What is THE Most Important Dog Obedience Command?

As the saying goes, “The only thing that two dog trainers agree on is that the third dog trainer is wrong.”  This is particularly true when discussing which of the “basic obedience commands” is the most important. (Some trainers don’t like the word “command” at all, preferring the less authoritarian sounding term “cue.” But for this post, we’re going to use the more familiar term, “command.”)

Trainers don’t agree on which command is the most important. In fact, they don’t even agree on the list of what the BASIC obedience commands are!  Some trainers add “look, touch, wait, leave-it, place, off, away, stand” and many others to the list of basics. These can be important things to teach your dog, but in our program, we always begin with the following five basic obedience commands:  sit, down, come, stay and drop-it.   (Note: We also teach heel, aka "loose leash walking" to all dogs in our basic obedience program, but it is considered to be an exercise rather than a command, so for that technical reason we're not including it on the list.)

Any dog who does not do all five of these on command, under distraction, is not fully under the owner’s control.

Before I can answer the question, “Which one of the five basic commands is the most important?” I want to first discuss why each one of them is vital:

·        Sit is the most frequently used command. It is part of a lifestyle of routine and polite deference to the owner (e.g. sit for meals, sit to receive a toy or bone, etc.). It’s also necessary for a dog to learn first, so that we can more easily train two of the other commands (stay and down). 

·        Down doesn’t mean “get off” - it means lie down – all the way down so that the dog’s chest is on the floor. It is the most submissive posture a dog can take. It shows trust, it helps teach self-control, and it helps a dog to learn to settle when you need her to. (It’s also a good way for an owner to evaluate the skill of the trainer they’ve hired. A competent trainer should be able to teach a good solid "down" to every dog they work with - no excuses.)

·        Come is the lifesaving command. It means, “turn around and get back here right now, regardless of what else you feel like doing.” The last thing that any untrained dog wants to do is “come” when distracted. There are many other exciting things to do outside, and most of them are a lot more fun than running back to the owner, even for a tasty food treat. That’s why we have a precise three-phase training methodology that makes “come when called…NOW” the only choice for a well-trained dog. The dog should do it like a reflex, without thinking. When she hears the word “come” she must stop focusing on the running squirrel, turn around and run back to the owner immediately.

·        Stay is a necessary command because it helps dogs learn self-control (and helps with all kinds of behavior problems, like rushing to the door when guests arrive, darting out through open doors, jumping up on people, etc.). 

·        Drop-it is another very important command that every well-trained dog must master in our obedience training  program. It means “immediately open your mouth and drop whatever you have.” Dogs can put all kinds of and dangerous things in their mouths, so we include drop-it as one of the five basics.

All five of the basic obedience commands are important. But since "come" is the lifesaving command, I believe that it is the most important of the big five. 

It also takes the most work. Meanwhile, dogs should never be allowed to run around off leash in an unfenced area until they have mastered it. It takes lots of practice, but it’s worth it!

(In this video, a rabbit showed up while we were
taping on a different topic. The dogs spotted the rabbit across the street behind the trainer and took off down the street after it. This is a real-life demonstration of the life-saving importance of a solid recall, or "come" command.)

Dogs & Toddlers - Can They Get Along?

Dog bites are the second most frequent cause of childhood visits to emergency rooms. The vast majority of dogs bites involving children are from dogs the child knows or lives with. And when a child less than 5 years old is the victim, the family dog is usually the attacker.  

Young children who are just beginning to walk can be quite unsettling to some dogs. From the dog's perspective, "these little people are noisy, they throw things, they fall on me or trip over me, their movements are erratic and their behavior is unpredictable."

The risk is even greater in homes with old, sick or arthritic dogs, or with under-socialized dogs who never learned to enjoy children while they were puppies.

If your dog has growled or snapped at your child, seek professional help immediately. And of course,  it's always better to prevent aggression in the first place, by following these guidelines:

- Children should be taught not to approach the dog; instead the parent can invite the dog over to the child.

- Children must NOT approach a dog who is eating. 

- When the child is eating, the dog should be crated or  resting in his gated area.

