Mary Allen
There are a few commands that your dog should have a basic command of.
Not only do they make everyday life easier, they can also be extremely helpful in dangerous situations.
In this article, you will find out which basic commands these are, how you can teach your dog commands, and what the basic training for the dog looks like.
In a nutshell: What are the most important dog basic commands?
We have put together a dog command list with the 7 most important basic commands for your dog:
- Sit – sit down
- Place – lying down
- Stay – stay in place
- Off or No – Giving up an item or not
- Here/come – come here
- Heel – walk beside you
- Peek – Attract attention
For more tips and guidance, check out our dog training bible. This saves you a tedious search on the Internet.
Dog Commands – That’s why they’re important
Many commands for dogs are not always of the utmost importance or count as part of basic training. Some tricks are just plain cute or make you laugh.
But there are some basic commands that your dog should know to make various everyday situations easier and to ensure safety.
You can teach your dog most tricks with hand signals. However, for most (or even all) tricks, you should also introduce a command.
This saves you waving around if your dog is supposed to follow a command a little further away from you.
You can also use commands like “No!” or “Off!” also make sure that your dog does not eat unfamiliar things.
In addition, commands that draw your dog’s attention to you allow you to reliably distract yourself from other dogs or in traffic.
When can puppies be taught commands?
Every dog should learn to sit and lie down.
These commands are so-called basic commands and are therefore also part of puppy training. Basic commands basically have a logical meaning.
You can start basic commands as soon as you have brought your dog to you and he knows the new apartment.
The 7 most important basic commands
Below you will find all the most important basic commands for your dog with instructions.
1. Command: seat
Sit is absolutely the most well-known basic command for a dog and should be learned as soon as possible. The visual signals for the dog are particularly important.
Since many other commands such as down, stay or paw are based on the sit command, you can assume that almost every manual assumes this command.
Here you will find our instructions for the command “Sit!”
2nd command: place
Space is the next important command for your dog. You can also practice this command as a puppy.
Space not only has the advantage that you can quickly teach your dog to stay, but also ensures more peace in your dog.
Getting up from a lying position costs your dog significantly more time and energy than getting up from a sitting position. So you can even help your dog to rest more.
Here are the instructions for the basic command space. The most important requirement for this is a seat.
3. Stay command
Another basic command for dogs. With Stay, your dog should lie in a place you have chosen and stay there until you call him back to you.
This command is extremely important, primarily if you want to leave your dog alone for a short time even in heavily frequented areas.
We also have instructions for you for this command that will work with almost any dog of almost any age.
4. Command: off or no
You should take care of the off sign as soon as possible. This allows you to get food or toys back from your dog safely.
The no command ensures that your dog doesn’t even start eating anything you don’t want in it.
In theory, the two commands work relatively similar, but your dog learns them differently.
With the no command, you forbid your dog a treat that you stand on, for example, and then give it a different one.
With the out command, you give your dog a toy or a bone and exchange it for your treat.
Basically, you should never just take food away from your dog, but always offer him a good deal.
5. Command: Here or Come
With the command Here you can bring your dog back to you or send it to a certain place.
Of course, you can also teach your dog individual commands for different places, such as its basket.
But if you like taking your dog to different places, you should try Here.
You can also use the Stay command later to connect to this.
6. Command: Heel
For the command “heel” you need a leash in most cases. But you are welcome to try it without a leash first.
Heel teaches the dog to always and reliably walk alongside your foot. The quickest way to learn this trick is to arm yourself with a treat.
In this case, your dog should follow your empty hand. You simply exchange the treat later in the initially empty hand.
So that the explanation is really understandable, have a look at this article: Teach the dog at heel over!
7. Look command
All you need is some treats. To begin, slowly move your hand holding a treat towards your face.
If your dog stays seated and only watches your hand, it will be rewarded.
As always, you introduce the command at the same time. Later you can increase the difficulty by making the time between a treat and looking up longer.
How long will it take…
… until your dog can carry out the various commands.
Since every dog learns at a different rate, the question of how long it takes can only be answered vaguely.
Most tricks take very little time and are learned in a few short training sessions. It usually helps if you approach all the tricks slowly with your dog and explain the individual steps as precisely as possible.
Utensils needed
You definitely need treats. You might consider feeding natural treats like some fruit or vegetables.
Most types of vegetables that are low in bitter substances are good for your dog as a healthy snack.
My personal favorite is probably the cucumber. Cucumber can be a great treat, especially for dogs that don’t drink enough water anyway. It also minimizes bad breath and cools your dog down on warm days!
Conclusion
Teaching your dog the individual commands is not that difficult. In most cases, it doesn’t take too long for the dogs to understand what to do either.
The easiest way to train is to give your dog time and train him in a quiet, uncrowded area first.
For more tips, guides, and dog tricks, check out our dog training bible.