog sits. Well done! And this again you’ve got to practice a lot until the minute you take that treat and hold it, his bottom goes down.

Step 3 Name the Action

The third step, you should only move on to when you’ll be prepared to bet £100 that when you take your treat and wait, your dog will sit. And so, take your treat, this minute you see his bottom start to go down, put the word “sitting” because you want to link in your dog’s brain the action of sitting with the word. So, Figures, sit! Good boy! And you get the word in just as you see your dog’s bottom going down. So Figures, sit! Oh, good lad! And this is another one you then need to practice and practice and practice before moving on to step four, which is the most important part of dog training.

Step 4 Practice Everywhere

So you practice it in the garden, do it in the park, start off where there is few distraction, and then you can build up to doing it maybe when there are dogs around or people around, so that he knows that “sit” always means “sit.” And at this stage, you can start to reduce the number of treat you’re giving your dog as well. So Figures, ready? And sit. You’re such a good boy! Okay, let’s go and practice some sits then. So get out and have fun and practice. Don’t you think so?

I’m going to show you how to teach your dog to lie down when you ask him to. It’s invaluable when you take your dog on vet’s visits or take him to the groomer’s, and even more importantly, it’s the first step in having a dog that you can take anywhere with you.

7 TEACH YOUR DOG DOWN

So to help me show you how to teach your dog to do a down, I’ve got Mouse here.

Mouse! Hallo, Mouse.

Step 1 Lure Your Dog

So as always with step one, you lure the dog into the position that you want, starting from a sit, and then bring your hands straight down, and the dog’s nose will follow, and he should lie down. Let him have the treat the minute that he does.

Now don’t get tempted to push your dog. If you use your hands to push, your dog will start to resist you, or if you’ve got a really happy dog like this, he’ll get all wiggly, giggly about it and lose his concentration. So just use the treat, lure him down. Fantastic! Don’t take your hand forward. If you take your hand forward when you’re doing it, the dog will just stand up and walk off.

Step 2 Make Your Dog Think

So after you practice that a lot, you can move on to step two, which is to get the dog to use his brain. So take your treat, just hold it in your hands and show the dog you’ve got it and wait, and wait for long enough that he sort of thinks, “Now, what was it that she wanted? Oh, it was that like lying down thing!”

Yeah. Good boy!

And practice this until you can just take the treat and he’ll lie down straight away. Be really quick to give him the treat the minute that he lies down. You’re rewarding him for lying down not getting back up again. So, got the treat, “What do I do for it?” Oh! Good.

Step 3 Name the Action

So when you are completely convinced that when you take the treat that the dog will lie down, it’s time to put the cue word in to link it to the behavior. So take the treat, hold it and as the dog starts to lie down – “Down, good boy” – say the word and then reward him.

Step 4 Practice Everywhere

I’m going to teach you how to train your dog to come back when you call him. This is the most important thing you will ever teach your dog to do. If your dog will come back when he is called, you can let him off lead and he can have all the exercise and fun that he needs. Most importantly, you can keep him safe from roads or any other dangers.

8 TEACH YOUR DOG RECALL

You’re going to find it really useful to use the six-foot training lead. It’s long enough that you can get a good distance away from your dog, but still keep him safe because he is on lead. One clip goes on to your dog’s collar, and you can either hold the other end or clip that onto your belt so that your dog’s secure and you’ve got both hands free. So, to help me show you how to teach your dog to come back when you call him, I’ve got David. Hi, David. Look at you!

Step 1 Lure Your Dog

The first step as always is to show the dog what you want him to do and lure him with the treat. Put it on the end of his nose and you’re going to walk backwards, so you’re teaching him that he should follow you. So, “David, David, Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave…. Good boy!” And give him the treat when you stop. So practice this a lot, until your dog really knows that he should be following you when you go backwards.

Step 2 Make Your Dog Think

And step two as always is getting the dog to offer the behavior without the treat, and then the treat comes as the reward. So, “David! Look, I’ve got a treat!” So going backwards as before. “David, David, Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave, David!” And then rewarding him at the end. Be really up and positive, be fun for your dog to follow.

Step 3 Name the Action

Once you’ve practiced that a lot and your dog follows you every single time, it’s time to move on to step three, which is putting the name to what you’ve just taught. So you can use “come” or “here,” whichever word you like. So the first thing you do is use your dog’s name as you taught him earlier on to get his attention.

If a dog’s not looking at you, he is not listening. After you said his name, encourage him to come to you as you did before, and as he starts to move, put that word in, so that he links coming to you with that word. So it’s always name first and then the command. So, “David, David, come! Good boy! Good lad!” And then reward him when he gets to the end.

Step 4 Practice Everywhere

So after you’ve practiced that so often that your dog knows to come to you when he is on the lead, it’s time to take him off lead. Make sure you’re in a really secure space that’s safe. And now the thing is make sure your dog’s focused on you and paying attention to you.

Please join us again tomorrow for the concluding episode with Carolyn Menteith, as she shows us how to teach our canine companions to walk in a relaxed and happy manner on a lead, to stop pulling, and to stay.

For more information on Carolyn Menteith please visit: www.DogTalk.co.uk Dogs Trust please visit: www.DogsTrust.org A copy of the Dog Training Made Easy with Carolyn Menteith is also available at the above website.

Gentle viewers, thank you for your delightful company today on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Up next on Supreme Master Television is Enlightening Entertainment, right after Noteworthy News. May all animals soon enjoy many safe and happy years on Earth.