How to teach your dog his name

Miztiki · March 22, 2006

You've named your dog, but does he really know what his name is? If you called him by any other name would he respond just as well?

Teaching a dog his name is very helpful in so many ways! It gets the dog's attention prior to giving a command. It helps alot in multi-dog households. It can even save your dog's life someday.

Teaching a dog his name is easy and fun! Gather up your rewards (treats/toys) and begin in the house when there are no distractions.

Say your dog's name in an upbeat, happy tone of voice. If he so much as twitches an ear in your direction then tell him what a GOOD BOY he is, give him a little loving and toss him a treat or play a quick game with him. Make a bit of a fuss about it.

Say his name again a minute or so later and again praise him and make a fuss over him and give him a little treat or other reward as soon as he directs his attention toward you.

Do this several times throughout the day for several days. It shouldn't take long at all for him to immediately direct his attention to you as soon as you say his name. (He will probably come to you as well.)

During this teaching phase don't ask him to do anything else, just focus on teaching him his name. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do any training exercises with him during this time, it just means to do the two seperate from eachother.

If you have two or more dogs in your household then you'll want to help them learn to differentiate their name from the others (after they've each learned their own name). This is pretty easy too.

Sit down or stand somewhere inside when it's nice and quiet (I sat on a chair in a narrow hall) and, with both dogs at the ready, call one of your dogs to you by name. If they both come forward simply send the wrong dog back while encouraging the one you called to come towards you. Give a little treat or otherwise reward and praise your dog, then send him back by the other dog.

What I mean by sending the other dog back is discouraging him from approaching you. I would simply have the wrong dog take a step or two back while at the same time encouraging the right dog to come forward. It sounded like this for me:

Boyden, come here. Fynne, get back. Boyden, it's ok, come here (treat/good Boy). Fynne, no, get back.

Then I'd send Boyden back so that they were both a few steps away, and repeat it with the other dog.

Do this several times per session, maybe a couple times a day. They are likely to be a bit confused at first but if you keep it simple then they will soon catch on. Be consistent and keep it completely positive.

Once your dog knows his name then you will likely find that training becomes a little bit easier because his name will be a way to immediately get his attention, and it helps the dog to focus on you.

NEVER USE YOUR DOG'S NAME IN A NEGATIVE WAY.

This is extremely important. If you are upset with your dog then call him something else, but not his name. He should never associate his name with anything negative. If you need to have your dog do something he doesn't like to do, such as take a bath, then do not call him by name to the tub. Go get him and bring him but don't use his name. Always, always, always keep it positive!

When my dogs are in trouble I holler out "HEY!" instead of using their name. Sometimes I use "Mister" or "Young Lady" when they are in trouble too.

When both of my dogs are near eachother and I have to correct one, I just say "HEY" and focus on the dog I'm talking to. They both seem to know who I'm talking to because even though they will both stop whatever they are doing, the one I'm not looking at will instantly relax and carry on doing whatever. I don't remember how long it took for them to know, but it wasn't very long.

There are many other situations where you can practice name differentiation:

When letting your dogs outside or back in, when feeding, when crating, when throwing a ball or frisbee, when letting in or out of the car, etc.

Just remember to always associate your dog's name with positive things, never negative things. Make a conscious effort to remember that.

Rebecca, Irena Farm · March 22, 2006

This is all great and very useable advice, Miz. I do want to point out that some working trainers will ask you to use the dog's name to break their focus on what they are doing (usually pushing the sheep too hard or flanking a bit wonky). Both Roy Johnson and Tommy Wilson are marvelous at the art of communicating with the dog's name - their dogs certainly have no doubt what their names are! :rolleyes: It's wonderful - and very, very instructive - to hear Tommy in particular crying and coaxing a young dog around a course. Yes, the name is used as a correction, but also as a reminder, a request to think, a call for action, and an encouragement. It's all in the tone of voice, of course.

If I'm working two dogs, it works like this: Ben and Doug are working the sheep. Ben sheds, Doug does not. So if we want to divide off some sheep, I want only Ben to respond to my recall and flank commands (plus only Ben is in the right spot to make the cut I want).

