Every RV Owner With A Dog Should Know These Two Commands
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If you travel with your dog, knowing how to teach these two commands will make your life 1,000 times easier. Here’s how to give your dog the “bread and butter” education that every dog owner with an RV needs to know:
The Come Command:
Imagine being able to take your dog off leash, anywhere you go… and know that your dog will come back to you– every time you call! How can you achieve such reliablity? Well, aside from the fact that I spent almost an hour explaining the details of this technique in my dvd (available at Amazon.com) called, “How You Can Get Your Dog To Come, Every Time You Call!” – the real secret is this: Keep a training collar and a long line on your dog, everywhere you go. As in: Every type of place you might want to eventually take your dog “off leash” – instead, let him drag a long line behind him. It’s a mind-trick for the dog. See, your dog has limited logic and reason. So, if you do it right your dog won’t know the difference between a 30 foot line he’s dragging and a one foot line. If you’re consistent about making him come, every time you call him … he’ll get conditioned to come immediately. Now that you have a way to make your dog come, he’ll eventually realize it’s easier to come the first time you call, then to get a correction for not coming… and then get made to come, anyway.
The Down Command:
Being able to put your dog into a down-stay … and know that he’ll stay in the down-position, even if somebody drops a piece of food, tosses a frisbee, or if he happens to see another dog or even a cat, is one of the joys of dog ownership. It means you can go anywhere with your dog, and know that he’s not going to be wandering off and getting into trouble. It’s also great if you happen to find yourself in a somewhat non-dog friendly environment.
With a well behaved dog, nobody hardly notices (or minds!) if you dog is resting quietly, underneath the seat of your picnic bench.
And let’s not forget about inside the RV! Imagine when friends come to visit, and you’ll be able to tell your dog, “Go lay down,” and your dog will either run to his spot and lay down, or you’ll be able to make him drop right where he’s standing.
Picture this: You’re standing in front of the stove top in your RV, cooking some bacon. Fido is watching TV with the grand kids, on the other side of your rig when you accidentally drop a piece of bacon on the floor. Fido’s ears perk up, instantly. His eyes glaze over and his nose starts to twitch.
But before he tramples over the grand kids, rips across the RV, knocks you over and grabs the piece of bacon on the floor… you instead calmly call out: “Down!”
And Fido immediately drops back into the down-position, and stays there until you give him the “exercise finished” command.
Trust me– this command is a lifesaver that can be used in a variety of circumstances.
Here’s a short video I did that shows the beginning steps for how to teach eve n a stubborn little dog how to drop into the down-stay position.
Training Your Dog To Lay Down on Command
Adam G. Katz is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of the internet’s best selling downloadable dog training book, “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer: An Insider’s Guide To The Most Jealously Guarded Dog Training Secrets In History!” as well as several dog training dvds (available at Amazon.com), dog training audio lectures, videos and dog training information products. In addition to Dogproblems.com, Katz is also the head trainer at “Adam’s Las Vegas Dog Training Company”, serving Henderson and Las Vegas, Nevada. Katz enjoys studying blues guitar, tactical target and rifle shooting, international travel and arguing politics with his wife, Carla. He is an admirer of Airstream travel trailers and longs to someday own a vehicle with a diesel engine in it.
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It isn’t the owner that needs to know the commands. It is the dog.
I got my dog from the pound. He is the perfect dog except he is a runner. He knows the commands but he only applies them when he is paying attention and/or feels like it.
Truth is I have been too lazy to work with him. If I worked with him and knew what I was doing I could probably fix that. Well, one of these days I’ll get it done.
If you can another command is “Whoa” it is used on hunting dogs to stop them in their racks. Imagine your dog heading for the road and one word stopping them.
As a trainer everyday is a training day. It’s like working with a 3 yr old child. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
We have friends with seeing eye dogs. They have a command to tell them to go to the bathroom – park. The puppy raisers worked with them for the commands to heel, left, right, step up, park, sit, lay and I know I heard a few other commands but these are the most used. By having the park command, you take the dog for a walk to a designated area, take the harness off, then hold the leash and give the command to “Park”. The dog will circle, then squat. They can tell by how the leash is whether the dog has sqatted to go. Then they take out a plastic bag and clean up after them. They also give the dog a “good dog” anytime they have been good.
If my husband and I are with them and the dog just did a maneuver that saved their person, we let them know it was a good traffic check, or good going around and figuring out the maze. You can tell the dogs know they did good, but they also seem to walk a little crisper when the master gives them a compliment and a pat.
Just a word about service dogs, There are now dogs for the deaf, seeing eye dogs, dogs who help epeleptics, traumatic brain injuries, etc. They will be wearing a vest of some kind so you know. DO NOT pet them or let your children pet them. The individuals will be more than glad to talk about their dog and let you know if you can pet, etc.Most of the time they do not want you to because the dog will not pay attention to their job. It is beautiful watching the service dogs and their owners work togther.
It only take one dog to the ruin it for everyone. Our dog is fairly well behaved when we camp as are most, but the few that do not behave give the rest of us a bad rap.