# Order of teaching commands to the dog



## Hugo-licious (Jun 16, 2009)

Is there a recommended order that commands should be taught in so the pup remembers them better or so that the basic command can be incorporated into a compound one? For example, should the pup be taught sit, down, heel, etc before he is taught to stay or leave it? Can someone help me rank them in order if there is one? Thanks much!


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

My previous dog, the first command I taught her was "gimme paw" so I don't really think there is any required order. If you teach the dog well they should have no problem remembering everything you've taught them.

The only 'order' I would suggest is if you are training with clicker training. Many times clicker trained dogs will 'default' to the first behavior they've learned when you are trying to teach them something new using capturing. If your first behavior was something static like a sit or a down, when you teach something new the dog might keep staying in that position at first which can result in the process taking a little longer. For this reason with clicker training I've heard it recommended that you train something like targeting first because targeting can be used as the basis for training many other things and it involves movement rather than the dog just sitting there staring at you.


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

Most traditional classes start dogs with sit, down, stay, come and heel. Then they tend to work on longer sit/stay and down/stay and giving sit/down commands from further away.

If you are teaching your dog at home, there really isn't any reason to teach commands in a specific order except for what is practical. I would start with teaching your dog his name and that his name always means looking at you, because that's a great basis for other obedience work since it helps you get his attention. Beyond the name, I would teach come, sit, down, and wait right away, and work on loose-leash walking.


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## Jessica H (Mar 14, 2009)

I do not teach them in order anymore because in the beginning he would just start doing a routine. If I gave him a command out of order he would look at me like "what happened to the rest" I always mix it up.
My order was:
sit
high five
down
pout
relax (lay on his side)
roll over

Then he would just start the whole routine so the rest I taught were out of order.


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## mastercave (May 2, 2009)

I've heard teaching "focus/watch" earlier will get the dog to learn other commands faster since it will be watching you.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

The first thing I teach all my dogs (no matter the age I get them) is COME.


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: Lauri & The GangThe first thing I teach all my dogs (no matter the age I get them) is COME.


Me too.









It's the most important command. No matter how young the pup, what else my dogs learn, no matter what else they do in life, Come is always the most important, the most joyfully and highly rewarded, the most frequently practiced... 


Meanwhile, I'm also teaching them Wait too.


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## Colorado (Nov 25, 2007)

For me there are three commands that are taught first. The rest can be taught in any order.

*Come/Hier.* As others have said in this thread, the importance of a good recall can not be overstated. Your dog is going to be with you a long time and you will want them to come to you without question or hesitation more times than you will be able to remember or count.

*Down/Platz.* I mention this because there are times that a 'come' could be dangerous. Say, somehow, your dog has escaped from your control and has crossed a busy road. Calling your dog at this point would be disastrous. I've heard this termed an 'emergency down'. My particular pup has a big problem with this. If she is next to me, then 'platz' means down. If she is far away, 'platz' means run over to me and then down.







But we are working on it.









*Focus.* I use their name for this. When I say a dog's name, they look me in the eye. No matter if they are right next to me or a football field away. Name equals look at me. People will argue the percentages, but a dog is much more likely to obey a command if they are focused on you and not a squirrel, deep, kid, jogger, etc. As a corollary to this, I don't use their name as a reprimand. "Nikita!" means look at me because I need you to do something (and at first, there are likely to be lots of treats involved with this something). "NIKITA!" never means bad dog, what did you do, etc.

Pretty much every other command comes after that. And it is always helpful to start with focus then new command--at least I find that to be the case. If they aren't paying attention to you, it is hard if not impossible for them to learn something new.


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## Jessica H (Mar 14, 2009)

Come was my first command but that is an ongoing command that I work on all the time. That to me isn't an option, it is kind of just an assumed. Like when you go to the grocery store and always buy milk and bread.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Agree, come is a given.

In the puppy classes I help with we have the handlers first introduce a marker word followed by name recognition and then focus. After that comes sit, stand, come, down and controlled walking. Leave it is demonstrated, but not worked on in class.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Down/platz is my most important. For me it's even more important than come because I want to be able to "emergency down" my dog. Like say he chases a squirrel across a busy road, I'd rather down him there and go TO him than call him back across traffic. Also, in working obedience in various environments near other dogs, I've observed that a running dog is often the most irresistable thing to another dog trying to work. So say my dog decides to wander from me, I'd rather down him and get him than call him back, running past the other dogs trying to work.


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## Hugo-licious (Jun 16, 2009)

Thank you all! This is really helpful. From all the examples you all have provided here - Focus, Come and Down (or maybe Stay) seem to be the first 3 of the commands on the list so that's what I'll start with. DH wants to teach the pup to fetch snacks and coke for him but that's a long ways away right now (LOL). For now the above and a few other basics will have to suffice


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## pawstoupdate (May 18, 2009)

I really appreciate reading this, and am glad the OP asked! I've always done sit & down as first commands, and am having SOOOOO much trouble with Jaxson with come still!! Maybe next time I'll concentrate on Down & come as my primary focus.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

You don't really have to start with one or two or three things and then add others later. I start with a variety of stuff from the very beginning, and work on each for a just a minute or two. In a 10 or 15 minute training session you can do 10 or 12 repetitions of several different things. 

