Basic Obedience Commands

Good morning. I’m Ariel, with Highland Canine and this is Ellie that I have with me here and we are going to go over the techniques of bait and lure.

Bait-and-lure is a technique we use to train dogs who may not understand or know commands already without using force. So, when we’re using bait and lure, we’re going to find something that motivates the dog.

In this case, I have a food motivator and you’re going to get the dog’s attention by letting him know that what you have is fun and exciting and you may have to change your motivators a couple of different times depending on what it is the dog likes in a high stressful environment like a shelter. The dog might not be motivated by your basic treat. You may need to use something of higher value to really get your dog’s attention.

In this case I found something this morning that motivates Ellie and we’re going to work with her on our bait and lure techniques.

[How to Teach: Sit]

So, the first thing that I would like to go over is sit. Sit is one of your basic commands that you’re going to find very useful and use in your everyday life. Good girl! With sit, you’re going to use your food motivator and you’re going to bring it to the dog’s nose and you’re going to bring it in a C-shape motion up over the dog’s head which is going to get the dog to sit.

When you bring the dog’s head up, you’re getting their butt to drop. So, in this case with Ellie, hi, she’s a very energetic and highly motivated dog. She definitely wants the treat or the lure that I have. So, I’m going to show you how to do a sit. I’m going to bring the food to her nose. I’m going to bring it up and she’s going to drop that butt.

With your food motivator, you want to make sure that you’re not actually giving the reward to the dog until they’re doing what you want them to do and they’re being rewarded for the proper behavior. So, in this case with Ellie, we’re bringing her nose up. Her butt is dropped and then I’m going to allow her to have that food reward.

[How to teach: Loose Leash Walking]

So, the next topic we’re going to cover is loose leash walking. Most of our shelter dogs have probably never been on a leash or have no concept or understand. When you get them out of their kennels, they’re going to want to pull immediately right away. So, we really want to give these dogs an understanding of what leash manners are.

When we’re working with a dog, we’re going to have our food motivator that we’ve already found that works for our dog or we’re going to let them know that we have it and get their attention and then we’re going to work with them. As they’re walking, if they’re pulling away from us, we’re going to change directions and head the other way and when they’re back at our side, we’re going to give them that food reward.

We’re letting them know that we want them to be with us and not pulling as we’re rewarding that behavior that we want. So, with Ellie, we’re going to walk. Good girl. We will give her a little bit of a treat. When she pulls, I’m going to go the other direction.

Hi. Look. Good girl! Good girl. Hi. Then when she’s back at my side, I’m going to go ahead and give her that food reward. Good girl. Again, if she’s starting to pull – Ellie. Good. We’re going to reward her for coming back to that position next to me and allowing her to understand she’s not pulling in order to get rewarded.

[How to Teach: Heel]

So, once we’ve worked with our dogs and gotten through our loose leash walking, we want to start them to understand a formal heel position. Typically, we’re going to heel the dog on our lefthand side. So, we’re going to get the dog’s attention with our food motivator. Oh, hi. Good girl.

We’re going to hold that food in front of their nose as we start walking to that step and pace. If they’re going ahead of us too much, it’s because the placement of our arm is wrong. So, we’re going to get their attention, bring them back into that heel position. Good girl.

That is right at our side. When we’re working with our dog in its heel position, when we stop moving, we want the dog to sit. So, we’re going to bring that food up in that C-shape, getting their butts to drop and then allowing them to have that food reward. Good girl.

[How to Teach: Down]

So next we want to go over teaching the dog down with our bait and lure technique. So, there’s going to be a couple different ways we’re going to go about this. Most commonly you will see where a dog is already in a sitting position. You’re going to get their attention with the food. You’re going to drop the food down along their chest and out in an L-shape position and when their elbows in the front and their butt is on the ground, you’re going to go ahead and reward that for the down at their end.

Good girl. Good girl. Hi. Okay. Sometimes the dogs will not go into a down this way and so we’re going to teach it from a standing position. I’m not sure if I will be able to show you that with Ellie. But what happens when a dog is standing, you’re actually going to use the food towards their face and move backwards and down and a lot of times they will put their frontend down and then they will drop their rear to the ground and they’re in a formal down position and we’re going to go ahead and reward them. Good girl. Good. Okay.

So sometimes you will find with these dogs that down is a hard command for them to learn. Down is a submission pose and you’re going to have to lure the dog under something in order to get them to drop their knees and elbows to the ground. I’m going to use my assistant here Haven and he’s going to demonstrate how we get the dog to go down under his legs. He’s going to use the food motivator under his knee to get her attention. Good girl. He’s going to bring it through. Good. And when she’s in that formal down position, he’s going to go ahead and reward the dog.

