# What command words do you use for....



## fam6 (Apr 25, 2013)

No Jumping?

Laying Down?

Giving up something so i can take it?

Leaving something alone(that he's sniffing and may pick up for example)?

Getting off of something(such as the couch or bed)? 

I'm making cliff notes for myself. All the really important information at my fingertips so i don't have to skim through several books.  It also helps me remember it. I'm adding in key commands and how to teach them as well. Just looking for the right words for each command. I'd love your input and to hear what you use. Thanks!!


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

Off - no jumping (means get off me)

Down - for laying down

Out -give something to your hand

Drop it - drop what they have in their mouth to the ground

Leave it - leave it alone

Off - get off something 

I would advise you to get a small book on basic obedience commands. The important thing is that you are consistent and don't use "Lay down" and "Get down" for different commands. I like one-word commands when possible: Sit, down, stand, etc.

Let me give you another one which is very easy to teach a young dog. It is "Back". What you do is put the dog in front of you and slowly, slowly walk into the dog, they will automatically back up. Then I just "Name that thing they are doing". So I say "Back, back, back" while slowly walking into them." If they are sitting, they hop backwards often. I used this command in agility class when my dog was sitting on the other side of a jump waiting for my command to jump over it. I thought he was too close, so I said "Back" and waved my hand towards him (the hand signal I paired with the command), and he hopped backwards into a sit. I repeated it and he hopped several more times backwards going into a sit each time till I had him where I thought he could make a good jump. "Back" is also good if they are too close when you are opening a door or something.

I would like to mention that dogs watch what we do and try to understand from our body language what we want. So I usually start off training with my hands or body and add the verbal command once they are doing the desired action.

Good luck and have fun.


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

No, Come, Leave it, Easy, Down, Sit, Go get it, are the few that come to mind first. I swear my dogs know just about everything that I say to them. They know, do you want to go for a walk , let's go to Gigi's , want a treat ? They are very smart, I talk to them all day long.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

No Jumping?

I have no verbal cue of this. I extinguish the behavior by doing nothing (no pay-off) and the dog stops jumping up if that's something I don't want. 

Laying Down?

Down/hand signal

Giving up something so i can take it?

Give 


Leaving something alone(that he's sniffing and may pick up for example)?

Leave it

Getting off of something(such as the couch or bed)? 

Off


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

fam6 said:


> No Jumping?
> 
> Laying Down?
> 
> ...


You can use any words you want. Just use the same one for the same behavior. You could say "bath tub" for down if it's paired with the learning of the behavior. You might look kind of silly but the dog doesn't understand what the words mean until they're associated with something,


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I usually say "leave it" if they are to leave something alone; "take" for when I want them to pick something up; "off" for no jumping or get off the counter or couch; and of course the other basics like sit, down, and come. "Back up" is also a useful command as someone else mentioned.


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

Off = off me, couch, etc

Down = lay down

Leave it = self explanatory

Give = self explanatory

Others I find useful: 

Up up = put your front feet up so I can lift you

Beep beep beep = back up as long as I'm beeping


Be sure not to say confusing things like "sit down." If you do then whatever behavior they choose is correct or for instance if they are on the couch and you say down & they lay there & look at you lol

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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I use Down for no jumping, Flat for lie down, Off for down from the furniture, Out for out of the crate, especially when it is in the car (preceded by Wait). Mine! means leave it alone and/or let me take it, in exchange for a treat of suitable value. The cue I use most of all is Wait, which means wait where you are until I release you, as distinct from Stay, which means stay exactly as you are, sitting or flat, until I come back to you. I also use Debut for stand, as I found Poppy was plomping down at the first whisper of Ssss...


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## GeriDe (Mar 2, 2014)

*commands*

No Jumping? No Jump

Laying Down?down

Giving up something so i can take it?drop it

Leaving something alone(that he's sniffing and may pick up for example)?leave it

Getting off of something(such as the couch or bed)? off

All paired with hand gestures. I worked each command in spurts of 5-10 minutes with rapid fire command, gesture, reward - about 5-10 cycles per session - ONE command at a time. I'd do 3-4 sessions a day, a different command each session so he didn't grow bored


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## fam6 (Apr 25, 2013)

Thank you everyone!! Yes, i'm preplanning by already assigning words to the actions. This way hubby, the kids and I will all be on the same page.  Since i'm reading Ian Dunbar's book, i looked up how he teaches dogs not to jump. He suggests teaching them to sit-stay when people enter the home or if you meet someone on a walk, etc. Easier said than done, im sure, but we'll attempt it. I love the Back command. Thank you for that! Any other useful commands outside of the basic? When you teach them Wait, isnt it basically the Stay command? I know he'll pick up on words and phrases that we dont actively teach him during training too. Thank you all again! I'm constantly on this site, scribbling information that i know will help us.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

In addition to agreeing to commands to use for your dog, it is also a good idea to agree to hand signals so your family is on the same page with that. Using verbal commands is good, but I really like hand signals since they are so attuned to body language. Sometimes I will do a training session just using hand signals. 

If you have 2 dogs you can use one hand to tell one dog to stay and the other hand to tell 2nd dog to come. Commands for training multiple dogs might make a good new thread.

Wait is different from stay as fjm explained. But I am guilty of using stay when I should be using wait. I am more likely to use wait as "Stop where you are right now!" as in wait by the door as I go outside or "stop going forward into the street". WAIT!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

fam6 said:


> No Jumping? *Off*
> 
> Laying Down? *Drop*
> 
> ...


