When winter is too harsh and we can’t walk in our woods, whenever possible we take the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood. There’s one house we pass that has two dogs and an invisible fence. One of the dogs simply sits and watches as we walk past. The other dog watches and then runs posturing and barking along the top of the yard as we walk past.
This does not sit well with one of my dogs. In fact, she thinks it’s her job to give that dog what for.
When it first happened it took me by surprise. The dog seemed to come from nowhere (which could have been due to the fact the house is set below the street line.) In fact, I noticed the first dog, quietly sitting there watching us and as we began to walk past the other dog came running up barking and Delilah went to the end of her leash growling and barking back and I’m certain I heard her say, “You want a piece of me?”
After that first time, my guard was up and so was Delilah’s. She knew exactly where that house and dog were. And as we approached, she again went to the end of her leash looking for a fight. I think her philosophy is I’ll get you before you get me.
I would stop, call her to me or lure her with “look” and give her a treat and it’s true there were times when I was wrestling her past that house and dog.
Sometimes I think dog training is too complicated. Not that I don’t think my dog can follow instructions, it’s more like me trying to remember what command to use for what behavior I want. The trouble (for me) with having so many commands is when a situation happens, I can never remember the correct command and I think I end up confusing the hell out of my dog.
“Stop!” “No.” “Come” “Here” “This Way.”
It’s no wonder my dog has no idea what I want.
And then it hit me. K.I.S.S.
Keep it simple stupid.
I’ve been working Delilah on her “leave it” command. And I’m thrilled with her progress. It not only works in the house if I drop something (although I still better be quick with my foot or hand) it’s also been working on our walks.
I use it in the woods to keep her away from unsavory items such as dog poop, I use it on the street to keep her away from someone’s stray garbage and just the other day I used the same command when THE DOG came charging at us.
Hey Chocolate, you want a piece of this?
And it worked. Sure her hair was still up and she paused a moment, but a quick “leave it” from me and a treat at hand and we marched past that dog like we were in a parade.
Do I look like that kind of dog to you?
Do you find dog commands as confusing as I do? What commands if any do you use routinely? What works best for your dog?
I think my dog understand what she wants to when she wants to. Our furbabies are like spoiled two leggers. Lady Girl knows how to push my compassion buttons AND my you are a bad doggie ones, LOL.
Simple commands and various looks and posturing work best, IMHO.
Every dog I’ve ever had understood “stay.” I can NOT use “stay” with Vlad though–not to save my life. He takes the word “stay” to mean “come,” and automatically follows me. I can use the “stay” hand signal, but I can’t say it. I’m now trying to overcome the stay-word being needed for Barkly, because I’ve decided that changing him to the hand-signal alone would be easier to do than getting Vlad to use the word would be. It’s not easy though. I’ve used the word my whole life, and I’m finding that retraining me is the hardest part.
Alma would respond in the exact same way Delilah did to a charging barking dog. Glad the leave-it worked – we don’t really use that one for Alma for anything, so my usual strategy is to tell her to ‘give it a rest’ (not a command at all, just what comes out of my mouth) and we keep walking. Her leash isn’t very long, and she’s usually good about staying in a ‘heel’ position, even if she is getting a bit bouncy. In the past, we would’ve crossed the street. Your plan sounds better.
We think it is difficult to get it right when something out of the blue happens but KISS is spot on and we love the term. Nice one we will remember that. Have a marvellous Monday.
Best wishes Molly
Well done both of you! A command that covers a multitude of sins 😉
Well done you, I will remember that one.
That’s one of the first things we learned at dog school. It’s rarely the dog’s fault. It’s us! In my independent studies with Cupcake, I have found the word “TREAT” to be the most successful command.
Being in the midst of obedience school, Mom is flooded with commands. It all seems so simple at school but in the real world she feels like a fool and becomes unsure of herself. Most of the time the command thing works pretty well. We have some of those invisible fence dogs around the corner. I love to challenge them. I don’t like them and they know it, so it is always a growl and bark fest when I walk by if they are outside. No command stops me, so we try to walk on the other side of the street, that works.
We use leave it a lot in this house. One of my favs. 🙂
My husband has success with “sit”, then the heel command until we are past whatever it is. I usually start a little jog and say “Come on” in a very excited voice and it works because it puts Toby’s focus on me. I think everyone is more comfortable with some commands than others, and part of the fun is figuring out how you and your dog get along best as a team.
I am guilty of confusing the dogs I’m sure. I need to remember to keep it simple.
Yes…luke would act the same way..and it terrifies me when they come charging like that..and….you never know…some dogs will go thru that…and the battery might be low..who knows…cant trust those fences. We are terrified and know theres an elec fence…our dogs dont.
