Top 10 Dog Commands

Top 10 Dog Commands

Dog commands are a way of communication between you and your dog. They are not meant to suppress your dog, on the contrary, they are a way of teaching your dog what is allowed and what is not allowed at that time.Lets have a look at the most basic Top 10 Dog Commands.

The best thing is to start training your dog to obey dog commands when he is a little puppy, don’t worry because puppies can understand verbal cues too.

But, it is never late, dogs can learn any command even if they are old. You can start the training sessions at any time after looking at this article Top 10 Dog Commands.

Dog commands can save your dog from an adhering danger, for example when you ask him to leave something or stop doing something. They can also serve as a green light for your dog to do the desired action.

For nearly all dog commands, you will need a kind of reinforcement to praise and encourage obedience. Dogs are like humans, we all love to be praised and rewarded for our good deeds.

Dog commands are countless, but you don’t need to teach your dog everything, this is a list of the top 10 dog commands your dog has to learn.

You don’t need to be a professional to teach some dog commands, you can just learn these dog training techniques and start applying them with your dog now.

• Sit command
• Stand command
• Stay command
• Come command
• Heel command
• No command
• Okay command
• Wait command
• Take it / Leave it commands
• Hush command

Sit command

A basic dog training you can start with if your dog is new to dog commands.

The idea behind this command is to get your dog to sit and not to jump over other people if he wants to get something in their hands.

Sit command is very simple and you can teach your dog to sit at home. That is why we recommend to start with this dog command.

You can teach your dog to sit whether you are in a standing or sitting position.

Hold a treat close to your dog’s mouth in a way that he can see it, When he tries to catch it with his mouth move it a little up till his bottom hits the floor, at this exact moment praise your dog and reward him with the treat.

Never allow your dog to get the treat except when he is in the sitting position you want.

After several repeats, start introducing the verbal command “sit” when he is already in sitting position and before he gets the treat.

With continuous repeating, your dog will relate the command with what he is supposed to do, and you can now remove the treat.

Stand command

Now that your dog has learned to sit, let’s move to other dog commands related to the same concept.

Stand command is basically the opposite of the sit command, thus, you should teach your dog each one separately. After he completely understands the first you can then move to the second.

To ask your dog to stand, he must be in a sitting position so he can get the difference.

Hold the treats in your hands in a way your dog can see them. Move with the treats towards his head but not too close that he can get them without moving.

When he stands to get the treats praise and reward him.

Now your dog will stand but he may move a little bit to get the treats and that is not exactly what you want. You want him to stand still and don’t move.

So, the next step is to use the verbal cue when he stands, in the beginning, you will need to reward him for every stand but then you will reward the treat only when he doesn’t move.

Practice this step by step and don’t skip any step until he stands for a while.

Stay command

You may wonder why this dog command comes after the stand command. Simply because you can’t ask your dog to stay forever.

You need to teach him the release command first and then teach him to stay so you can use both commands one after the other.

For your dog to stay, he needs to master sitting first.

Start with the sit command. Sit beside him with treats in your hand, give him the first treat while in sitting position. Wait for a while and give him the second treat and so on.

If your dog moves, don’t give him the treat, ask him to sit again, and then reward him.

Gradually increase the distance between you and him, practice the command while you are standing or moving too.

When your dog is able to stay for a longer time, use the dog command word “stay” or any other word of the same meaning as a cue.

This command will take some time for your dog to learn because dogs by instinct don’t love to stay.

So, during training try not to make the staying period too long for better outcomes from your dog.

Come command

You have probably faced this situation before when you are out with your dog and his running or playing around but it is time to go home.

You are calling his name and asking him to come but he is not responding. Very frustrating, isn’t it?

One of the basic dog commands that every dog parent should teach his dog is come command.

This command can save you a lot of effort when you just want your dog to come or to save him from any trouble he was about to get himself into.

To teach your dog to come, hold some treats in your hand, and let your dog see them. He will probably come to you to get the treats. Praise him and give him a treat.

Repeat this dog training several times and in each time add the word come when your dog is on the way to get his reward.

Don’t add the verbal cue if our dog is not focusing or not coming, this will cause distraction and he won’t be able to link the command with the action.

Start using the command before showing the treat and then remove the treats gradually.

Heel command

Heel dog command is an advanced command. He must know how to sit, stay, and come first before heeling.

Dog heeling means your dog is walking just bedside you, he is not preceding your steps or walking far behind.

Heel command is beneficial in crowded areas where you want your dog to stay close to you and not to run or chase after anything else.

You may think you can just use a leash to control your dog and guide him, but actually you will find yourself playing tug-of-war with your dog every time you want him to heel and he is not taught how to do it.

So, for your dog to heel, you have to hold some treats with your hand close to your dog’s head and start walking slowly.

Your dog will walk beside you in a heel position following the treats, praise him, and give him a treat after every few steps.

When he starts losing focus, grab his attention again, and keep saying heel, when he is back to the heeling position praise him again and reward him with treats.

