There are many dog commands that you can teach your dog, but there are a few essential basic commands that every dog should know. Teaching basic dog training commands will make both you and your dog happier and your relationship stronger.

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3 Essential Basic Commands Every Dog Should Know

1. Sit is the easiest to teach and the foundation to learn other commands.
How to teach your dog to sit?
a) Stand in front of your dog while holding a treat 2 to 4 inches above his nose.
b) Move the treat toward the back of your dog’s head.
c) As soon as your dog sits, praise him and provide the treat.
Optional: Pair the voice command “sit” with a hand signal. After your dog knows the vocal command, you can start to wean off the treats and use only the hand signal (watch the video from akc)

2. Down is taught as soon as your dog has mastered the sit command. Teaching your dog the down command provides the foundation for many other advanced commands. Most importantly it helps establish you as the leader in the relationship you share with your dog. The down command is very handy especially when you and your dog are in a potentially unsafe situation. The down also keeps your dog calm in stressful situations.

How to teach your dog the down command?
a) Get your dog to sit while holding a treat about an inch in front of his nose.
b) Say the verbal command down and while luring your dog into a lying down position.
c) When your dog is all the way down (truly down and on their side), praise him and provide a treat.

3. Stay command means don’t move from a sit or down position until released. Stay is a vital basic command a dog should know.

All these three commands are very useful especially in introducing KORU BEAR to how fun a car ride can be and be safe. On a previous post, 5 Tips: Introducing Car Rides to Your Dog; it’s essential for your dog to learn how to sit or lay down in the back seat while buckled up with a dog harness like Sleepypod Clickit Terrain.

Every dog (and owners too) must be proficient to these three basic commands and be trained to execute anywhere/anytime. These essential training commands could one day save your dog’s life.
Does your dog know these three basic commands?

Obedience training is an important part of any dog’s life.
A well-mannered dog is a happy dog.

Our Facebook pal, Nacina Dawn, owner of Destiny & Me Golden Retrievers and Puptopia, shared with us some fundamental reasons on why you should train your dog. Nacina specializes in training puppies with a positive and holistic approach that uses every aspect of the puppies life, to create an environment that is happy and safe for everyone involved.

5 Reasons You Should Train Your Dog

1. Interaction with Others
Your dog learns from every interaction with you and with the environment. Wouldn’t you like him to learn to make good and safe choices with a thoughtful program? For instance, if your dog jumps on people to greet them, and then gets pushed off, or told “no”, he is being reinforced for jumping up because he gets the attention that he is seeking. It is so much better to only give him attention when he is sitting for a greeting.

2. Bonding
Training using rewards is incredibly bonding for you and your dog. A great benefit, considering that you will be living together for hopefully many years. Training together creates clear communication- We speak a different language than dogs, but they are always trying to interpret us anyway. Why not make it easier on you both and find those words or signals that you both know so that there is no confusion?

3. Safety
Training can literally save your dog’s life. See that potentially poisonous mushroom? Leave-it saves the day. Someone left the door open, and your dog is following you into traffic? Stay can save lives. Are there little kids or frail seniors in your social circle? Off or even better, sit to greet, can prevent falls and injuries. A reliable recall can get your dog to your side and out of trouble in no time. Yes, these things take effort and time but are a very worthwhile investment.

4. Well-Mannered
Having a trained dog means that he gets to be a bigger part of your life- A well-mannered dog would be much more welcome at your friend’s house, at social gatherings, and other places where you like to go to have fun. Often, a reliable recall is enough to get the ball rolling for “Dog is Copilot” trips.

On our trips and hotel stays, KORU BEAR always practices basic dog obedience.

5. Your dog will love it!
Positive-reward based training is using games and equates to making it incredibly fun for both you. Marker training encourages dogs to enjoy the learning interaction, become more confident, and can produce speedy results. Training should absolutely NEVER involve the use of force, pain, or fear. That means NO shock collars, NO prong collars, and NO choke collars, no hitting, no yelling, and no actions that could harm your dog or your relationship. Pet Professional Guild is an organization that provides educational materials you can use as a resource to train your dog.

Do you train your dog? Make training work for you and your dog. Incorporate training commands into your dog’s everyday life.