What Does the Dog Know?

Well, that was fast. Remember that time, like in the last post, that I talked about Roger at the Oregon Humane Society, and how I was working with him on behavioral issues? I didn’t even get to mention that I had a plan in place to work with him using a front-clip harness and help him learn to love a crate or kennel this week. I didn’t have time. He was adopted the afternoon before that post went live. High five, Roger! Shake is close enough. Good dog.

So now, when I go back into the shelter, I’ll be assigned a new dog to work with, or I’ll get hit by a canine crush and find a dog to work with myself. In either case, I’ll need to determine what the dog knows already, and what she’s completely clueless about. If you adopt a dog that’s a year old or older, you might get some background information from the shelter — and you might not. If your dog comes with a medical record, a chip under her skin, and not much else, you’ll want to figure out what she knows too.

The easy things to find out are commands, but remember that not everyone teaches commands and tricks the same way. I always start with “Sit.” If the dog doesn’t do it with the word alone, I try a hand signal along with the command. Maybe a cupped hand, maybe a flat palm held outward, maybe just the promise of a treat between my fingers. Same with “Down,” which is the command I use. But others use “Lay down” or “Lie down,” which sound a little different to a dog no matter what you think of grammar rules, and the hand signals might be a lowered palm or a point toward the floor. There’s “Come,” “Come here,” and “Come on,” with a wave of the hand or a pat of the thighs. I think you get the idea. Wherever the gaps are, that’s where I start training.

Then we get a little more advanced. Does the dog know how to play fetch or tug using rules? Does the dog know how to stay calmly in a kennel or crate? Does the dog know how to walk nicely on a leash? At the shelter, these are a crapshoot, especially for energetic dogs. But these things make such a difference in overly bouncy behavior that even if the dog doesn’t know them when he comes in, we try to help him learn them by the time he leaves. Unless they get adopted out from under the trainers. Roger, I’m looking at you. And then I’m patting your head, because you have such nice eye contact, and I’m sure your new people are lovely.