Hang around with enough dog owners, and inevitably you will hear someone say to their distracted or recalcitrant dog, “Sit! Sit! Sit! SIT!” I’m pretty sure that, in the minds of most dogs, the cue for sit isn’t “Sit!” but actually, “Sit! Sit! Sit! SIT!”
Then there is my other favorite: “Sit! Sit! Sit! I said, SIT DOWN!”
In my head, I always imagine a smart aleck of a dog saying back to his owner, “Well, which is it? Sit or down?”
Clearing up the Confusion
The word “down” is rife with problems as a cue. Some of us use it to tell our dogs to lie down. Some of us use it to tell our dogs not to jump on people. Some of us use it to tell our dogs to get off the couch! And some people use it in all three situations! What’s a dog to do? Heck if I know; I always have to look it up to know if I should be saying “lay down” or “lie down”! You’d think after 30 years of editing, I could get this one right!
Then there is the whole issue of confusing hand signals: When asking for the “down” behavior, Dad snaps his fingers and points at the ground with an index finger but Mom bends all the way over and touches the floor.
If you are part of a multiple-member dog-loving family, hold a meeting and ask every single person, one at a time, to cue the family dogs for “sit” and “down.” Take video of each person cueing the dogs and of the dogs’ reaction, because I assure you that hilarity will ensue as it becomes apparent that each person in the household does it a little differently, and the dog’s reaction will vary.
For best results, make sure you are presenting consistent cues – whether they are verbal, hand signals, body language, or a combination – for each discrete behavior to your dog every time. Unless you really don’t mind repeating yourself. J
Oh how do I get??? Ya get a lot of them daily don’t ya? Oh well seems to be what I see around. So anyways how do I get my dog journal that I get home how can I read it online as a paid member. I seem to have trouble being asked for name and password because I don’t have one! What do I do?
Oh how do I get??? Ya get a lot of them daily don’t ya? Oh well seems to be what I see around. So anyways how do I get my dog journal that I get home how can I read it online as a paid member. I seem to have trouble being asked for name and password because I don’t have one! What do I do? I need new answers please
I ordered the program on grooming my dog which I haven’t been able to read yet. But since I had a very bad experience trying to buy the program on taking the fire out of my dog I’ve decided to leave whole-dog-journal. You haven’t gotten my message that I didn’t want the journal by returning the unpaid bill so please take my decision now! I would like a refund on the grooming program and I ask you to delete my info from your data. This is my final decision so please comply.
Try contacting Customer Service instead of leaving a comment on the Blog.
I agree in training a dog we must be consistent for the dog not to be confused. For a family with many members being unanimous is a must. Thanks for sharing that info!
I make plenty of errors even in my one-person household. I’m consistent enough with words and hand signals. “Down” means “Lie down,” and “Off” means “Get off of the person you’re jumping on.” But, I inadvertently taught my dog, who sits on my lap much of the time, that “I have to go to the bathroom” means “Get off my lap, please.” Sometimes, we don’t notice that we say the same things and create unintentional commands when we don’t even realize that our dogs are listening.
Easy to remember- chickens lay people lie!!!