Good girl. Okay. I’m going to go ahead and show you this with Haven from another angle. So you’re going to use your legs or if you aren’t able, you could also use chairs. If you’re only by yourself, you’re going to get the dog’s attention with your food motivator. You’re going to lure her down and through and this is going to bring the dog into a down position.

[How to Teach: Recall]

I would like to go over come on a recall command because I feel this is one of the most important commands that you can teach a dog. If you have a solid recall on a dog, you’re going to prevent a lot of situations from happening. So, you can keep them coming back to you. You’re going to prevent them from running out into the street, running and aggressing out another dog.

A solid recall is a really good foundation to have and so it’s really important the dog understands that coming back to you is always a positive reward. Regardless of what’s going on with the dog, if they come back to you and it’s exciting and rewarding, they’re going to be more likely to return to you.

In the beginning, this is going to be a little bit harder but when you’re working with them, you will let them know that we have that food reward and we’re going to walk with them and then we’re going to kind of loop the dog out. Come! Good girl! And we’re going to give them that food reward as we’re moving backward into that come position.

So, we try to do that again for you. We’re going to have our food reward. We’re going to be walking with the dog. Hi. And then we’re going to make a loop. Come! Good girl! We’re going to reward that come when she returns to us.

When the dog returns to you, you want to make sure that you have control of the dog. So, as they’re coming back, come, you can also start to put them in a sit position when they’re in front of you, so you have control of the dog.

So, working with our come and our recall, you have the advantage if you’ve done this a while with your dog and you have a partner, somebody that you can work with and you can get the dog on a long line. You’re going to work between the two of you with your bait-and-lure technique by recalling the dog to you and rewarding them and going back to the other person. That’s going to build a solid recall with the dog. Ellie! Look! Come! Good girl! She comes to me. We’re going to drop her into a sit. Good! Okay. And then Haven is going to call her back to him.

Haven: Ellie, Ellie, come. Ellie, come. Yes, good girl.

Ariel: You will find sometimes that the dog will gravitate towards one person or the other so you want to make sure that it’s always fun, engaging, rewarding and exciting for the dog. Ellie! Come! Good girl! Good sit! She’s already starting to learn that when she comes back to me, she’s in that sit position.

Haven: Yes, good girl, good girl.

Ariel: Ellie, come! Good girl!

So next we’re going to go over a place command. Place is an often underutilized command but we’re teaching the dog to stay on a place or a cot or an elevated surface, allowing them to be part of what’s going on but still in a stationary position. On this place, they can be in a stand. They can be in a sit or they can be in a down but they’re staying in this defined area.

For example, today, we are using the KLIMB platform by Blue-9 and a lot of times your shelters will have your various place cots that they can use and you can train this on as well. So, you’re going to get your dog’s attention with your food motivator and you’re going to get them near or around the place item and get them comfortable with it and then you’re going to use your food to lure the dog up. Good girl!

We’re going to go ahead and reward. Some dogs may be more timid with this. So, you’re going to reward for even one paw getting on the platform. You can see Ellie is a little bit more comfortable here. She went ahead and got up. She is highly food-motivated and she put herself into a sit. So, I’m going to go ahead and reward that as well.

When you’re working with your place, you want to start to get the dog to understand that when they’re on this item, that they are to stay on this item. When you’re using an elevated item that has a defined edge, it’s a lot easier for the dog to understand that they’re not supposed to move from this item. You’re going to try to keep that food reward for your dog as you start motion with your body. You’re going to step back, still allowing them to have that food reward that I’m using to bait her with and you’re going to create motion around your place item, getting them to stay on this platform.

Good girl! Good. Oh, thank you for the paw. Thank you. I’m going to try to – no, no cheating. I’m going to try to move away from the dog, showing some distance between me and her, but I’m not going to take the food away from the dog. If I move my hand to take that food away from the dog, she’s going to follow that bait. So, we want to bring her back up onto the place platform. Good girl! And move our body away from the dog, showing movement, so she understands.

Good girl! Sit. Good. When you get more advanced with this, and the dog understands that they’re staying on your place platform without your bait food, you should also be able to move back away from the dog to get motion between you and her. Good girl. And then when you are ready, you’re going to release the dog. You’re going to give them a break or a release command. You’re going to tap them on the top of the head and let them know or that it’s okay for them to release from the platform.

In this instance, we typically use “okay”. Okay. I’m going to move back and the dog is going to follow, letting them understand that they’re released from that platform. Good girl! Place. Good! You can see she’s in a stand. She goes to a sit. Using this place technique is very helpful in your shelter environment. You can ask the dogs to place on their cots. You can walk into their kennels without them charging the gate. You can put food in. You can take toys out while they’re staying on that place command.

It’s also very helpful if you’re needing to put a leash or a collar on the dog. You can ask them to get on that place. You can engage and interact with the dog and then, okay, release them to move with you. Good girl!