Basic things every dog should know

my "what every dog should know" list is different:

don't jump up on people

don't mouth people

don't resource guard against people

drop what you have in your mouth now

don't go out the door until told to do so

don't get out of the car or crate until told to do so

let people handle every part of your body

come when called

don't pull on the leash

stop barking on command

don't potty in the house

don't eat the furniture or the house

don't take food off the counters or table

don't beg for food

settle quietly on command

Just working with the original list for now....

Marlowe:

Loose leash
Come (both "come" and an emergency whistle recall for greater distances/distractions)
Sit
Stay (well, sit or down with a maintain--not really a stay command as such)
Down
No jumping (the jump up is on cue, he only does it when I ask for it)

Go to your mat/stay on mat
Wait is sort of in progress right now but he's got the good beginnings of it
Go *wherever I'm pointing* (he doesn't really have a crate that I use much, so does this count?)

Spin
Touch (both a paw target of something on the ground and a nose target of my hand or target stick)

 

Conrad:

Walk on loose leash
Come (regular and emergency whistle)
Sit
Down
No jumping
Drop it kind of (if I reach for it, he let's go immediately, usually before I even touch it, but I don't have a verbal command for it)

Paw (not that that makes it any easier to trim his nails, but he does "shake";)
Go lay down/go to your mat
Go to your crate ("go home";)

Touch (both paw and nose)

As far as adding: If you have a large dog I've found "back up" to be an invaluable command. Small house, large dogs, it's really a necessity. Especially when I'm trying to have a little privacy in the little girls' room.

Oh yeah, I forgot about back up!

I'll add all these to the final list... 

My "MUST Knows":

Go to the toilet outside

Leave my stuff alone

No teeth on skin

Don't jump on people

"Come"

A leave that alone and/or a drop it command

Walk on a loose lead

Relax - no one is going to hurt you, threaten you or nick your stuff.

Be calm, especially if you want something.

Don't go through doors just cuz they is open

My "Nice to knows"

Sit

Lie down

Go to your bed

A "stop right there" or "wait" command

"Quiet"

Heel

"Back up"

Fetch/"get that"

My "extras"

Paw (shake hands)

Beg

Crawl

Roll over

Speak

 I like all the lists, just one more I have is "Move"  Big dog in small hallway, and he just doesn't seem to get it that I don't always want to step over him, but he won't move until I tell him too!

Guess it's time to give Cosmo a treat! He's got all the "Should Knows" and "Bonus" down pat.

One command I consider a Should that isn't on there is the "STOP" command. Living near a busy road with a high prey drive dog, that's one of the first commands I teach.

My cairn learned "gooo sloooow" after his first ACL surgery; then 8 months later he had the second ACL surgery.  A few years down the road and I had major surgery.  "Go slow" was all I could do, and he understood.  Very useful command, I feel. 

working off of the origional list...

Casey

• Walk on a loose leash (with a harness)
• Come
• sit
• stay
• down
• leave it
• not to jump up on people
• drop it
  

Bonus commands:

• Shake 
• Gimme your belly
• Go in your crate/Go lay down (goes to his bed)
• Wait
  

Tricks just for fun:

• fetches 
• well... he... doesn't really do anything else, training that kind of stuff has slacked with him...
  

Jeagar

• Walk on a loose leash
• Come
• sit
• stay
• down
• leave it
• not to jump up on people (work in progress.....*sigh*) 
• drop it
  

Bonus commands that is nice for dogs to know:

• Paw
• Go lay down
• Wait
  

Tricks just for fun:

• Roll over (working on it)
• Dance!
• Take it
• Wave (working on it)
• CRAWL (his new favorite thing to do....it's really cute though)

My dogs also must be housetrained, or at least making the effort to only go outside, accidents are forgiven. Another thing we are working on is not barking when someone comes to the door.With Jeagar we are also working on settling down... and not being so leash/fence reactive...

Cheyanne's list: she can do the basic commands   here's her own commands I have for her

let's go/get out (car)
"get um" (she chases and barks at the big huge crows in the sky when I say this,  i think it's funny)
that's enough (for the above "get um";)

Lillie's list: she can do the basic    here's her own commands I have for her

stop it (when she's being mean to Jayde)
get your toy
need to go out
hurry up
stand (grooming purposes mainly)
over (baby gates in the house)

Kujo:

sit
stay
walk( she stands on her hind legs and walks across the floor for a treat,  this was a trick she showed me she could do when I first got her)

Jayde: I am still working with her on stay

sit
down
wait
ok
come
no jumping

The 3 big dogs are leash trained and they heel. Jayde heels naturally! All the dogs know what the kitchen and living room are in the house when their in here in case I tell them to go to a certain room.Oh yes and their all housetrained (well once in a while Kujo has an accident). I think that's about it.

 

Hahahahaha this is actually funny, especially the walking on leash part!  Uggh!  I dread taking Misty for a walk, but she actually did pretty good today, much better at the end, than at the beginning.  Misty's smart, that's for sure, her first trick was give me kiss, and she would lick my cheek.  She also does pretty good w/ the "come" command, unless she's into something...but working on it.  I don't do anything w/ the open mouth, so I'll be interested to know how and why people do this.  And my one question is, what's push?  What do you mean by push?  And she doesn't spin, but I'd like to teach her that, so I'll also be interested in hearing how that's done.  As well as touch.  But our latest accomplishment has been making her sit at the door when I open it to let her out, w/out her just knocking us over to get out.  She is doing fantastic!  She learned that rather quickly, to my surprise. 

Here is something that most people never think of.

Accept being tethered or tied out. This is something that you may need to do in an emergency. You are walking your dog and someone gets hurt and you need to help them, or a dog fight, or a loose dog, all sorts of things you might want to deal with without the interference of your dog.

Some dogs that have never been tied out will absolutely freak out and panic when you tie them up and then walk away. In the very best training course we ever took, this is actually something we practiced in class.

Oh and another thing, all dogs should be trained to be crated. Even if you do not use one day to day, in an emergency or during a surgery recovery they are invaluable.

samshine

Accept being tethered or tied out

I disagree with this.There is a difference between being "tied out/tethered" and being leashed to something in the case of an emergency. Casey would panic if I tied him up, and left him. However, if I tell him to sit,stay and wait, he will do just that. I also have full confidence that if I tell him to "go home" he will do just that. He is allowed in the front yard - off leash, for short periods of time. when we go for car rides, he goes straight to the car, and right back inside without a leash. I have never tried to tether him while I am there, but I don't think he would do well. He was abused as a pup, so there's no telling what they did to him.

samshine

all dogs should be trained to be crated

Very much agreed. Casey is, as well as all of my fosters.

erica1989

I disagree with this.There is a difference between being "tied out/tethered" and being leashed to something in the case of an emergency. Casey would panic if I tied him up, and left him.

Thanks, you make my point beautifully.  The fact that your dog would panic if tied up and left, is EXACTLY why dogs should be taught this in a controlled non-panic-inducing way. There are situations where your dog could not be trusted to stay, and it would be impractical or dangerous for him to be right with you.

I agree with being tethered/tied. When we go camping each dog has to be tethered - state park rules. Neiko has figured out if he digs around the tie down he can get it out of the ground and then go free. Much to my dismay