Training is not just about obedience and behavior. There are many commands that you should know for life saving situations, to create a safer environment for you & for your dog. Here are some potentially lifesaving commands that could help you both.
Say your dog is a resource guarder. Easy fix, right? Remove the resource. Well, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is solving the problem. It is a band aid solution for a much more potentially serious issue. Imagine this. You are walking down the street in town, and you walk passed a random object on the street. Your dog immediately snatches it up and won’t give it up without biting you over it. That object is a brick of rat poison. Now what? Teaching your dog “drop it” or “leave it” will ensure you can manage this potentially life-threatening situation.
Here is another scenario that I’ve had happen to a client recently. You and your dog are walking down a trail. You suddenly see five, that’s right FIVE, coyotes in the middle of the trail. Your dog runs towards them instead of away. This could end up with your dog getting bit or possibly worse. My client thankfully got their dog away from the coyotes but subsequently signed up for our e-collar class to get a solid recall. Despite all their calling to their dog, he did not stop what he was doing and didn’t come back but instead, very stupidly, tried to take on five Coyotes. If he had had a solid recall he may not have had to be quarantined for months after this incident.
Another possible, scary story involves fire. Your dog is over the crate training stage of their life. They can be trusted to roam free in the household and not use the bathroom in your house, bark excessively, or destroy anything. Amazing, you can safely leave your dog out in the open while you go out to dinner, to work, etc. You leave the house, and everything is fine. Except, you forgot that candle lit on the table. Fido accidentally knocks that candle over and fire begins to overtake the house. Your dog becomes scared and flees underneath a shelf in your closet, under your bed, wherever they feel is safe. Firefighters come but they have no clue there is a dog in your house, or even if they do where they would be able to find him. Meanwhile he is inhaling smoke. If he were in his crate while you were away a: he wouldn’t have accidentally knocked the candle over and b: he would be in a safe place where emergency responders would know where to locate him.
If you ask me if my dog, Lana, knows a perfect heel, I will tell you no, she doesn’t. I do however have a solid “drop”, recall and I crate her whenever I leave my house. Additionally, I have taught her to wait at thresholds. I used to live right on Broadway in Everett, a very busy road with a lot of traffic and people would fly down the hill. One of my biggest worries was Lana getting out of the house and getting hit. We were on the first floor with easy access to the street. I taught her that she cannot, under any circumstances, go through the front door without being given her “free” command. No matter if I was inside or outside I would practice from both directions. I used a long line tied back so that she could not get to the road and would walk in and out of the door over and over again. I would throw toys out in front of the house to test her impulse control with this as well. To this day Lana does not go past our door or our deck at home without being given the “free” command. This training has, on more than one occasion, saved her life. My husband was bringing in groceries one day and left the door wide open and I had had Lana in her crate but my daughter had let her out. I came up the front steps and Lana was right there, sitting right by the door, waiting for me to give her the free command.
Our training programs are tailored to you and your dogs needs. If you aren’t looking for competition style obedience but would like to feel more at ease with some commands like recall, wait, drop it or leave it, reach out to us at [email protected]
