How to Teach Your Dog to Listen

Teach your dog to listen with simple commands followed by positive reinforcement.

The main reason why your dog does not listen to you is that it does not understand what you want from it. Unless you are a qualified dog trainer, you may confuse the dog with poor timing, inconsistent commands and body language. It takes time for a dog to get used to an owner, so if the dog has had previous owners it may take longer. Puppies younger than four months have not yet development concentration abilities, so the ideal time to teach a dog is between the ages of six months and two years.

Things You'll Need

• Treats
• Collar and leash

Instructions

1. Teach the dog to focus on your voice. Do this by taking a treat and letting the dog smell the treat. Hold it in your hand with your arm outstretched and let the dog follow it with its eyes and nose.

2. Say the dog's name, and as it looks at you, give it the treat. Use words such as "good dog" at the same time you offer the treat, so you can eventually move away from giving treats to using praise instead. Do this several times in a row, so the dog learns to associate your saying its name with a reward.

3. Train the dog to come when you call it. Place a leash around its neck, and hide a treat in your pocket. Extend the leash fully. Then say the dog's name and draw it towards you with the leash, giving it a treat when it gets close to you.

4. Repeat this a number of times, gradually increasing the distance. Reward the dog each time it obeys, until you can call it from far away and it will come to receive its reward. Begin alternating the treats with the praise.

5. Ignore the dog's failures to get the action right, and simply do not reward it. Reprimanding the dog when it is trying to please you may confuse it and discourage future attempts to do your bidding correctly. If you call your dog multiple times, and when the dog finally obeys reprimand it for taking so long, the dog will be confused and think it has done wrong by coming when called.

6. Train the dog to do other actions you want, such as sitting on command, by using the same technique to get its attention. Make all your individual instructions single-word commands, delivered at the same time as you show the dog what you want it to do. Follow each successful result with a reward, and your dog will learn to listen when you speak and understand what you want from it.

7. Teach your dog a number of single actions using this technique. Once your dog is familiar with several commands, you can begin using them in simple sentences. For example, teaching the dog its name followed by the words "come" and "sit" should make it possible to say "Fido, come and sit here" and the dog will know what you want from it.

Tips & Warnings

• With young, playful dogs a quick game or a throw of a ball can substitute for treats, but for older dogs food is likely to be the best motivator.

References

• Dog Training Basics: Commands
• American Dog Trainers Network: 12 Tips for a Well Behaved Dog
• "Catch Your Dog Doing Something Right: How to Train Any Dog in Five Minutes a Day"; K. Cantrell; Globe Pequot, 2004; P207