I would also make sure that all of the people who will work with your pup use the same words and/or signals. Signals are good for teaching then words for reinforcing. Puppies learn best from body language. Make sure your pup knows the behavior before pairing it to a word. Consistency from as many different people as possible is a great way to help the pup to generalize its understanding of what is being asked for. The actual words don't matter it is the consistency of showing the pup do this when I say this, do that when I say that. Generally use one syllable words for commands (could even be as simple as A for sit, B for drop, etc). I also use two syllable name words to call the dog's attention (Li-ly or Peeves-y). As others have said here wait and stay mean different things for my dogs too. Stay means remain here in this position until I return and tell you otherwise. Wait means stay here in this position until I release you from where ever I am with an order to do something else.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

My older dog is hard of hearing. So she can't hear all my verbal commands. I am really glad she knows the hand signals. Plus if you have voice problems, hand signals are useful. Guess you guys know where I stand on hand signals, huh? :laugh:


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

MiniPoo said:


> Wait is different from stay as fjm explained. But *I am guilty of using stay when I should be using wait.* I am more likely to use wait as "Stop where you are right now!" as in wait by the door as I go outside or "stop going forward into the street". WAIT!


Oh I think I was typing while you were hitting submit. I too have done bad and told Lily to sit stay in the kitchen when she was in the way while I was doing stuff there. I forgot about her one time and left her there. when I went back, probably about ten or fifteen minutes later she was still sitting where I had abandoned her. Stay is a very powerful word for her! She is such a good girlie! We rely heavily on signals these days, getting ready for utility obedience. I'm with you there. Also though, the words have to be rock solid for emergency situations where you might not be able to have eye contact from the dog.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

fam6 said:


> Thank you everyone!! Yes, i'm preplanning by already assigning words to the actions. This way hubby, the kids and I will all be on the same page.  Since i'm reading Ian Dunbar's book, i looked up how he teaches dogs not to jump. He suggests teaching them to sit-stay when people enter the home or if you meet someone on a walk, etc. Easier said than done, im sure, but we'll attempt it. I love the Back command. Thank you for that! Any other useful commands outside of the basic? When you teach them Wait, isnt it basically the Stay command? I know he'll pick up on words and phrases that we dont actively teach him during training too. Thank you all again! I'm constantly on this site, scribbling information that i know will help us.


Oh, and don't forget to teach a release word. I use "Ok" which probably isn't the best because it's used so much in regular, every day life. But you could choose another one. Teach that the dog doesn't move from the stay until the release word is given....he may wait nicely at the door but without a release word, the wait, stay and some others are not going to be as precise. So in the beginning while he's still learning a stay for instance, don't make him stay for long at all and get that release word in quickly before he screws up and moves. Say your release word and show him to move away, go in a little circle or something and come back and do it again. That way he'll get use to hearing the release word first...always. Same if you're teaching him to wait at the door. I never used a cue for this, but taught a default behavior with my other dogs. They just waited (no cue) until they hear the release word. I like to teach as many behaviors as a default as possible so I don't have to keep telling my dogs things all the time.


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

I so forgot about OK. I'm reading Control Unleashed & she suggests free or release. Release seems a bit bulky for me so I am retraining with free. I've found that OK will cause a dog to break position in a class environment with everyone saying it or even in casual conversation amongst others. I've started suggesting that students change their release word because of it. When I read it I was like, " duh I've never thought of it from a dog's point of view." They are not wrong if they break when hearing it.

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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

fam6 said:


> When you teach them Wait, isnt it basically the Stay command?


As I understand it, "Wait" means stay there until I tell you to do something else. "Stay" means stay there until I come back to you.

(Oops. I missed page 2 and didn't realize this had already been answered.)


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

poolann said:


> I so forgot about OK. I'm reading Control Unleashed & she suggests free or release. Release seems a bit bulky for me so I am retraining with free. *I've found that OK will cause a dog to break position in a class environment with everyone saying it or even in casual conversation amongst others.* I've started suggesting that students change their release word because of it. When I read it I was like, " duh I've never thought of it from a dog's point of view." They are not wrong if they break when hearing it.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


You are so right, so I use free dog and I tell my trainees to use something like free. You don't want to release the dog by accident or have someone else do it for you.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

poolann said:


> I so forgot about OK. I'm reading Control Unleashed & she suggests free or release. Release seems a bit bulky for me so I am retraining with free. I've found that OK will cause a dog to break position in a class environment with everyone saying it or even in casual conversation amongst others. I've started suggesting that students change their release word because of it. When I read it I was like, " duh I've never thought of it from a dog's point of view." They are not wrong if they break when hearing it.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I've actually never had any problems with "ok" because when I use it as a release word, it's with more purpose, definite sounding. The dogs never notice if someone else in class says it or even if I'm in a conversation with someone and say, "Ok, I'll see you at 6." LOL. They seem to get what I mean. I must say it slower or something. Ohhh-kaay. haha. But yeah, probably better to use another word anyhow, just in case.


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## Wild Kitten (Mar 13, 2014)

lily cd re said:


> You are so right, so I use free dog and I tell my trainees to use something like free. You don't want to release the dog by accident or have someone else do it for you.


I just say "Go play" when I want to release her....... free can also occur in conversations quite often...


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