You hear it at the dog park all the time. Dog owners yelling their dog’s name over and over, expecting the dog to do something. The only thing you should expect a dog to do when you call their name is to look at you.
Why do you call someone’s name? To get their attention of course. They acknowledge you with a look, coming towards the sound of your voice, or yelling back. The goal with a dog is to get them to look at you no matter what they are doing…that’s it. If they come over to you sometimes in response to their name, it’s a bonus but should not be expected.
If your dog does not look at you when you say their name, (at a reasonable distance), there is no sense in saying it again or louder. The biggest reason dogs don’t look at us when we say their name is because most of the time they hear it is when they are being corrected and you are talking to their backside. They are conditioned that their name is a negative thing and does not require them to look at you.
Use your dog’s name for praise. It should be sweet to their ears, more than any other word.
Your dog’s name is always the PREPARATORY COMMAND. When they hear it, they should look at you in waiting for the EXECUTION COMMAND. The EXECUTION COMMAND is whatever you want the dog to do ie; COME, HERE, HEEL, SIT, DOWN, STAY.
Because I often work with large groups of dogs while training service dogs for Cover Six Canines, I train Odin in German, so he knows I am only talking to him.
If your dog does not consistently look at you when you say their name, don’t start giving commands, especially off leash. You must gain your dog’s focus before working on commands. As I have posted before, there are three ways I talk to dogs.
- Giving commands
- Normal conversation as if I was talking to a person
- Praise
You will notice I did not say when correcting. I use commands to correct and always begin by saying the dog’s name.
Odin is my service dog and I talk to him all the time, however I don’t expect him to do anything but listen. This is done in a conversational tone that soothes both of us.
Praise is where I get animated and talk in a very high pitched excited tone that excites the dog and makes him want to be close to me.
Like I said earlier, most of the time they get talked to is when they are doing something wrong. The owner is usually standing up, moving towards them, yelling their name, and saying words that are not trained commands over and over. Inside their house it’s one thing, but outside the house it encourages the dog to run away.
Because dogs primarily communicate with sight, movement, and touch, and not sound it is imperative that we understand how to use it effectively.