Basic training commands (sit, stay, come)

    Effective Basic Training Commands for Pets 👀

1. Introduction

The difference between your pet's safety and getting hit by a car might be whether your pet knows how to sit and stay on command. If you're having command difficulties with your new pet, here are some helpful tips for the quickest, most effective way to train your pet to remember and actually follow each command's meaning. Your pet will quickly learn the basic training commands with patience and kindness.

Puppies and dogs need to learn basic commands for the simple reason of calming and submission, and this form of training usually has a very calming and unintimidated effect on the pet, ending subjects such as jumping on or biting owners or dinner guests. They also learn to wait by the door and come when called, boundary form and area limitations, and training also ends leash pulling, which many animal trainers now believe that a dog should not be allowed to wear a leash, so the dog training in this way makes perfect sense, especially since your dog may not tolerate a bullying owner.

Your new pet needs to acquire capabilities and become a disciplined ally. In this case, it is you and who doesn't like an adorable sidekick bestie who listens to you? It will only invest in making your lives better. Also, having a well-behaved dog helps to create interactions that are more positive between your pets and others: if they're certain they know the rules, they're much less likely to get into a conflict. And being in charge of your pet stops anger and stress, making care a more satisfying, less difficult task. When you need to "stay" during the care, even if you are not supervising them, the leader of the pack will sit down and pay attention, so you don't walk in suddenly and find them there.

2. The Importance of Basic Commands for Pets

Command training is one of the most important parts of training for any pet. It lets your pet understand you well and helps you ensure your pet's well-groomed attitude. So, pet owners should teach their pets some basic commands. Pets are usually very naughty, and it is important to train them. Basic orders prevent them from straying far from you and keep them safe. They focus their mind when given understandable commands and ensure their safe coordination. If the owner can command his pet, then his pet can be kept in a good mood. Training fosters a link between pet parents and pets. It also teaches them to behave appropriately when alone and occupied. So, we will teach you some simple commands you can provide to your pet.

Why Do Basic Pets Teach Commands?

A human cannot interact directly with animals and pets because they are the most non-understanding living beings. They don't understand what you say, and they don't grasp your opinion. They are only like toddlers and need proper attentiveness and time for their healthy growth. Command teaching—learning how to explain your demands—will enhance your interaction and help make your messages simple and effective. There are also benefits to sounding commands and having well-behaved pets who perform activities. By ensuring that your pets understand who is really in command, you establish clear roles and boundaries. You can also redirect your pet from performing bad actions by teaching and enforcing such commands.

3. Sit Command

The first command in basic training is probably the most important. It is an old wives' tale that the longer your dog takes to learn the sit command is a sign of its intelligence.

How to Teach Any Dog the Sit Command

Step 1: Start by getting your puppy's or dog's attention through voice commands or a snappy noise. Snap your fingers in front of your dog's nose as you give the sit command. Bring the treat or toy up and over the dog's head to get them to sit on their haunches. The bottom may not hit the ground, but the important part for a young puppy or a dog with arthritis is to have the dog sit on its haunches. Once the dog has sat, give the treat or toy and praise the dog warmly. Say "good sit" or "great sit". Your voice should be upbeat and peppy.

Pitfalls & Tips to Look for When Teaching Your Dog the Sit Command.

- If your dog looks away from you, refuse to give the good dog command until the dog makes eye contact. Hold the treat up over the nose and head as you did before, then lure the dog into the sit command. - If excessive energy, also known as impatience, keep the training sessions to just a couple of minutes. "Practice makes perfect". If the dog is younger than 5 months of age, only keep the training activities to 60 seconds. A puppy's brain snaps in and out of concentration. Thus, a simple command given and completed can then be gone over once the dog has had a few minutes of play or rest, and then the command can be practiced again for mastery. Mistakes in commands learned as a puppy can result in an unresponsive dog in adolescent or adult dogs that cannot respond to basic commands.

3.1. How to Teach Your Pet to Sit

When you teach your dog to sit, it is important that you demonstrate to your dog that the word for sitting is "Sit." This word you will be asking the dog to understand the word is "Sit." If you put your dog in the right position for sitting, the word alone must be said with certainty in order for the dog to respond. The dog should not have to comprehend what must sound like; if you have a friendly, success-focused way to talk to your dog, just pretend and assure your host it doesn't matter what your dog needs to be sitting down about. It must be seated. The word encouragement, 'sit' must be achieved by encouragement alone. The chances of your dog to respond to the word "sit" are widened if you can time your "sit" word out. When the dog does it itself, it does that when you push the dog's rump to the ground. If you want to teach the dog to sit, you can do the exact gesture with or without the move of the dog's rump to sitting but instead you add treats and positive interest.