For me, name recognition, focus, and recall are probably the most _important_ of the many things I teach a new puppy, but I also want strong default sits and downs, so I work on those too, as well as leave it, and impulse control around food. I posted about this on another recent thread, so I'm going to just copy and paste most of that here:

This is what I start teaching at home right away:

Name recognition
Rewarding attention offered by the puppy as well as a "watch" command
Sit
Down
Stand
Find it (look for treat on floor)
Touch (target my palm with their hand)
Leave it and Take it 
Practicing self control around food in a variety of ways
Loose leash walking around the house
Off leash heeling with a food lure, just a few steps at a time
Recall
Handling desensitization
Bite inhibition
Retrieving a ball rolled a very short distance

I usually add "wait" and "stay" within the next few weeks.

My puppy Halo is 7 months old, and has already completed two classes, she started Puppy 1 at 13 weeks old, graduated from Puppy 2 a month ago, and starts a Canine Good Citizen class next week. This is what a not quite 6 month old dog is capable of if you work on training from a young age: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1063450&page=1#Post1063450

NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) is an excellent technique that is adaptable to any dog, even young puppies:

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/nothingfree.htm

http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

Here's an excellent thread about teaching focus: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=35064&page=1#Post35064

Here's a recent thread about teaching the basics: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1078146&page=1#Post1078146

Here's a technique I love for teaching impulse control around food: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipT5k1gaXhc

Halo ate most of her lunch kibble that way for several weeks.


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## Jason L (Mar 20, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Colorado*Down/Platz.* I mention this because there are times that a 'come' could be dangerous. Say, somehow, your dog has escaped from your control and has crossed a busy road. Calling your dog at this point would be disastrous. I've heard this termed an 'emergency down'. My particular pup has a big problem with this. If she is next to me, then 'platz' means down. If she is far away, 'platz' means run over to me and then down.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How do you teach a dog to down when the dog is far from you?


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## Colorado (Nov 25, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: Jason Lin
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: Colorado*Down/Platz.* I mention this because there are times that a 'come' could be dangerous. Say, somehow, your dog has escaped from your control and has crossed a busy road. Calling your dog at this point would be disastrous. I've heard this termed an 'emergency down'. My particular pup has a big problem with this. If she is next to me, then 'platz' means down. If she is far away, 'platz' means run over to me and then down.
> ...


I may not be the best person to answer this, since Nikita is having such issues with it. I'd like to think this is partly due to Ms. I Am A Teenager Thank You Very Much Nikita, but I'm guessing it is handler related.

That said, I think the major problem people have training the emergency down stems from how the basic down is practiced. You stand in front of the dog, you get focus, often the dog is already sitting, and you say down. I'm skipping over how one might train the basic down in the first place--but this is often how it is practiced. As a result the dog learns that down is that thing I do right in front of my pack leader's feet. So when you try to call down at a distance, they run into position and then down.

Some of the techniques I've heard about/am trying include the following.

-- Walk with your dog on a leash with your dog next to you. Quickly step in front of the dog, facing them, and give the down command. You might have to go back to helping them--they might not get it at first. Give treats/click/praise/etc. on a successful down.

-- Same set up, but give a down command while still next to them. If your pup is like Nikita she'll (at first) try to spin around and face you. I find the timing here to be critical. As soon as she breaks position I correct her--"ah ah!"--and pull her into the down. If she doesn't fight me she gets treats/praise.

-- Once your dog has the basic idea, you can start to try downs from greater distances...5 feet, 10 feet, etc. I find I still need to be quick. If she starts to run towards me instead of down I have to try to stop her (with a verbal correction, mine is "ah ah!").

I'd like to say it progressing smoothly but...


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i always teach them their name first and recall. then sit, down, and stay. once dog has these commands you i some control over them.
then i start teaching them not to walk of the house when the door
is open, stay in the car when the door is open, boundaries, keep out of the bathroom, find it, leave it, etc. i find once they learn the first thing it all of the rest seems easy for them.

whatever i'm teaching my dog we do it in sessions. each sessions last 5 or 10 minutes. i'll do 2 sessions in the am, 2 sessions in the afternoon and 2 at night. sometimes i'll add another session or 2.
i always end each session on a positive.

i find training a Shep easy. consistency is the key. if your not sure
about how to train find a trainer. puppy classes are very helpfull. don't forget to socialize, sociaize and socialize.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: Jason Lin
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: Colorado*Down/Platz.* I mention this because there are times that a 'come' could be dangerous. Say, somehow, your dog has escaped from your control and has crossed a busy road. Calling your dog at this point would be disastrous. I've heard this termed an 'emergency down'. My particular pup has a big problem with this. If she is next to me, then 'platz' means down. If she is far away, 'platz' means run over to me and then down.
> ...


What I'm going with Nikon is what I call "fast platz game". Basically I get him all revved up for food, then I start running along with him at my side and say "platz!" and sort of push his nose down and drop a treat. I keep on running while he is eating his treat, then I walk past him and drop another, around him and drop another, etc. This is more of a moving down exercise but it begins to teach him that "platz" still applies even if *I* keep moving. Next I start doing longer recalls but saying "Hier!...platz!" and just adding more and more in that way.


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