How to Teach Your Dog His Name

Bringing home a new dog can be exciting and challenging all at once. One of the first things we all want to do is to call our dog's name and have him respond to us. Whether your dog has a name that you want to change, or whether you are starting from scratch, this is an easy way to teach your dog to respond to a new name in under 5 minutes.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 20 small treats
• dog

1. The first step is to prepare 20 small treats that your dog really likes. Hot dogs work great; turkey dogs are also a great low-fat alternative. To give you an example of the size treat you need, I cut up a hot dog into about 100 pieces. This can be done by making one cut lengthwise down the hot dog, then rotating the hot dog 90 degrees and making another cut lengthwise. Then make slices all the way down the length of the hot dog.

2. Next, with your dog in the room with you, sit on the couch with your treats. Call your dog's name, then toss a treat onto the floor. Do this at least 20 times.

3. By the end, your dog should be looking at you every time you say his name.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure the treats are something your dog likes.
• If your dog is not food-motivated, make sure to do this when your dog is really hungry (like before a meal).
• Don't toss a treat if your dog is doing something that you DON'T want him to do, like barking or jumping on you. Otherwise you will be rewarding that behavior as well.

[mommyhen42]

on 2/8/2009 Well said.

[chenderson00]

on 12/11/2008 Aw cute picture! Love this article. I love animals.