Phase 1: Each time the dog meets you, hold a portion of food above your nose and flow to a point in the head of the dog shortly over its ears and back so that the dog's head goes up and completes its back seat on the floor. Reinforcing your dog with approval and the goody to perform the action has now earned your dog a treat.

Phase 2: The next phase for including the verbal knowledge is to remove the food from your hand and let the dog achieve a part of food on the ground and pull the head up to make the rump sit by repeating with your free hand food drawing the head over the back. No food in your palm has the value of breeding a dog in case of 'sit'.

Phase 3: Finally, in order to get your dog to sit on its own, finish the method and give each command. Mostly, only 10 repetitions will maintain the overall skill and create the association between the activities and the word, and the commands can be combined. The eventual intention is to reward the dog and have the food/goodies for it only in the presence of the word "sitting" itself.

3.2. Common Mistakes to Avoid

Here are some common mistakes that people make when teaching their pets this command: 1. Stretched timeframe Some pet owners are trying to rush the connection of the command and the motion. As we have mentioned, the motion should serve as a clue to the pet; it is supposed to set the dog up for success, and you should not be afraid to drift out of the dog’s sight for a while. When the dog is already proficient, it is okay to close the time between the motion and the command, but in the beginning, your pet might need a little more time to process the information, and that is fine. 2. Change in motion Make sure that the motion you choose signals the same thing every time, to prevent confusion in the pet. A change in motion could be interpreted as a new command; if that wasn’t intended, it is going to confuse the pet. Letting the pet figure something out by themselves is good for their cognitive function. However, ambiguity is the enemy of learning, and whatever you do, try to minimize confusion. Also, if you are using both the voice command and the hand motion, make sure that both signals are synchronized. Using a voice command a moment after a hand motion or vice versa can confuse your pet.

4. Stay Command

Teaching the 'stay' command can be a difficult yet useful tool to teach your dog. Not only can your dog be commanded to freeze in place when you say, "stay," but if your dog is in danger and you require immediate assistance, they can be told to stay. Most dogs take longer to learn this command when they are in an excited or playful state. Be persistent and firm when teaching your pet to stay. The 'stiff' technique is a very good foundation to start getting the stay command through to your pup. Making sure they know to be stiff before they know the stay command is one good way to get them to understand the command more effectively. This is about physically restraining your pet, holding them in position until they settle, and seeing them sinking to the floor is exactly when the command starts to kick in.

Troubleshooting: Exuberant dogs are those who always show affection for the people and activities they love. Getting a big reaction out of you at the table might just be something you love. Being in your presence is usually what a dog will want to do without a doubt. So it's your body language and tone of voice that are going to make a big difference in getting them to sit and stay well enough for you to successfully get mealtime ready. Most dogs get overly excited and become super impatient when they know the event and reward is on its way before they seem ready to do the move they were asked to do. Just have patience to readjust your dog and he will eventually learn to do the task.

4.1. Training Techniques for Teaching Stay

- The purpose of the stay command is to teach your pet to stay in place for a specific period of time. This will help keep your pet calm if you need to be in a meeting or at the door. This is the second most important command (after Come!) that you need to train your pet.

Approaches - Place Command Approach: This training approach works with an animal that is calm—who already knows how to lie down and who is usually comfortable in one location. You help the dog learn this skill by layering these behaviors so the dog learns to go to a designated location, get into the down position, and stay there even if you are in visible distance. This method tends to work better with working breeds or shy dogs. It is best for dogs who are already somewhat mature, meaning they would have to be at least 10 months old for Labs and retrievers, 6-9 months old for German shepherds and most of the herding breeds, and 15-16 months old for the Mastiff, and Newfoundland breeds. If you attempt the place command with a young puppy, they often adapt physically to the location (e.g. beneath a chair) and will have a difficult time making adjustments as they grow.

Training Mental Traits - When you are satisfied that your pet is interested and engaged, you can move on to training. First, reward her for looking at you again. If you choose to use a clicker, you can click the clicker to say "yes" then give her a treat. Reward your pet for every look in your direction. Break training into small steps that the pet will easily achieve. As with all skills, when it comes to training your pet, small steps are key. Every step toward the final goal of getting your pet to stay, in whatever position, is worthy of reward and praise. We are rewarding and praising for the pet making good choices.

