Question for the Trainer: My newly adopted adult dog doesn’t know any obedience commands. She won’t come when I call her and she doesn’t know what “sit” means. It’s very frustrating to me.
Answer: Puppies come to humans out of curiosity and playfulness, so they are easy to teach. The best way to get an adult dog to come to you is to gain that dog’s trust. And you can’t do that by barking commands and raising the household stress level. Instead, each and every time the dog is near you, reach over and scratch behind her ears or gently scruffle her chest while you repeat her name a few times. Offer her treats and say her name while she is eating them. After a few days of this, when she hears you say her name she is going to perk up and look at you. A couple of days later, she’s going to come to you when you say her name. The first time that happens, pet her gently and say the word, “Come” in a happy voice. Continue working with your dog this way and she’ll learn the come command without even realizing she is being trained.
Teaching an adult dog to sit is also best done differently than teaching a pup to do it. Dogs that have been living on the street or in a facility are not usually relaxed or trusting enough to sit and lie down in front of strangers, whether those strangers are human or other canines. The easiest and quickest way to teach a dog to sit is to let him see other dogs doing it for a reason. If you have another dog that already knows the sit command, you won’t have a problem teaching it to the new dog in your family. If you don’t have another dog, find someone at a local park who does (*not a dog park!) or get a friend who does have such a savvy dog to help you. And take a training partner with you who can hold your dog’s leash while you are working with the other dog.
You’ll be using treats and hotdog wieners are great for this project. Space the dogs about eight feet from each other so there won’t be any difficulty with treat possessiveness. Have your partner hold your dog’s leash. Then give each dog a small piece of the treat without asking either one to work for the reward. The next time, go to the other dog and tell her “SIT!” When she does, give her a treat and praise her with “Good SIT!”
Repeat this three or four times. Then return to your own dog and let him see and smell a treat in your hand. Do not say anything. Just hold the treat out where your dog can see it and wait patiently for the canine light bulb equivalent to turn on in his head. If that doesn’t happen within a couple of minutes, go back to the trained dog and repeat the Sit exercise with her. Then return to your own dog and try it again. This technique works fairly quickly because hotdog wieners are a smelly, moist, tasty incentive. When your dog does give you his first Sit for a treat, praise him in a quiet voice. The second time he does it, praise in a louder voice. The third time he does it, praise him as though he just walked on the moon.
When you return home, practice “SIT” in every room of the house. It’s important for Fideaux to understand that sit means sit no matter where you say it.
* A dog park is not the place for a new foster dog or a newly adopted dog. Too many things can go wrong there, from inadequate fencing that helps a dog escape to scary run-ins with dogs who have no manners or socialization skills. Save the dog park experience for later, after you and your new companion have aced your basic obedience course.
