From there, McMillan explains his playful, positive, and kind approach, starting with his 7 Common Commands: SIT, STAY, DOWN, COME, OFF, HEEL, and NO.
Arguably the most important command to teach your dog, “stay” will come in handy daily. For their safety and the safety of others, “stay” needs to be taught at an early age. To teach it, have your dog start by sitting. Then slowly back away from your dog.
In my experience, the most commonly used marker word is "yes!" But a marker word can be anything you'd like it to be, as long as it's a short word and easy to say. I also recommend using a word that you don't tend to use in normal conversations.
Dogs typically learn shorter words and commands faster, so make it easy for both parties and name them something unchallenging. A hard consonant with a high frequency (sh, s, ck, etc.) or long vowel sounds (“ay” or “ee”) are optimal for grabbing attention.
There's a very special and very rare group of dogs known as Gifted Word Learners by researchers, and they have a particular talent: being able to learn the names of multiple toys. They learn these names quickly and remember them for months.
The three Ds are duration, distance, and distraction, and they affect almost any behavior. Dogs don't generalize well, meaning if they learn to sit in front of you, they don't automatically know that “sit” means the same thing when you're on the other side of the room.
Even if your dog never fully grasps most of what you tell them, most dogs can learn quite a few verbal commands. Experts have studied dogs to know whether they grasp the meaning of words or if they respond to the tone of voice and context clues.
Here's rule number 2: say your commands only once. Why? Because you want your dog to know that “sit” means to sit.
Eye contact is a show of strength among all creatures. If your dog breaks eye contact, this is a telltale sign of submission. In the wild, alphas put betas and omegas in their place with a decisive stare. If your dog breaks eye contact with you first, this is a dramatic sign of them viewing you as the alpha.
Essentially, your dog wants your approval. So, rather than yelling or constantly saying “No”, quicker progress can be made by teaching your dog a 'no' signal – one that tells him to stop whatever he is doing whenever he hears it. A suitable command can be “Leave”.
Whether you rescue an older dog or a puppy, a lot of dogs tend to follow the 3-3-3 rule when getting acclimated: 3 days of feeling overwhelmed and nervous. 3 weeks of settling in. 3 months of building trust and bonding with you.
Instead of your dog doing his own thing, he will be watching you and focused on you and what you want him to do. With The Dog Calming Code in place and a solid relationship set up, you'll find your dog is LISTENING to you, wanting to FOLLOW your lead and TAKE DIRECTION.
Trick dog training often involves the dog getting physical exercise. Dogs get a lot of mental exercise from tricks as well. After a trip outside for physical exercise and a tricks training session, dogs who once looked for way to get in trouble when left alone may be happy to climb on the couch and take a nap.
Avoid Command Words
You will also want to avoid any names that sound similar or rhyme with the most common dog commands. Names that sound like “sit,” “stay,” “heel,” “no,” and “come” could be easily confused by your pup.
There are also a couple of smaller things you can do to show your dominance and act like an Alpha. Something as simple as not walking around your dog is enough. If your dog is blocking the hallway, make them get up and move. Simple shuffle your feet or make some noise to let them know you're trying to get through.
Dogs lock eyes with one another to establish dominance or to show aggression. If a dog gives a person a hard, steady stare without blinking, the dog might be warning the human to back off. Your dog might be more likely to do this to a stranger, especially if your dog thinks they need to protect you.
Dogs love to please their owners. They love attention of all kinds, which is why some dogs can have tendencies towards misbehavior as well as obedience. When your dog responds to your commands and gets a treat, you're thrilled, they're thrilled that you're thrilled.