By Cinda Bishop, Mucho Poocho Doggy Day School

You have many options when it comes to training your dog. But, unless you have a dog that was previously trained, your dog will benefit from some basic obedience training. Even a trained dog needs to practice what he’s learned. You can enroll in a group obedience class, hire a trainer for private lessons, arrange to have your dog trained while being boarded, or you can do it yourself in as little as 15 minutes a day. Begin with this simple exercise to get you jump-started. Next time, we’ll work on how to get and hold your dog’s attention – after all, how can you teach him anything if he isn’t paying attention? 

Name Recognition – it seems like such a simple thing, but does your dog know his name? How can you tell?  Try this: when your dog is at rest and not looking directly at you, say his name in a conversational tone. Does he turn and look at you? Does he get up and come over to you just because he heard his name? If you answered yes, he probably knows his name. If you answered no, we need to do some work.

Think about how and when you call your dog’s name. Do you use his name when you greet him? Do you use a happy, friendly tone? Or do you only call his name when he’s in trouble? We need to teach him that his name is a good thing, not a signal that he’s done something wrong.

Start by saying his name in a happy tone. Just his name. Don’t confuse him by saying “here, Spot”. We want him to learn that his name is Spot, not Here Spot. When he responds even the slightest bit – even if he just looks in your direction, praise and reward him. Practice this for several minutes at a time, then take a break. At your next practice session, try saying his name conversationally and see if he responds. When he begins to recognize his name, try using it from different distances or even other rooms. Have other people call his name, and then praise him for responding. Name recognition is the foundation for focus exercises, and therefore an important part of basic training. 

In rare instances a dog may have had such a bad experience with his own name that he just will not respond. In these cases sometimes a name change is warranted. When choosing a new name, try to avoid names that are difficult to call quickly or that sound negative (for example, Bo sounds a lot like No).

Teaching him a new name is a great way to begin developing a bond with your dog. It will build his trust and confidence in you, and the two of you will begin to learn to work together as a team. Once your dog knows his name you are ready to continue his training.

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