There are 7 basic commands every dog should know. These commands are not just the bare minimum you need to communicate your wants to your dog and develop a strong relationship between you and your best friend. They are also the command you need most in every day situations.
These commands will help you and your dog maintain structure in your house, promote mutual understandings, as well as keep your dog safe in certain situations.
These basic commands are (in no particular order) –
- Down
- Stay
- Focus
- Settle down
- Lets go
- Leave it
Notice that the “come” command is not one of the basic 7, neither is “heel”.
That is because “heel”, when done properly, is only performed in competition or in situations where absolute focus can be a life saving skill.
And “come”? Most people do not teach “come” properly and the result is the dog not coming at all, or coming only 50% of the time. To negate that, the “come” command can be taught on different levels using different words to mean different aspects of “come”. e.g. using the dog’s name for attention, using “front” as the actual action of the dog coming to you, and using “lets go” to get the dog to come to your side as you walk.
That is not to say “come” is not an important command, or that you shouldn’t teach it! It is important a dog knows “come” and performs it every time.
However, as mentioned above most people do not teach “come” properly and the end result is the dog not listening to it at all or not consistently enough.
The above 7 basic commands make for a great foundation on which you can build and expand in everyday life, as well as in dog sports like Conformation Obedience and Rally Obedience.