4.2. Troubleshooting Challenges

Troubleshooting challenges - Teaching a successful stay

Typical challenges that arise when teaching your pet to stay include the following:

1. Picking up at the expected finish: The stay command is complex for several reasons as it involves multiple elements (sit, stay, and release phase). Therefore, some pets may pick the command up quickly yet require much more practice to get to the point of being able to stay for a minute or more.

2. Short then long difficulty: Pets are able to stay for a shorter period of time (5 or 10 seconds, say) but then can't for longer whats. This is either a case of decreasing the time too quickly for them to really understand or the contingencies are flawed which can lead to hitches down the track.

3. Only when they're looking: This can happen if the stay has been inadvertently rewarded for a specific context (rather than being deliberate). It can mean that the pet doesn't really understand the base element of the command (stay) and can indicate too much confusion to work with.

4. Holding breath or 'pretending': Certain types of pets learn that attempting to move is uncomfortable or unfruitful, and given the chance won't shift an inch the whole time. This type of pet can seem to have the command down, yet they don't actually understand what's been asked of them. When confused or when attention is refocused on something else, regardless of not moving, they haven't really understood.

5. Come Command

Come Command

The second most important basic command is the come command. Getting your dog to come is much more than just training him, it literally could save his life one day. This command is not required to use a specific word or phrase to start the training. Have you ever been petting a dog and they were looking at you, then they look at something else? This is the perfect example of what the deaf dog will be experiencing without proper training. Each time you want the dog to come to you or a specific area in the house, you have to touch the dog to let him know where you want the dog, or throw a toy towards a specific area of the house to get the dog there. All this can be prevented by effective communication and using marker training.

It is very important to allow your puppy or dog to enjoy the experience of coming to you and build a positive association with this. Do not call him to punish, put the lead on, give a bath, or any other thing the dog will associate as negative. The number one main issue that people have when they are trying to teach a deaf dog to come is not giving enough praise and auto marking when the dog looks at you. You must immediately praise and reinforce so that the dog understands why they are being praised. If you fail to do this and continue to call your dog only to proceed with something your dog finds unpleasant, then the dog will quickly stop coming to you.

5.1. Building Recall Skills

Recall is a basic yet powerful command that comes in handy more often than not. Also known as the "come" command, recall is arguably the most important thing to teach your dog. It can get them out of trouble, call them to you after being far away or simply to ask them to come to you for a snuggle! Not only is it required for obedience tests, but it’s just a good tactic to use to keep your dog safe as well.

It’s wise to start establishing recall or "come" training early on if possible, especially while dealing with a young or new pet dog. You may switch to face your pet and get their attention. Use a delighted and tempestuous voice, pat your thighs or follow a treat in your hand. As your pet moves towards you, calm the moment and encourage them to come in. Offer loads of praise and treats and repeat this process multiple times in various locations, possibly in reverse, before phasing out a care treat.

Creating a steady come when using distractions is the hardest part of learning to call your pet back. Annoyances may be additional pets, individuals, aromatic food, something fascinating, such as a moving squirrel, or, as they grow older, a focus on play. The more interruptions you can think of and teach your pet dog to ignore, the better. When training your dog to come with clear of other things, it can be helpful to take a step back and locate a wonderful and quiet location like a well-fenced backyard, empty area or an interior hall. This makes playing and training the distraction-free, clear-up of your dog sounds possible. When your dog has a strong understanding of pulling back under best demands in best spots, you can continue to increase the challenge each time.

5.2. Reinforcement Strategies

It is essential to reinforce the behavior of responding to your pet's recall with "come." The term reinforcement here refers to increasing actions by reinstating them. There are differences in how to do this. A reward-based, or more positively, understood method is to give the dog a treat if they come when called. There is another favored technique - or conditionally favored strategy - namely ignoring them. As positively reinforcing activities should continue, it is useful to include the pet's name in the praise, to tell them they have done well.

It goes without saying that the pet performs the required action in either of the methods for successful recall because they are then rewarded. Especially with a dog, the action is advantageous because he gets the treat. The pet realizes it must come and utilizes the "come" word command to demand a treat. The treat reinforces movement. However, owner body language, besides the command, can also be used to reinforce their conduct. Clapping hands, clucking with the tongue, knee-hand gestures, patting of the thigh, and beckoning the dog are among the actions. The physical habits of the owner trigger sensations in the pet, and they respond to these during powerful recall. The "come" command does not have the ultimate importance but this shows you that pets learn from both these strategies. Using the "come" command is a pretty decent idea. Other options can also be employed.