Send this page to a friend!

Store Hours:
Mon–Fri 10–7
Sat 10–6
Sun 12–5

Teach Your Dog the Basic Commands

Photo of a fluffy dog. Your puppy, like any other puppy, is trainable. Five of the most basic commands that you will want your puppy to know are: Sit, Down, Stand, Come, and Stay. Most puppies can learn these basic commands at just about any age over 12 weeks, although they are more receptive and will learn faster when they are under 1 year of age.

As you will see, the most common and effective method for teaching the basic commands are by using praise and treats as motivation. The basic idea is to put some treats in your pocket or in your hand, and then reward the puppy every time it correctly performs the new behavior you are trying to teach it. Follow the guidelines below to effectively and quickly teach your dog or puppy the basic commands.

Teaching Sit:

Take a treat in your hand, and let the puppy sniff it by keeping it in front of or just above the puppy's nose.
Slowly move the treat up and back over the puppy's head. If the puppy lifts its front legs then you are holding the food treat too high. Usually the puppy will be interested in the treat and will want to follow the treat, and it will have to sit to do so. If it does not begin to sit now, start over.
As the puppy sits, say "Sit", then give the puppy the treat, followed by some gentle stroking and a warm, enthusiastic "Good dog!"

Many repetitions will be necessary for the puppy to learn the association between sitting when told to and a good feeling. This is a important command to master though because as you will see later, it is the first step in teaching most other commands. You may wish to get the family involved to help with the training. Sit in a circle with the puppy in the middle, then have each family member call the puppy over and ask it to sit. Reward with treats if the puppy behaves well. This will also get the puppy socialized with the entire family!

Gradually, as the puppy understands what you want it to do, only give treats intermittently until it is weaned off the treats at least for the sit command. An alternative method you can try out is to hold the treat in front of the dog's nose with one hand while placing your other hand on its shoulder blades. As your treat hand moves over its head your left had will slide down its back, gently increasing pressure until it sits. But do not use too much force!

Teaching Stay:

Have the puppy sit.
Move back six inches (equivalent to taking about a step back), and say "stay" as you hold out your right hand with palm facing your puppy. If the puppy does not stay and gets up, start over back at step 1. If the puppy stays successfully for at least 1-2 seconds, step forward and reward your puppy. Make sure that the puppy does not stand up or move as you present the reward because then you will have rewarded it for "getting up".
Once your puppy stays at six inches or one step away, repeat the first two steps but step back further - another six inches or another step, then say "stay" and hold for three or four seconds. If the puppy stays, walk back to the puppy and reward or praise it. Keeping repeating, increasing the distance by a step or two and the duration of stay by a couple of seconds each time.

You should gradually be able to get to a point when the puppy can stay for a minute or more with you standing at least 10 feet away. Be patient. It can take a week or more of daily training to get a puppy to sit and stay for 1-2 minutes. Over a few months it should be possible to increase the stay to 15 minutes or more, and to be able to leave the room and return without the puppy rising from its stay. Although stay is one of the more difficult commands to master, it is also a crucial and very useful command.

You may have an easier time if the puppy has already mastered the sit command. That is, it sits down each and every time it is asked, without the need for food inducements. An alternative method you can try for teaching stay is to start by placing the puppy on an elevated surface like a chair or a step. If your puppy is very feisty and active, you may wish to put a long leash on it so that it does not run away.

Teaching Down:

Have the puppy sit.
Hold the treat in front of the puppy's nose and let the puppy sniff at the treat to rouse its interest.
Slowly lower the treat down between the puppy's front paws and say "Down". Usually the puppy will follow the treat down to the floor and get to a lying position. If the puppy lies down give it the treat and of course add "good dog."
If the puppy does not lie all the way down, slowly push the treat backwards further between the paws. If pushing the treat backwards under the puppy still does not work, you can also try slowly pulling the treat forward. Move the treat forward along the ground so the puppy has to inch forward into a down position. Again, whenever the puppy does lie down, give it the treat, pet it, and say "Good dog" or some other praise. Whenever the puppy stands up, start over.

Once the puppy understands the down command, make sure that you vary the starting position. You should try to get your puppy to lie down from both a sit and when standing up.

Teaching Stand:

Have the puppy sit.
Take the food treat palm facing up and move it forward and away from the puppy as you say "Stand".
Your puppy should follow its nose and stand up. Do not pull your hand so far away that the puppy follows you, but just until it stands up. As it does, give it the treat and praise it.

Teaching Come:

From a few feet away, say your puppy's name in a happy voice. As soon as your puppy looks at you, either squat down or run backwards and say "Come." Test both methods to see which elicits the quickest response from your puppy.
As soon as your puppy starts coming toward you, say "Good dog!" If you are backing up, squat down before your puppy gets to you, keeping your upper torso straight because dogs feel insecure or intimidated if a person bends over them.
Keep the hand with the treat close to your body so that as the puppy approaches you, it does not try to grab the treat from your outstretched hand and run away with it.
As you offer the puppy the treat from one hand, gently grasp the puppy's collar with the other hand. Not only will you be working on the come command, but you will also be associating taking hold of the collar with something positive so that your puppy will be more willing to have its collar held as it grows up.

Finally, remember to try to do all training in a low distraction environment. This will help the puppy to concentrate. Once your puppy learns these basic commands, you will appreciate your puppy more and it will be easier to teach it other things in the future. If you have any more questions regarding puppy training or discipline, just ask us and we will help you any way we can.

Back to the Fact of the Week Archives.