Dog obedience training

August 23, 2010, 2:43 pm betterhomesgardens

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Dr Harry, Australia's favourite vet, shares his expert tips on dog obedience training.

There are five elements that your dog needs to understand if it’s to become a well-trained pet. These are sit, drop, stay, come and walk at heel. Your vet or local dog-training club can help you find a puppy preschool or dog-obedience class, but teaching your pooch these commands is easier than you think. The trick is to start when your dog is as young as eight-weeks old. Be consistent and repetitive – say each command at least 10 times. Reward with food and praise, and practice for about 10 minutes each day.

1. SIT

Focus your dog on a food reward. This should be something different to its usual meal. Cheese, chicken, cabanossi or liver treats are ideal. Work with the dog on a lead; that way you have control. Position your dog with its back to a wall, to stop it backing away. Hold a food reward over top of the nose and rock it backwards over the top of the head. Your dog will follow the treat and sit. The moment it does, say ‘sit’, and reward immediately.

2. DROP

With your dog in the sit position, hold reward over top of the nose and extend treat forward to ground at a 45 degree angle. Your pet should drop to its belly. If it only goes halfway, still give a reward, but repeat until it does drop.

3. STAY

With your dog in the sit position, hold up your hand in a stop sign. Walk back one or two steps, make eye contact with your dog, say ‘stay’, wait 10 seconds, then go back and reward your pet. Gradually extend both the distance you retreat and the time you wait before returning.

4. COME

This is an extension of stay. With the dog in sit position, and you at a distance from the dog, say ‘come’ and jump up and down to break stay command. Reward your pooch when it comes.

5. WALK AT HEEL

Put your dog on a lead and make it sit to your left. Hold a food reward in front of your left thigh as you walk forward. This encourages the dog to focus on this position and walk on a slack lead. Use the command ‘heel’ or ‘walk’, reward your dog after a few paces, then go again.

Do you have any tips? share yours below!

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bella11:00am Saturday 16th February 2013 ESTReport Abuse
Hi Doctor Harry my Maltese x Shiatsu hates water and she hates going in the bathroom tub can you please help me. She hates hoses and when she was a little pup (shes 1 year old know) she always would yelp and run away so please help me!?
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Celeste Benoit12:56pm Sunday 31st July 2011 ESTReport Abuse
Hi Dr Harry, I have two golden retrievers both male, one is aged two and one is aged one. The older dog has gone through puppy school and has always been very social but lazy at home and quite sooky so we got him a new friend. We have out the younger one through puppy school and he was overly social and very hyperactive.only a few months ago instead of going up wanting to play with other dogs on walks they have started to get aggressive and bark and try to fight other dogs, we thought this was from being unsocial so we tried to slowly increase this yet it only made things worse with more barking and agressive behavior to other dogs. We had them both desexed recently approx 3 months ago to try to deter the behavior. We have tried commands, treats, squirting with a water bottle .. Pretty much everything! What can we do? Please Help! They are both beautiful dogs that are very playful with dogs they know yet with random dogs on walks it is horrible to take them out and about. Please help!
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rinny06:34pm Tuesday 12th July 2011 ESTReport Abuse
Dear Dr Harry, I have an outgoing 2 year old American Staffy named Chopper. He is used to being an indoor dog until about a month ago we moved into the inlaws who have a placid 5 year old bull mastif (they get along great). The problem I have with Chopper is he will not stop crying and barking unless we let him inside, we've tried ignoring him, spraying water and even an anti-bark citronella spray collar which he just got used to. Is there anything else (not too drastic) we can try?
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BradleyA09:51pm Thursday 07th July 2011 ESTReport Abuse
Hi Dr.Harry I was wondering I just got my golden retreiver dog which is approximately 8-9 years old a new god house and he's not going into it. Is there a solution for me to make him go in so that I don't experience this problem again Thanks
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Sarah Turner08:14pm Wednesday 06th July 2011 ESTReport Abuse
how to stop dog from barking
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