Is that “whoa,” or “no,” or “whatever,” boss?
Boy howdy, a recent talk generated some feedback and fascinating stories of other dog owners’ trials, tribulations and triumphs. The most intriguing discussion after each presentation had to do with which words to use for which commands, and why. Compare my ideas to yours, and of course, your particular situation, and then let’s talk in the comments section.
First, in my mind simple is better. While your pup could conceivably understand over 200 different commands according to the U.S. Army, I give my dogs easy to yell names . . . one or two syllables. That way, they learn their unique signal faster.
And here was the major bugaboo: watch for conflicts. Many of our commands can sound like names.Call your setter “Beau,” and he might whoa when you want him to hunt on. Rover sounds like “over,” a common command among retriever handlers. And “no” sounds like Beau or whoa, adding to the confusion. Momma dog uses “aagh” when she disapproves . . . why not take advantage of genetics? One behaviorist has recently advocated for “wrong,” which also makes some sense for its uniqueness and harshness. And most dogs’ first names end up being “goddammit” for a while early in their careers anyway, don’t they?
“Here” is easier to yell loudly than come. But “heel” and “here” sound the same to dogs, so my “heel” command is “walk.” I don’t use “over” when I want my dog to change direction, I use “way” as the command, often accompanied by a hand signal. So my release command can’t be “okay,” or there’ll be more confusion. And he might think I’m asking him to hold still … “stay.” “Alright” is safe and sounds like nothing else in the lexicon.
I have a theory that most times, most dogs simply detect the vowel, and ignore the consonants. Testing this theory on Buddy probably doesn’t prove much besides I’m a bad trainer, but it seems to ring true. At Pheasant Fest, one of my new friends disputes this theory and offers various command words and tricky situations where he has tested his dogs (clay-play-stay-hey) and they have learned the difference. More power to ya, Andy.
But as I said, for me and Buddy at least, simple is better. How about you? Do you have any unique command words that we might want to try?
Scott Linden Outdoors 
My dogs all know the standard commands, but a couple of commands I taught them are: “slow”, which is a relaxed version of “heel” and reminds them to slow down without heeling at my side; and “wait” which is a loose version of “stay”, in which they don’t leave the immediate area but not in a rigid “stay”. Rather than “fetch” I tell them “get it”.
Thanks Shadow. Take a look at the first “vidblog” if you like the travel thing.
very nice Scott- I’ve traveled all arround, and some different states- I sure like hearing about your time- well said-
Scott, when I told you about the “tease” words I use that sound similar to the “command” words, you jokingly accused me of being mean. The subtle difference between the words isn’t what the dogs notice. It’s the subtle difference in my delivery that they are waiting for. It’s so subtle that only the dogs and I know about it. Anyone watching has to pay real close attention to pick it up.
When it comes to working with dogs, I have always suspected that words are fairly insignificant when compared to how they are delivered. Having just trained a deaf dog to become a successful hunting dog, I’m even more convinced of it.
As an example, think of how many ways you might use your dog’s name to mean different things and your dog understands just by the way you say it. Also, as you addressed in your seminar, it’s easy to confuse a dog with inadvertent actions.
Dogs are always watching our every move and action which creates a much more complex form of communication than most of us care to deal with. We use words to simplify communication, not for the dog’s sake, but for our own. Luckily, most dogs are forgiving enough to allow us to “dumbify” that communication and still love us.
I don’t mean to downplay the importance of the words we use for training. Words really become an important training/communicating tool when multiple family members or other people are working with the same dog. I don’t think it really matters which words we use as long as we are consistent with them and how we use them. Since a person’s mannerisms and actions can vary from someone else’s, the words become the constant that a dog can understand.
There you have my words about words. I hope my delivery wasn’t too confusing.
Andy, you are far from mean … especially to your deaf Lab, you are a HERO, as I mentioned in Madison. I agree, you can read the phone book to most dogs and HOW you read is far more important than the words. (That’s a bit of an exagerration, but you know what I mean). You have mastered doggy “sign language,” better than all the rest of us combined.
Andy, truer words about words have never been spoken. Keep up the good work.