I say, "Ben" quietly. Make no mistake, this is aversive - it takes his attention away from working. So a command follows quickly. Doug will ignore me because I didn't get his] attention first. I have to use a LOT of commands to get Ben on the sheep I want after he's split them off - but because Doug's working there too, I have to restrict my commands and corrections to Ben's name. "Ben-ben!" to get him to walk up, "Beeeeeeeen" to keep him from going around to the heads, "Ben?" to remind him to let the lambs stay with the ewes, and "BEN!" if he ignores me.

He definitely knows the difference.

The key is to decide ahead of time how you are going to use your dog's name. I know an obedience trainer (rather old-style), who puts her dogs on a line and speaks the name and if the dog doesn't instantly whip around and look at her, gives a great jerk on the line. That's both very effective and very quick working, but it's not something I'd everevereverever do to Ben. If I say "Ben!" I want him to say, "What?" not think his world is about to end -but it's a different style and different goal - not to mention a different type of personality.

So it depends on your ultimate goals and what kind of relationship you plan to have with your young (or new) dog.

Sue R · March 22, 2006

Thanks, Rebecca - I was wondering how to respond to this. I had never used a dog's name like this until learning the technique from Jack Knox. The results can be somewhat miraculous, when I manage to get the timing right.

For "pet" dogs that won't be working, I think Miztiki gives some great advice. That's what we teach in puppy class. But I'm not sure if I think it's applicable in all situations. For instance, I am not sure if that advice would apply to agility dogs, or if the results of it (looking at the handler) would be "too disruptive" during a run.

I have to admit that I have used Jack's technique on when doing things other than stockwork with my dogs - like manners in the house, barking, etc. It works there, too, amazingly well.

Lisa has been applying what she learned at Jack's clinic to her Ben (who has a short attention span and trouble focusing on things other than his choice) and has found it to make a world of difference to him, and he's strictly a companion dog.

Thanks, Miztiki, for your work on this. You make a number of very good points in your post. I think we do need to differentiate sometimes between training techniques that apply to stockdogs, companion dogs, and dogs with other activities in mind. I am prone to "painting with too broad a brush" myself often.

Lunar · March 22, 2006

I find there's a huge difference in using names between a one-dog household and a multiple-dog household. Previously I used Zeeke's name just as an attention-getter. Now I HAVE to use their names when I tell them a command, or mass confusion ensues. Especially when releasing them from stays. When we got Zoe we had to teach them both not only that their name means I want their attention, but when I say the OTHER dog's name they are to ignore it! That was most difficult.

I have only companion dogs, but even I use their names in different ways. I agree, it's all in the tone of voice.

juliepoudrier · March 22, 2006

I use my dogs' names for both positive and negative. In a multiple dog household, when I need to correct one or get a particular dog's attention, the easiest way to do that is to use their name. So I might say Twist's name to her in a sharp, negative manner if she's ignoring me and stalking sheep after I have called her off them. That way all the other dogs know I'm not correcting them and Twist knows it's her I am displeased with. I don't think any of my dogs have negative connotations with their names as a result.

Unlike Becca I have not succeeded in working Twist and Kat together by preceding a command with a name, but I'm sure that's just because I haven't put a lot of effort into making it work.

J.

Miztiki · March 22, 2006

Your comments will be going into the FAQ's along with the original post.

With that in mind, I need clarification.

When you use your dog's name while working stock or doing agility, what negative thing follows?

For instance, if I said Boyden's name so that I could clean his ears (which he HATES), then that would be negative.

On the other hand, if I said his name as he was sniffing the counters then that would be enough to snap him out of it. No negative correction or event would follow (unless he ignored me, in which case I would jump up and growl out "HEY!").

Eileen Stein · March 22, 2006

Thanks for your great work in writing this up, Miz. I think it'll be helpful to a lot of people, although I've found that border collies tend to learn their names very quickly. When I got my first BC pup, I was reflecting pleasantly on what fun I would have teaching her her name. When I first took her lead, I said, "Faith?" She looked at me inquiringly, I said, "Yes, good girl Faith," and that was it. But she was an exceptionally smart dog, and an only dog at that time.