- Learn to read your dog's body language. Pay close attention and learn to notice things like  stiffening, whale eye, hard eye (staring with dilated pupils), lip curls, lip licking and  stress yawns. Your dog is always communicating through body language. Learn to read these subtle signs, and give your dog some distance from the child when you see them. Don't wait for a growl, snap or bite to occur and then try to "correct" your dog. You can't scold aggression away. Instead, try to prevent it by noticing early warning signs like the ones above.

- A child must never be allowed to approach  dog who is tied up/tethered.

- While the parents are away and a baby sitter is on duty, the dog should be crated. It's too much to expect a babysitter to watch your dog and your toddler.

- Set your home environment up for success. Provide gated areas where your dog can rest peacefully without fear of being tripped over or jumped on. 

- Keep your child away from your dog's food, toys or beds. 

- Always supervise interaction between your dog and your child, and teach appropriate boundaries to both. Never let kids and dogs play together unless you're right there in the middle of the action.

- Certain areas of the home can be highly prized by dogs. These places include:  a dog bed, under the coffee table, between the coffee table and the couch, on the couch, etc.  Use extra caution when high value places such as these are involved. If necessary, move furniture around or use gates to to prevent access.  

- Gates and crates can be a big help in creating safety zones - but never let a child reach through a gate or tease a dog who is in his crate or behind a gate.

- Never let a child play in a  dog's crate. 

- Dogs learn by association. These associations are powerful and can work for you or against you. Scolding your dog every time the toddler is around ("Get away from Junior's toys! Play nice! Put that down! FIDO NO!") teaches your dog that the child gets him into trouble. Instead, set your dog up for success by proactively arranging a safe environment. Form positive associations by using praise and play to reward good behavior when Fido and Junior are together.

Are Neutered Dogs Safer to Work with than Intact Dogs?

There are several factors that should make a trainer more cautious when working with a dog: low sociability, bite history, medical problems, maternal instinct, injuries, barrier frustration, sexually mature and finally, the topic of this post - sexually intact males. All of these justify more caution. I am always a bit more careful when working with intact males (higher drive means harder biting). But I still enjoy working with them hands-on. 

Some trainers are wary of working with intact males and will quote a study from a few years ago that showed that intact male dogs between eighteen months and two years of age have a greater incidence of aggression than females or neutered males. But it's not proven science that this is due to testosterone. It is just as likely that it's due to socioeconomic factors. Dogs who arrive at animal shelters intact are mostly from lower income communities. People who cannot afford to provide medical care certainly cannot afford professional training, and some even encourage aggressive behavior in their dogs in a misplaced effort at "protection training." 

In my almost 30 years of dog training experience, I've been bitten more often by neutered dogs than by intact dogs. I know trainers from military and police backgrounds who worked exclusively with intact males and have never been bitten.

Neutered male dogs have 3 times the risk of hypothyroidism - and there are more dogs who bite due to hypothyroidism than any other medical factor. 

Testosterone doesn’t make a dog vicious, it merely adds drive. All police patrol dogs and military dogs are intact – and attacks on their handlers are virtually unheard of.

A landmark scientific study found that only a small percentage of dogs realize a change in aggressive behavior after being neutered:   Neilson, Eckstein, and Hart,(1997) found that [only] 25% of adult dogs that were aggressive toward humans or other dogs in the household can be expected to have a 50 to 90% level of improvement after gonadectomy.  A 50 - 90% level of improvement can likewise be observed in [ONLY]  10 to 15% of dogs that are aggressive toward unfamiliar people or human territorial intruders after gonadectomy.

No trainer should get a false sense of security because a dog is neutered. And no trainer should ever recommend neutering as a solution to aggression.  (Of course, neutered males who have not yet fought are less likely to fight if they are neutered as a preventative measure.)

There is universal agreement among breeders of large breed dogs that, for a number of developmental reasons, it is inadvisable to neuter too young, and there are well known health risks involved with spaying and neutering dogs.  

Regarding females and any connection between spaying and aggression, Lindsay’s Encyclopedia of Dog Behavior and Training (Volume 2, p. 187) includes a study which supports the assertion that incidents of aggression are higher in spayed females than in non-spayed females. 

