Teaching obedience commands is a great way to improve your relationship with your dog.  Obedience will teach your dog focus and self-restraint while making him better behaved.  Obedience is also a great way to mentally stimulate your dog.

The command gives your dog something to think about rather than a previously typical knee jerk reaction.  They understand that sit means sit quietly and heel means be attentive to their handler.  Using commands as tools can help a dog focus in situations which were previously tough for him.  Through distraction training dogs learned self-control and confidence.  “Self-control” meaning he can control his actions on his own.  Confidence is the result and then he feels less of a need to bark or act out.  A lack of confidence and self-control in dogs tends to develop into a variety of unwanted behaviors.  So it is important to make obedience a way of life.

With practice and consistency at home, you should be able to help your dog become a much better member of society.

Have an obedient dog?  Below is a list of common commands taught in obedience.  Can your dog do all of these?  If not, contact Acme Canine to find out how to start lessons.

• Sit                                                                      •              Heel                                                        •              Down
• Come                                                                •              Sit-from-Down                                     •              Up/Off
• Leave It                                                            •              Place                                                       •              Sit-in-Motion
• Down-in-Motion                                            •              Sit-from-Front                                     •              Down-from-Front
• Drop                                                                 •              Take                                                        •              Stand
• Square Off 90                                                 •              Finish

The use of standard cue words is a basic tool used to get desired behavior from a dog.  Following are the standard cue words used at Acme Canine; in addition we use the owner’s release word, crate word and elimination command:

1. Off – dog needs 4 feet on ground
2. Leave it – dog needs get away from item or dog (litter, poop, urine, etc)
3. Wait – dog is to stop moving forward
4. Quiet – dog is to stop barking
5. Back – dog is to back up so another dog can go through the door
6. No – dog is to stop what it is doing and focus on us

Keeping Cues Strong

• In order to avoid teaching the dog to ignore us it is most successful to use each cue word only one time and to enforce the cue given.
• Use verbal praise and brief pats to reward dogs for proper responses to cues.
• Praise the dog when they respond to your cue.  Remain patient and be consistent.

Have you and your dog already had obedience lessons?  Try taking him off-leash!  Teaching off-leash obedience is a very challenging, yet rewarding way to spend time with your dog.  Interested, but not sure how to do this?  Acme Canine can help you out!