Ginger is the sweetest, smartest, most wonderful dog in the world. Well of course you’re going to think that, she’s yours! If you hope that the rest of the world will one day realize how smart and wonderful she is, you will have to train her. Nothing will make potential fans more nervous than a misbehaving dog. Before you start Ginger’s Fan Club and build a fan base, you’ll need to teach her ways to show on the outside how fabulous you know she is on the inside.
train your puppy
The decision to train your dog is an important one, but it is certainly a necessary one. The basic commands (sit, stay, and lie down) are absolutely essential to communicating with your Ginger (regardless of breed or size). Anything beyond that is just a bonus, isn’t it? Beyond the commands that ensure that you and your dog find true understanding with each other, the two of you may find yourself riding the same wavelength and speaking the same language, in a manner of speaking.
basic commands
One important thing to keep in mind is that dogs are not as complicated creatures as we are. In fact, we overcomplicate things, sometimes to the point of confusing your dog. That’s why the expression “KISS” is so poignant when it comes to training your dog. Keep it simple, honey!
We are all familiar with the basic commands a dog must learn in order to be introduced to prospective fans.
sit
This one is fun. She’ll have you shoving Ginger’s butt for hours pleading, coaxing, and pulling your hair to get her to sit. When she finally does, she breaks out the champagne, because this is one of the most important steps in getting a trained dog.
(Lie
Lying down and lying down are different. The “Down” command is used when a dog is jumping up or onto a person and you want them to stop and desist. Lie down tells a dog that he’s already sitting up (because remember, you’ve mastered this) to now lie down.
Stay
Stay is a simple command that tells your Ginger to stay where she is and continue with what she’s doing no matter where you go. This one is especially important, second only to sitting down because the moment you tell Ginger to stay and leave the room, she’ll want to follow you.
Come, Heel, Flip, Right Out
“Come” instructs, or sometimes allows, Ginger to move from where she is to come to you. “Heel” tells him to keep up with her during a walk or to go from her sitting position to an upright position. “Roll over” tells him to roll over into her lying position. Potty or house training is a separate article entirely, but once you get the hang of it, it’s always uplifting for Ginger to hear, “Good Outside.”
more advanced
The biggest barrier in dog training seems obvious. The dogs do not speak English, German, Hebrew, French or any other language. Every word is just a sound, without context, without familiarity, and without relationship. Your job, as Ginger’s trainer, is to help her make an association between the sound and what you want her to do. This will take practice, repetition, and, you guessed it, patience. With this aspect of the training, it’s important to note that if Ginger isn’t getting it, it’s not because of her lack of intelligence. It is due to her inability to create the association between the sound and her desire.
Nouns
Surprisingly, dogs are capable of learning a large number of nouns. Not just the basics like “ball,” “frisbee,” or “bone,” but sophisticated and complex things like “newspaper” and “purple duck.” A border collie supposedly knows more than 1,000 words and learned them over the course of a few years. Ginger can learn any noun that she can distinguish from the rest of the noise coming out of her mouth, if she can link the sound to the object in her mind.
verbs
In dog training parlance, “verbs” is practically synonymous with “tricks.” Beyond the basics, verbs include things like fetch, dance, or shake. You could have Ginger do a little “back” motion with her front paws and call it “Silver”. You can teach her to play dead, or play speed bumps where she lies on it with her paws tucked under her. Ginger could learn to slide back through your legs in response to the word “back” if you can get the association between the movement and the action through your head. The sky is the limit for you and Ginger.
Cons
Training Ginger will be a commitment. She will take time and effort and a lot of patience. Also, another person’s ignorance, possibly rewarding them for something wrong or the like, can cause unintentional damage that will set you days back in your training.
You have to remember that you and your dog are in this together. You and Ginger are a team helping to create tools to communicate with each other. The key to training is partnership. Since you and Ginger don’t speak the same language, you need to help her associate a sound with an object or an action, and chances are, with the right work ethic, willpower, and determination, she can learn it. And once she does, you can officially introduce her to new fans of hers who will love her as much as you do.