 My main point is this: No trainer should be "more relaxed" just because a dog is neutered.

Emotional Support Dogs for People with Alzheimer's

Choosing the right dog and the right trainer are two critical steps involved in the process of successfully bringing an emotional support dog into a family.

In her book  "The 24-Hour Rule: Living with Alzheimer's" Cheryl Levin-Folio writes, "Dogs offer unconditional love...comfort and a calming influence influenced by his emotional support animal training. 

The physical contact, we've discovered, is as important and effective as the emotional connection that comes with having dogs in the family. Lack of touch is devastating to anyone, particularly someone suffering with Alzheimer's."

Cheryl and her family worked with Carol Ross, CDBA,  to help  train Oliver, their English Creme Golden Retriever for his job as an emotional support dog for Cheryl's husband Michael.  In Chapter 8, Ross, a certified dog trainer and Director of Training for Canine Dimensions North Chicago region, describes some of the work she did with Oliver:

“I started working with Oliver when he was about eight weeks old. The window for socialization runs until they are about five months old. My first goal was to get Oliver up to American Kennel Club “Canine Good Citizen” standards. I wanted him to have good manners, be polite, and act appropriately wherever he went, no matter whom he was with. He had a little more training specific to being an Emotional Support Animal, so he’d stay close to Michael, literally touching him much of the time, place his head on Michael’s lap to help keep Michael calm as needed, and do things like “hold stay” for two hours so he could go on plane trips.

We were laying the groundwork for all of this starting at two months old. But the key piece when he was so young was introducing him to as many people and situations as possible. While working with me, he was exposed to at least 300 people, 60 friendly dogs, and wide range of environments, medical equipment, and behaviors. We went to all kinds of dog-friendly events, stores, schools, and parks, anything I could think of. We spent time downtown. We went to the airport.

A lot of this socialization was before we began to work on specific skills with Michael. In the early days, their job was just to form a strong bond. After that, we started the more formal “obedience” training. Like humans, dogs learn best when the process is simple. In this case, keeping it simple meant breaking the process down into smaller piece, and more repetition of each skill. Consistency is the key.

Through this process, Oliver and Michael learned the commands “Come,” “Sit,” “Down,” “Stay,” and “Drop It.” In addition, they mastered “Look” (for Oliver to make eye contact with Michael), “Touch” (for Oliver to gently touch Michael’s hand). “Enough” (Stop what you are doing!), and “Away” (give me a little space). Oliver and Baxter both learned “Go to Your Place” for when someone comes to the door who doesn’t really need a high-energy canine greeting committee.

This collection of commands covers most things that come up for most dogs and their people. Many dogs need additional training in this or that, specific to their situation and depending on their personalities, behavior and circumstances. A small dog that lives in an apartment and annoys the neighbors with barking can be taught to stop barking on command, for example.

Some dogs are trained specifically as service dogs for people with Alzheimer’s, which is mainly to help with a person who wanders or gets lost. But Oliver’s job is different – he’s for company, calming and comfort."

The Cult of Purely Positive

I am continually astonished at what passes for “dog training” these days.  This post, for example, from one of the dog trainers forums: 

“Ever since my son brought home a yellow lab puppy named Dirks, he has pulled like a freight train while walking on lead. First he tried CT (click and treat) but pulling was more rewarding than any food treat or toy. So next came a Halti then a Gentle Leader and still no dice. Even an Easy Walk harness didn't stop him. So when all else failed, and unbeknownst to me, my daughter tried a prong collar. The reward of pulling was greater than putting holes in his neck!

Let’s pause for a moment. Several things are interesting here – first, she is surprised that a dog has natural drives that trump click-and-treat, luring, and containment devices. Balanced trainers understand dogs’ natural drives and they work in harmony with them; they don’t try to shut them down, they USE them.  Second, she is unaware that trying to use a prong collar (or any tool) without first learning how to use it properly is bound to get poor results.  Third, prong collars don’t poke holes in dogs. That is a myth perpetuated by the Cult of Purely Positive. 

