Giving shorter versions of 'commands'

[Elizabeth77]

Hi I would welcome some comment on the following;

I started trying to train Meg with the usual, 'come here,' 'sit down,' 'fetch the ball,' etc. Then I had a think and wondered if it would not be easier for her just to hear one word when possible. Like, come, sit , fetch etc. It seems to make sense the less she has to hear the better she would remember. BUT as I am a novice in this area and want to learn from those with experience thought I would ask.

Now and then I hear myself say things like ' come here now or there will be no treat' and then I laugh at myself for thinking Meg , thought she is soooooooooo clever , would have a clue about that sentence except for the word 'come' and my tone of voice. I find 'up' works just as well as 'get up'

How do you all use commands or is just what works best. Thank you.

[bc4ever]

Hi I would welcome some comment on the following;

I started trying to train Meg with the usual, 'come here,' 'sit down,' 'fetch the ball,' etc. Then I had a think and wondered if it would not be easier for her just to hear one word when possible. Like, come, sit , fetch etc. It seems to make sense the less she has to hear the better she would remember. BUT as I am a novice in this area and want to learn from those with experience thought I would ask.

How do you all use commands or is just what works best. Thank you.

 

We started Scooter out with one word commands, such as sit, off, stay, etc. As for "sit down", that would have confused him since that is basically two commands--sit and down (as in lie down). Now, most of the time we just talk to him in complete sentences! LOL! He seems to understand.

[osioda]

HI,

As for training, I am not sure if you are ever going to train for herding but if you are thinking this you would not want to mix the words come here, because this in training is also confused with comeby, I have found the best over the years if you train one to here, is best I ususally use there name and say the word here, but I am also running multiple dogs. and for sit I do the same thing, and also when training as for the lie down command and sit, I also incorporate stay with these commands. and also in herding you use the words that ill do, that means when that you are done making them sit or down or to stop with the livestock that it is ok for them to come to you or to be released from the command. and I use the word Here to come directly to me.

 

But for yourself use what best works for you and your pup.

Stephen

[beachdogz]

Now and then I hear myself say things like ' come here now or there will be no treat' and then I laugh at myself for thinking Meg , thought she is soooooooooo clever , would have a clue about that sentence except for the word 'come' and my tone of voice.

 

oh ho, you just wait!! if you think they don't understand sentences....ha! well, you'll find out.

 

anyway, I always use a one word command, but some people use double word commands and they work fine for them. When I showed in obedience I stuck with one word so there was less chance of the dog getting up before the second word and therefore DQing on anticipation. You might want to change words if you are doing multiple working/performance events as someone already suggested, but other than that, I never found it mattered much to my dogs.

[ErinKate]

I think to start shorter commands would be best. As you go on, it seems you build to the command.

[Shadows Mom]

I started Shadow off with one word commands (sit, stay, wait (the best one ever!) down, over (gets her on her back for belly rubs and claw maintenance) etc) her only two word command was "get it" for fetch. Then I taught her hand signals snap and point up for sit, snap and point down for lay down, and the "come hither" finger that works well for people as well hehe. Now trying mouth sound commands two click sounds for sit, one 'kissie' sound for come.. its actually working quite well! I guess my advice is start with one method and stick to it until your pooch has it down pat!

[sandra s.]

As usual, I muddle through - with different commands, hand signals, whistles, curses, looks etc...the longer we live toether, the more we develop our own language. I suppose that happens to everyone. But if I had to choose new command words now, I'd like having at least two syllables (as in "lie down"...that's a nice one. I'd actually love to use English for the dogs, as it's a much nicer language. It just looks so pretentious that I'd suffer whenever people were around .).

A lot of the traditional German dog commands are awfully short. Aus!, sitz!, Platz!, Komm!, Hier!, yikes. That's not how I want to talk to anyone. It's so much easier to sound friendly when they're a bit longer. Or to sound encouraging, or even to implicate death threats . If a short, quiet "komm" doesn't work, it's a lot easier for me to growl "gehst du wohl her!!" instead of just increasing the volume.

[Root Beer]

I normally use one word cues. I can only think of a few cues that I use that aren't one word and even those probably sound like one word to the dog (leave it probably sounds like leavit). Usually I use one word cues like sit, splat, pretty, pin, twirl, slide, heel, scramble, contact, weave, OK, table, away, swing, etc.

 

Normally I don't use one word to mean two different things, but there are a couple that the dogs understand in context. "In" when we are outside playing means to go to the door to be let in the house. "In" when the dog is in heel means for the dog to move laterally into me. "Out" means either "go out to potty" or "go potty now" if we are outside when I say it to the dog. "Out" also means move off to my side and take a piece of Agilty equipment. In both of those cases, there has never been any confusion on the part of the dog, but generally speaking I don't do that.

[bc4ever]

Just an aside. When Scooter and I are playing Frisbee, I like to have him sit and wait sometimes in between throws. I usually count, one, two, three. But, one day I said, "Ready. Set. Go!" Every time I got to "set", his butt would hit the ground. He thought I was saying "SIT!" At least I knew he was paying attention!

[pammyd]

I have found the shorter the command and the less you talk the better

 

Dogs cant speak english we are trying to teach them

 

its like if you were in a strange land and someone who couldnt speak english was trying to teach you their laungage

 

if they just said one word and sat down then you would pretty quickly understand that word ment 'sit'

if they said something along the lines of 'come on over hear and sit nicely beside me and you will get a nice treat' then it would take much longer for you to understand what they wanted you to do

 

they seem to figure out the same word can mean different things, like 'down' for Ben means lie down, go off end of A-frame and dog walk and lie down, slow down on seesaw and approach to weaves and lie down on the end of the seesaw

there pretty smart