There are almost countless things you can teach your dog. DIY & how to: teach a dog its name is probably the most common question related to this topic. Most dog owners want to teach this to their dogs and they believe it is impossible. It is simple and straightforward. How you can do this, well, you will need to follow these steps.
Teach a Dog Its Name. Complete Step By Step Guide
The first thing you will need to know is that this trick will require a lot of time and effort. You will have to practice at least 10 times per day. If you want to practice, even more, it is better. DIY & how to: teach a dog its name starts with a simple step and moves to more complicated ones.
- Allow your pet to be 2-6 feet away from you. Don’t do anything until he looks at you. As soon as he does, you will use a clicker to click or you can say yes. Now you will give him a treat. You can also praise him and reward him in other ways.
- You will have to repeat the step from above 10 times per day. You will want to do this in an area where there are no distractions. A dog park is the worst place where you can try to teach your pet this trick.
- If a dog doesn’t look at you or he wants to do something else, you can throw him a treat or dog food. He will eat it and he will look for you. He will basically look for more. Then you can click with the clicker or say yes. Now you will throw him another piece of food.
- Now when your pet is looking at you after he eats the treat or food you can start telling his name. Do this before your pet turns around. Always reward him.
- If you want to make things a bit more interesting, you can. You will place a treat on the floor. When he eats it, you will say his name and move backward. He will come to you and you will reward him again. Now use another treat to repeat the process. Repeat this as many times as you want.
Additional Things You Need To Know
There are a couple of things you need to know here. The main thing you have to do is to not reward him when he does something else. For example, you will not reward him if he sits or does anything similar. The goal is to help him link his name with the treat. As such, you will give him a treat and praise only when he does what he should do.
Most of the time you can notice when a dog starts looking at you all the time. He is looking for a treat and praise. Maybe he is looking for attention as well. This means that the training is working and you are on the right path. You should continue performing the steps above.
You will also want to gradually allow some distractions during the training. What this means is that you will start in your backyard and try to teach him. Then you will move close to your home and as the last step, you will do this in a dog park. This basically reinforces the training and makes sure that a dog will obey you when there are some distractions present. On the contrary, if you start at a dog park and you want to make the training successful, you are in serious trouble. It will never work.
Things You Must Never Do While Training Your Pet
Now that you know all the things you can and should do in order to complete the training in no time, you have to know a few things that must not be done! These are serious and common mistakes that will make the whole training problematic for lack of a better word.
- Don’t use his name multiple times. If your dog is Rex, you will want to say Rex only once. If you say RexRexRex he will associate this with the training. It means that he will believe this is his name.
- If your pet is not paying attention to you, don’t shout the name. You will want to move to another location, somewhere there are no other pets or anything that can distract him. Continue training there.
- When your dog responds, the worst thing you can do is delay the treatment. You must give it to him as soon as you can. Mark his success as soon as you can.
- Do not use commands like sit and stand with the dog’s name. Eventually, a dog will believe that the full command is his name plus the actual command so they will stop obeying you properly.
- Don’t try to change his name. Odds are high that a dog knows his name already and you trying to change it will never work or it will make the whole process far more complicated. Yes, this even refers to owners who don’t like the name of their dog.
- Don’t use his name and a negative command like ‘’quiet’’ or ‘’go away’’ while training your pet. Your dog will link his name with something bad which is not a thing you want.
The Final Word
The DIY & how to: teach a dog its name guide is detailed and it is something even professional trainers will want to use it. If you want to teach your dog this amazing command, now you know how. It is great and it is much easier than you may believe. Just be patient and allow your pet to adopt the training slowly. If you want to rush things and make this something you can complete in a day or two, then hire a professional.
If your dog isn’t responding to their name, return a step to make sure success before increasing the extent of distractions once more.
Watch the video on teaching your dog to sit, provided by The Battersea Way
