Why nagging your dog won’t work! If you find yourself saying “Fido, sit…sit…sit…sit..”, your dog will start to ignore you because the repeated words become background noise & you become boring. You’re also inadvertently teaching your dog only to respond to the fifth, sixth or twentieth time you say something
My poor budgie Henry
One Christmas, when I was eleven, I was given a budgie. I really wanted a dog but my parents were adamant that wasn’t going to happen, so this was a replacement peace offering.
I called him Henry. He was a beautiful, blue and green bird with iridescent feathers that flashed bright when he flapped them. He quickly learnt to hop on my finger and had the freedom of the sitting room (until he got stuck behind my dad’s fish tank and terrified himself, but that’s another story.)
Anyway, that Christmas morning my dad and Uncle Ken decided to teach Henry to say his name. They set up a tape loop (old stuff) with us saying “Henry….Henry….Henry” over and over again and left it running while we went to church.
When we got back the tape was still playing, over and over again but poor Henry was on the floor of his cage, not looking at all happy and clearly wanting to put his wings over his ears, as if he had a migraine, which he probably did by then.
Repeating instructions to your dog
Do you do the same thing with your dog?
It’s a very common mistake, saying the cue more than once – “Fido, sit…sit…sit…sit..” instead of saying the cue once then waiting to see what the dog does. Often they will respond and sit, even if a bit slowly, then you can reward them well and they will do it quicker the next time.
If they don’t sit they probably haven’t understood what you want, so go back to the beginning of your training. Watch for your dog to sit naturally, then add the cue. Or use a treat to lure them into position (but don’t do that too often).
You may give repeated cues when you’re a bit flustered – perhaps when out in public or visiting a friend and you don’t want people to think you’re a bad owner, so you pressure your dog to do what you ask by repeating your cue. Out perhaps you’ve got yourself into a habit – of nagging your dog.
And there’s a big downside to that. One of two things commonly happen. The first is that your dog starts to ignore you because the repeated words become background noise to your dog – you become boring. The second is that you inadvertently teach your dog only to respond to the fifth, sixth or twentieth time you say something.
Have you become boring to your dog?
Say your cue once then wait. At least two or three seconds. Only then repeat your cue, if your dog hasn’t responded (and you are sure your dog understands what you want).
Make sure you aren’t just giving your dog background noise to ignore.
If you want help with teaching your dog to respond quickly to what you ask them to do, why not sign up for our Perfect Pet course. Click here for the next Perfect Pet course dates.
Or if you’ve done Perfect Pet but are struggling to get your dog to do what you want on your walks, we focus on exactly that during the follow on PiiP course (for those who have completed Perfect Pet) – join our PiiP course.
We’d love to see you.
And Henry? He never did learnt to say his name but he had a long and happy life – apart from the fish tank incident.
Keep training and stay safe,
Carol