Continue this training and decrease the number of treats each time until he is used to this dog command even without treats.

No command

One of the very first commands you will need to teach your puppy is No.

Just as if you have a baby and you want him to stop what he is doing, you will keep saying no till he gets that no means he has to stop.

The same thing for your dog, you will need to teach him a command, so when he is doing something wrong you can order him to stop it.

As the other dog commands, you will need treats for this training.

Put the treat in your hand opened and show it to your dog, when he approaches and wants to get the treat, quickly close your hand tightly and say no.

Keep your hand in its place and let your dog sniff around but don’t let him get the treat.

Apply the same exercise for several times and then let your dog take a rest.

Don’t overdo it because your dog will then lose interest in your treat after a number of failing trials.

Don’t forget to reward your dog for the ‘no’ obedience, but the reward shouldn’t be the treat in your hand because this will lead to confusion.

Ok command

Okay can be used for different meanings. It can be used as a release command which means it is okay to move from a sitting or staying position.

It can be the opposite of no meaning it is okay to take it or do this action.

Before you start the dog training sessions, you will need first to decide what you want your dog to do when hearing this command.

For this particular command, you can apply the same previous steps for no command but with allowing him to eat the treat each time you say ok.

You can then place the treat on the floor and use the same word, but for your dog to obey this command, he must excel in no command first.

If you want to use okay for releasing your dog, start with the other sit, stay or stand dog commands. Get your dog in one of these positions then move away from your dog.

With arms open wide, ask your dog to move with ok or any other word of your choice as a verbal cue and a treat as a trigger.

This command can be used with other advanced dog commands like heel.

Wait command

In different situations, you will need your dog to wait for something like wait before you go outside, or wait before jumping out of the crate or wait for food.

Here comes the wait command, your dog will wait before doing the action but he will need to hear an okay command to move on after waiting period.

You can train your dog to wait before going outside together. Go to the door and hold the doorknob, your dog will probably jump to the door.

Ask him to wait and open the door slightly, for the first few times he won’t get it so you will have to close the door again.

Your dog won’t probably understand the command from the first sessions, so you have to use the release or the ok command to mean it is now ok to go outside.

By the time he will understand that wait means closing the door so he won’t jump or try to get outside, at this time reward the achievement.

By repeating the same training in different situations with rewarding the proper action, your dog will learn to wait when you want him to do so.

Take it / leave it commands

The reason why we choose to put these two commands together is because they are only effective if taught together.

Take it and leave it can resemble okay and no, but the difference is that okay and no commands are for any actions you want your dog to do or stop doing. While take it and leave it dog commands are as they literally mean, to take something or leave it.

To train your dog to take something, you just put a toy or treats and start with introducing the verbal word take it. He will by default take it but with repeating the word he can relate.

For leave it command, do the same thing putting treats or a toy in front of him and say leave it, if he ignored the command, take the treat quickly from him and repeat the training several times.

Reward your dog for good actions. For take it command, he will get his reward by default. For leave it command, you have to reward the obedience with the treat he left under your commands, and don’t forget to use the take it when rewarding so he gets the difference.

Hush command

Barking is a normal thing dogs do, we shouldn’t blame them for because it is the way they communicate.

Yet, in some cases, you need to ask your dog to stop and be quiet because it is not the right place or the right time to bark.

You have to know that this is one of the dog commands you shouldn’t always use. You can’t ask your dog to be quiet all the time.

To stop a dog from barking, focus on the eye contact before using the verbal cue. Use a word like hush and hand signals for dog training.

If your dog stops barking, reward him immediately with a treat.

For this command, you will have to do the training when he barks, and of course, you can’t ask him to bark so you can teach him to hush and stop barking.

But, by the time you probably know what triggers or causes your dog to bark like ringing a doorbell, so you can use these triggers to help speed the training process.

Insist on using the hand signal and the verbal command until your dog completely stops barking, after that only he can get his reward.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON TOP 10 DOG COMMANDS

After you learned the top dog commands, it is time to teach your dog these commands. We recommend that you go through this list in ascending order.

Don’t combine more than one command at a time, to move to the next one, you have to be completely sure that your dog has learned the preceding command.

Treats are your and your dog’s friends in this process. You will need to have treats with you all the time for every training session. If your dog is not motivated with treats, you can replace them with his best toy or whatever he likes. You know him better.

Never punish your dog, this is not a good way to teach anything. Your dog may develop a reverse reaction and this may lead to behavioral problems instead of reforming your dog’s behavior.

You have to be patient all the time and don’t expect your dog to learn any of these dog commands from the first time. Dogs are like young children, they need to take their time.

In order not to confuse your dog, choose one word for each command and you can use hand signals for dogs too. Stick to what you decided all the time, once your dog gets the point, don’t try to change it.

Dog training can be much fun, teaching a dog to come, to heel, take or leave something and other things don’t have to be boring Do it as a kind of playing and have fun with your dog.

TOP 10 DOG COMMAND TRAINING TABLE