(back to her post…) “When I found out what was going on, it was time for some motherly intervention. I simply told my daughter to think outside of the box and to channel what Dirks loved best, and since he loved pulling just teach him when it's appropriate. And since I had all equipment along with a draft harness that I though should fit a 2+ y/o Lab, she taught him to back up (necessary skill for a cart/draft dog), get used to the rattle sound of wagon following him down a gravel driveway, plus a solid stand stay...yielding right and left can come along though turning around is relatively easy given enough room to maneuver.  Now Dirks can "pull his weight" here by pulling my Radio Flyer wagon with daily garbage down the 2/3 mile gravel driveway to the garbage cart at the road. Best of all it's *mission accomplished* with loose leash walking!”

The poor dog is now so exhausted from pulling a wagon full of crap 2/3 of a mile down a gravel driveway every day that he no longer has the strength to pull on leash.  Nice job - you’ve turned your dog into a pack mule.

But what do we do with a client who doesn’t have a wagon full of crap and a 2/3 mile gravel driveway handy? Or the client who simply doesn’t have the heart to subject her poor dog to hours of weekly slave labor?  Instead of simply using, gentle, humane, professional leash training, i.e. training the dog to walk on a leash without pulling - you use a short cut and announce that “it’s mission accomplished” by exhausting the dog instead of properly leash training him.

Call me crazy, but this doesn’t sound very “positive” to me.  If this dog belonged to  one of our clients, we would take the time to do some basic leash training and the result would be a new world opened to the dog - a dramatically improved quality of life for both the dog and his owner! They could get out into the world,  go to the town’s July 4^th parade, to the county fair, to the local big-box-pet store, to a neighbor’s home for a barbecue, to the vet’s office for a checkup, to a sidewalk café for a snack or simply enjoy a pleasant walk in the neighborhood.  All of these activities are a heck of a lot more fun than pulling a wagon full of garbage up and down a gravel road. 

Instead of teaching the dog how to walk politely on a leash, you’ve eliminated his desire to walk on a leash at all!   Take a break from your victory laps, buy Lindsay’s three volume “Handbook of Applied Dog Training and Behavior” and read about the dead dog rule[i].   

While you’re at it, read about operant conditioning and you’ll begin to understand why all working dogs (seeing eye, service, military, search and rescue, police patrol, etc.) are trained with balanced training protocols.

Sadly, if today’s purely-positive-training madness continues, it will cost many dogs their lives. Their owners, after having tried some of the inane dreck that passes for dog training today, will  conclude that their dogs are “untrainable” and give up on them.[ii]  

Purely Positive cult members – please stop using gadgets and gimmicks as substitutes for real dog training!  Herbal potions, hoods over the head (ThunderCaps) and containment devices (head halters and no-pull harnesses) are no substitute for training.  Open your minds and your hearts, and learn how to give your clients and their dogs what they really need, not just what makes you feel good.

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[i] The dead-dog rule is a complementary logic for framing the least intrusive and minimally aversive (LIMA) principle. By converting training goals into affirmative statements and identifying objectives that can be achieved only by a live dog, the resultant perspective is biased toward reward-based training efforts.   

[ii] Despite the great efforts made by animal shelters in low cost spay/neuter programs, shelter [dog] populations have continued to increase. Is it mere coincidence that the number of dogs in shelters has increased along with the spread of the purely positive movement over the past decade?

Is it a Good Idea to Bring Home 2 Puppies from the Same Litter?

Let me start by saying that I do know people who have made this work.  I also know people who drive too fast and have never been in an accident. That doesn't make either of those things a good idea. 

I would advise against getting two puppies from the same litter.   Here are 10 reasons why:

1) Dogs are social animals. Young puppies form strong bonds with their siblings before they've meet you and your human family. Bringing your puppy home with its litter mate interferes with the bonding process which must occur between a dog and its human family. It's tough enough for a puppy to understand that you and your family are its new social group.   The presence of a littermate slows the process.  In fact, most litter mates exhibit a strong preference for the company of each other over the company of their human owners.

2) People tend to neglect socialization with other dogs when they have 2 puppies. Yet by the time the puppies are about 6 months old, the primary windows of socialization have closed. Two dogs who grow up together and are denied the experience of meeting lots of other friendly dogs of various ages, will only enjoy the company of one another. Many of them will become fearful or aggressive toward other dogs. 