The advice never to use your dog's name in a negative way is interesting. I suspect that is the rule in every other type of training except stock work. As Becca and Sue note, most stockdog trainers and handlers use the dog's name in a huge variety of contexts, both positive and negative -- it can mean "pay attention" or "think!" or "steady" or "move just a tiny bit" or "cut it out" or "look at this," all depending on the tone of voice and the context. As Donald McCaig says (channeling Jack Knox), "The most important command any dog has is his name."

I think the advice you give is straightforward and excellent for someone relatively new to dogs who is setting out to teach a dog its name. But I can't help wondering why the idea of how a dog's name should be used became so different in the different training worlds.

Thanks again, Miz. I'm moving this thread to the FAQ.

Eileen Stein · March 22, 2006

>

Well, if it's used as a correction, it's a correction. That's the negative thing, I guess -- the dog experiences being corrected. If he responds to the correction, he may be changing his behavior to something he doesn't like as much as what he was doing before -- moving the sheep more slowly, for example -- so I suppose that's a negative thing. If he doesn't respond to the correction, you would normally do something to enforce the correction, such as running toward him or otherwise putting pressure on him, and that would be a negative thing.

If I called my dog to clean his ears, I'd clean his ears. He probably wouldn't like it, but I doubt he'd associate his name with that, because he hears his name in so many other contexts, many of them very happy ones.

juliepoudrier · March 22, 2006

Miz,

It's probably a bit more complicated than positive vs. negative. Calling the dog's name while it's working does take its attention off the stock, which could be considered negative in the same way taking stock completely away from the dog is negative. But really what you are doing is saying "Hey, you, use your brain and think--what you're doing isn't right." In that sense it is a correction, but a very brief and contextual one. I think the important thing is the tone in which the name is said. If I see my dog getting ready to dive in a grab, I would say "Kat!" in a very sharp tone. That's all I need to get her to say "Whoa, wrong answer here." If Twist is getting too wide on her flanks because, say, the sheep are very pressure sensitive, then I will call her name in a high, fast voice "Twist, Twist, Twist!" to get her to refocus and come in some. If she didn't refocus and do as I asked, then I would say her name more sharply, just as I did in my example with Kat for thinking about diving in. Then again, if I were trying to shed with Kat and she was hesitant on coming in toward the sheep, I would never use her name sharply, but rather would use her name in an encouraging tone. In my mind, the idea is that the dog knows its name and understands tone of voice, so you can communicate a whole lot to the dog with just name and tone. The rest is up to the dog to figure out. Going back to my original Kat example, I could just as easily so "No!" or "Aahht!" which would also communicate that I wasn't happy with what was happening or about to happen. But by using her name, I let her know something isn't right, but I also give her the choice of figuring out what is the right thing to do. Does that make sense?

J.

Eileen Stein · March 22, 2006

Please, everybody, post your comments to this thread instead of to the "Part 2" thread. Thanks, and sorry for the confusion.

Sue R · March 22, 2006

Eileen - I have to admit that Deb's post (which was above in the part 2 thread and will maybe be below in this one) and your comment on it really made an impression on me, and helped to explain why (in our puppy classes) we only teach positive use of a dog's name.

When I think about it (and this applies to children too often, as well), we frequently don't use names unless we are stopping something that's undesirable behavior, scolding, etc., therefore there is too much negative association.

I have found at a recent clinic with Jack Knox, just how helpful the use of the dog's name can be. I find it amazing as I endeavor to apply that at home when working my dog on my stock.

Julie mentioned above how using her dog's name sharply could prevent an unwanted movement (like diving) from happening. I find, with my dog, that using his name more soothingly or in a cajoling tone may have the same result (if I use his name sharply, it may have the opposite effect of setting off the unwanted movement). That may well be because I tend to often increase anxiety in my sensitive dog by "communicating" my tension and anxiety.