Yes…i find leave it to work for just about any bad behavior..they just need a strong base!!!
My trainer..after three years of reacting..gave me the best advice. Everytime luke reacted..i gave his slew of commands..no..leave it..stop…just like you!! Nothing worked…he didnt want the best of treats
Then….she told me..its not working…sooo…learn lukes signs…tail up..ears erect hackles up and correct him with leave it before…before…he reacts. Well a light bulb went off..for him and me…tail goes up…leave it….,,,omg..it works!!!!!
This is a great post! The Leave it command is by far the best command I ever decided to teach my huskies!!!! As you said it is a simple command that can be used for pretty much anything! I taught this command specifically for the cats in my house. When the kitties don’t feel like playing but the pups feel like chasing, I use leave it, and it works. I also use it for dogs outside, and when we see a squirrel etc….I love the leave it command!!!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
This is why I hate invisible fences! Although I first learned to hate them as a cyclist, long before Silas was in the picture.
Silas is smart enough to train himself despite my fumbling. Sometimes that’s not a good thing. LOL.
I use the “Leave it” command to pretty much spoil all the fun my dogs want to have.
I think that idea was brilliant! I am like you, where often I forget what i said in each situation. We use ‘leave it” quite a bit ourselves….even when Dakota chases Cody or annoys him, we say “leave it” and it works!
oh, that’s interesting. I might have to try that. Rita is most definitely NOT a food grabber and she almost never picks up random things on walks, except for the odd stick here and there, so I’ve never actually had to teach her “leave it.” But that’s a good idea to use it as a multi-purpose “stop doing what you’re doing” command. I could definitely use that on walks!
I get confused and then confuse her too I’m sure. Especially with “come” and “heel”. I almost always forget to say “heel” when she stops to sniff something like crazy. I usually say “come” then realize I wasn’t supposed to say that. Maybe I’ll try “leave it.” 🙂
I was just telling my OH that Neeko has a “bad attitude” and needs a training boot camp. She really doesn’t have an attitude, she has just decided over the last couple of months that she does not need to listen to me. At. All.
Such a great discussion. I had an almost identical breakthrough with “leave it” with the dog who lives behind us. Our fences touch, and that little dog tries everything he can to get into our yard. Nothing was working to get Lucas to back off of the fence and calm down to come inside… until I finally hit on “leave it.” If I can get that out before he reaches the fence, he actually listens! If he gets to the fence too fast, well, that’s still something we’re working on. Great job!!
Glad she is doing so well. I am blirting out all kinds of stuff also. I do use the leave it command alot and it works real well for us too.
The leave it command is great for that! Luckily, living in the country with very few dog walkers, we seldom have that problem. My most reliable command is NO. LOL
What’s even more difficult for me is making sure my hubby and I are both using the same words when training Luke. I was saying “off” and he was saying “down”. So I started trying to use “down” but I still say “off” half the time! So he’s jumping on me and I’m saying “get off”, “get down” and who knows what else in there! lol
I think “leave it” is a great command that can be used for a lot of situations and that is the one I want to really start working on with him, as well as teaching it to the girls.
I catch myself using two commands interchangeably sometimes and have to wince when I do! It gets confusing for Riley (and for me). When I took Riley to her very first obedience class when she was a puppy, one of the first things the trainer taught us was to choose a word for a command and stick with that same word. He also told us to not make the mistake of “teaching our dogs to count” by repeating the same command 5 or 6 times until our dog finally sat (or whatever the command was). Every time I’m out somewhere with Riley (or without her) and we’re around other dogs and their owners, I kind of smile when I hear people saying “Rex, sit. Sit, Rex, sit. Sit. Sit. Sit! Good boy,” because I think “Wow, Rex can count to 6!” 🙂
Callie, Shadow, and Ducky aren’t the problem. They’ve learned that when Mom says “leave it!” In any tone of voice, she means it. And 9.7 times out of every 10, they will leave it. When “Daddy” is around, it’s a damn free-for-all. And “that’s all I have to say about that” (thank you, Forrest Gump).
Siriusly, though, I’m a certified dog trainer and I have to constantly stop myself from repeating the same cue over and over again, like “sit, sit, sit, sit,” Ducky is a quick learner, though. I don’t usually have to repeat the cues. Except come. But one thing I learned from watching The Dog Whisperer has helped me tremendously with all 3 of the girls: If they don’t come to me after the second try, I just go get them without a word. And no treat. If they come to me right away, they get lots of praise and loving.
That is awesome Jodi. So glad it worked for you. And yes, sometimes in the “moment” I spew every command that comes to mind. I think it’s human nature…
So every time you say Leave It, you’ll need to reward yourself as well. 🙂