3) Owning a puppy is a huge responsibility. It requires a lot of hard work to raise even ONE puppy properly. Raising 2 puppies is twice the work.  For starters, each puppy will require its own crate. Also, you will have  to find time for  2 training schedules, along with separate times for play, exercise and mental stimulation.

4) Housebreaking will take longer.  There will always be one puppy who starts to "get it" before the other one - then that one will regress when he or she smells indoor elimination by its litter mate. This cycle of regression can continue (and even switch from one puppy to the other) resulting in much more time needed for housebreaking. 

5) Learning each new obedience command requires a three phase process (instruction, correction, distraction). But when you have 2 puppies you're setting them up for failure by providing a huge distraction (each other) during training. As a result it takes a lot more time for each one to learn basic obedience commands and household manners.

6) The less confident puppy will "hide in the shadow" of the more confident puppy. Therefore the  less confident puppy will  grow up lacking in social skills and will often exhibit a variety of fear and confidence issues (for the entire life of the dog).

7) Most breeders are smart, dedicated and ethical. But there are some unscrupulous breeders out there who will tell a potential buyer that the last two members of the litter are "really attached to one another" and will lay a guilt trip on the buyer, sometimes even giving a discount to purchase them both together.  There is absolutely no merit in the idea that you're doing emotional harm to a puppy by separating it from its sibling. In fact, the opposite may be true.

8) In order for proper social development to occur, a puppy must LEARN TO BE ALONE.  This part of their training becomes extremely difficult when they always have a sibling nearby.

9) When the puppies reach adolescence, competition is intensified and fights can break out. Fights between litter mates are much more severe than fights between unrelated dogs.

10) In situations where the owner has  decided to re-home one of  their two puppies, each of the them began to form a much closer bond with its human owner, and made great strides in obedience training, confidence and sociability. This was most noticeable when the re-homing was done prior to 6 months of age, but I've seen it happen with older dogs and puppies as well.

In conclusion - there is no reason to bring home 2 puppies from the same litter and lots of reasons not to. But if you've already taken the plunge, follow the above tips (separate crates; separate time with each puppy for training and play; time for each puppy to meet and play with other dogs without the littermate present) in  order to increase your odds of success.  And be sure to provide appropriate control of resources and clear human leadership in the home to prevent fights as they get older.

One more suggestion: If you really have your heart set on owning two dogs from the same breeder, wait until the first dog reaches social maturity (about 18 months old for small and medium breeds, about 2 years old for large breeds, and 3 years old for giant breeds) then bring home a new 8 to 10 week old puppy (of a different sex).   It will still be important to provide everything I just mentioned for the proper development of the new puppy, but by waiting you'll be more likely to avoid "litter mate syndrome."

Grain-Free is Not Always Best

I feed my dogs a high quality all-natural dog food but it is NOT grain free.

The kibble is made with:
 
• High-quality protein from human grade chicken 
• Antioxidants including vitamins C & E
• Prebiotic fiber & probiotics
• A selection of nutritious vegetables
• Omega-3 fatty acids for healthy skin & a shiny coat
• Calcium & phosphorus for healthy teeth and strong bones
• Dietary fiber to help maintain a healthy digestive tract
• No artificial flavors or colors
• No corn, wheat or corn/wheat glutens

I have not yet embraced the grain-free dog food movement because a) I don't think that enough research has been done, and b) as an owner of large breed dogs I stick with the diet that my own puppies and dogs have done very well on over the years (avoiding large breed problems like bloat and panosteitis).

Here is an excellent post by Linda Arndt (The Great Dane Lady) on the topic of grain-free dog food:

Things to Ponder About Grain Free Diets by Linda Arndt

I get many emails asking my opinion of the new grain-free diets on the market.
The growing holistic pet food industry has much competition these days, so they are looking for ways to reinvent the wheel and here you have it, the new grain-free diets!

What the Public Wants

After all, if “the public wants grain-free diets, certainly they know what is best for their pets – right? Wrong”. Just because the public wants it, is not a good enough reason to manufacture it. Just because it is a grain-free diet, does not mean it is appropriate for your dog’s individual situation.