So, it's not always the same for everybody and their dog, and the use of the name and the tone of the voice need to be "tailored" for the handler, dog, and situation, perhaps?

Miztiki · March 22, 2006

I'm glad this was moved back because I really need to clarify what I meant by "negative association". But my cleaning lady came so I couldn't. I did incorporate the suggestions from the rough draft that was posted a while back. No one mentioned these other things though or I would have rewritten it.

I also use my dog's names in varying tones of voice, including as a correction. However, they do not associate it with anything negative or unpleasant. It doesn't conjure up images in their minds of things that are BAD. I didn't word it well enough I guess.

If one of the main points of teaching a dog its name is to immediately get their attention then it's best to keep their name from becoming associated with BAD things. Do y'all agree?

I also had the inexperienced dog owner (not just BC owner) in mind when typing this up. I should have gone into more detail about not associating the name with BAD things and also about tone of voice and context. I wouldn't expect anyone to always use the name in a strictly positive way. I think that would be very difficult.

I'd like the chance to rewrite this if you don't mind Eileen.

laurie etc · March 22, 2006

I think "teaching your dog his name" - the original intent of the FAQ title - should ALWAYS be in a positive tone. I want my dog to learn INITIALLY to connect/associate his name with paying attention to me - and that's a GOOD thing. Later, after the dog knows his name, the name can be used to get his attention with all sorts of tones and inferences- coversationally, happily, sharply, whatever; and the dog will know that you are speaking to him and (hopefully) respond accordingly. IMO, I think the intent of not using his name negatively was actually referring to the recall - don't CALL the dog to you and then do something negative or something he HATES. You don't want the association that calling the dog will result in negative consequences, or pretty soon you'll have a dog who chooses to NOT COME for fear of the consequences. If you have to do something negative(in the dog's mind), better to just go get the dog and do it without the "come!".

Eileen Stein · March 22, 2006

>

Go for it! Start a new thread with your new version, and maybe that'll be the one we use for the FAQ. Nothing like a little discussion to refine our thoughts.

Sue R · March 22, 2006

Laurie - I think several of us were referring to the "NEVER USE YOUR DOG'S NAME IN A NEGATIVE WAY". It sort of jumps out at you and a person might well skim the post and pick up only on that sentence, and so miss a lot of the rest of the information there. I think you make some very good points to add to Miztiki's original post.

juliepoudrier · March 22, 2006

Yes, I was responding the the bold face "Never use your dog's name in a negative way."

There are just some times when I need to do something "unpleasant" to my dog and I need to call the dog in order to do that. For example, Twist hates a Frontline/Advantage application and will deliberately hide under the bed (her troll hole) and I'm not about to crawl under there and drag her out, so she's going to be called, and I do expect her to come. If she doesn't come on the first call, she might well hear me using her name in a negative way, and I don't think it confuses her or affects her psyche in any way. That said, she is an adult and well knows her name (and knows that I don't in general do bad things to her when I call her to me). If I were teaching a pup or a new dog its name, I would most certainly always make the association with the calling of the name a wonderful thing!

J.

Maralynn · March 22, 2006

When teaching your dog it's name, you are still working on building a foundation of trust. You want to teach the dog "I am your leader and it is good to trust me". Using it is different because you've already laid that foudation of trust

I use my dog's name when it is important that she listen and obey. I'd say that it is 85% positive. But even when I call her off sheep or to get a bath, she obeys. I am fair and consistant, and have have shown her that she can trust me, even if there are a few things that she doesn't really care to do.

Miztiki · March 23, 2006

Here it is again, rephrased. I didn't get into tone of voice because that's difficult to describe, but I did try to convey the message that a dog's name should not be associated with BAD things.

Let me know what you think. Keep in mind that this is directed towards relatively inexperienced dog owners. I'd assume, and let me know if you would too, than an experienced owner would understand the difference between saying their dog's name in a less than positive way, and saying their dog's name in association with a BAD thing.

This is not the final draft. I'll start a new thread for that.

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