Propagation of Myths

Thanks to knee-jerk reactions and the propagation of nutritional myths on the internet, grains in pet foods have a bad reputation. Grains are carbohydrates and carbohydrates are not necessarily bad. Just because it is a grain-free diet does not mean there are no carbohydrates in the grain-free food. Instead they substitute potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams and tapioca, as other carb sources yet tapioca is a questionable ingredient for pets. More feed trials are needed on these foods.

So when people think they are using a grain-free diet, it still has carbohydrates in it and in many cases potato carbohydrates are worse for allergies, systemic yeast infections, diabetic and cancer diets – worse than quality whole ground grains used in the proper proportion.

Not a Black and White Issue

My point here is this, like most things in life, this grainless diet topic is not a black and white issue. There are many things we need to consider before using a grain-free diet for our pet’s current health situation.

More Research is Needed

Most grain-free diets have not been around long enough to see how they will do in 3-4 generations. And feed trials, if actually done, are very limited. 

No Grain-Free for Puppies

I do not recommend grain free diets for weaning or growth in any breed and especially for large and giant breeds. Actually, I do not recommend a grain free diet be fed as the “total diet” to any healthy breed. I even have reservations about them used totally as a cancer diet due to the high calcium levels. They are really meant for very specific uses and often for short term use – each animal’s situation would have to be considered before I could ever recommend a total grainless diet to my puppy buyers.

It is IMPOSSIBLE regulate growth patterns on raw or grain fee diets in order to avoid developmental orthopedic diseases such as; HOD, Knuckling Over/Bowing (Carpel Flexural Deformity) OCD, and Pano.

So Are Grains Good or Bad?

There is some notion out there in cyberspace that grains are bad, when in fact grains are only bad when they were used as the basis for commercial foods, in other words grain is listed first on the label - now that’s bad. In super premium and holistic lines, grains are used as carbohydrate components, not as protein and not as filler, and that is good thing. Plus the quality of grains used in holistic and super premium lines is grade#1 Human Grade or Organic. This means low gluten components in the grains.

• fractionated (not ground whole)
• when they are not human grade or organic
• when they are the basis for commercial dog foods (grain listed first instead of meat protein based).

Grain Bashing

The biggest grain bashing problem was started by a West Coast dog food company years ago, and it had to do with corn and allergies. The fact is Human Grade #1 corn is one of the best natural sources of coat and skin conditioners like Omega 6, and it is low in gluten. It has an overall digestibility is 90% and carbohydrate digestibility is 99%.

Research

In 2005 one of the most respected holistic dog food companies decided to pull the corn from their foods only because they had pressure from consumers to do so. This decision to remove the corn was not based in any kind of research, but just because they bowed to public pressure. They removed the corn and now had a “grain-less” holistic food which is what the public clamored for in a pet food.

Grain-Free is Not Always Best

After test feeding the diet over a long period of time they witnessed several changes in the dogs energy levels, coat and body weight. All were negative effects. The dogs had significant weight loss, it took much more food to maintain the dogs weight, coats became brittle and the dog’s energy levels plummeted, real working dogs were lacking in endurance. After seeing this results over many months of feed trial research, they decided to put the Grade 1# whole corn back into their holistic diet – as a carbohydrate source, and after thousands of bags were sold not one allergy was reported.

Diabetic Dogs and Grain-Free Food

I have found in dealing with dogs that are diabetic or have cancer, that when we totally remove the grain from the diet, their energy level plummets. So using a very high quality, high protein/fat diet with some component of whole grain is actual a good thing. Remember if it is ground whole, the fiber is intact – if there is natural fiber present, the grain does not convert to sugar in a flash, it burns slow and steady and sustains energy levels and appetites.

Quality Grains with a Protein Base

The key is the diet should NOT be grain based, but instead should be based in protein from quality meat sources.

Grain Can Help Brain Function and Athletic Performance Nature made all muscle and brain function (99%) using glucose and oxygen. Carbohydrates, such as grains, are stored in the liver as glycogen, this is then released as glucose in the blood as the body requires it.