7 essential skills to teach your dog

You’ve brought your dog home and you’re dreaming of your perfect life together. Lots of lovely long walks, evenings snuggling on the sofa watching TV and the odd trip to a café or pub together… You know that to have that dream life you need to train your dog. But you’re not actually sure what you should be teaching them…

I can tell you one thing you don’t need to teach your dog: sit. Yes, it’s probably the first thing EVERYONE teaches their dog. Well second, after their dog’s name. But honestly, you and your dog could live amazing lives together without them ever learning to sit. It’s not going to help you enjoy those exciting walks, chilled evenings and relaxing café trips. Sit’s cute, but cute isn’t gonna help you and your dog live your best life together. For that you’re going to need to teach your dog these 7 essential life skills…

1. Loose-lead walking

Pulling on-lead is one of the most common behaviours dog carers struggle with. Walking a dog who’s pulling is EXHAUSTING. Instead of having a lovely relaxing walk, you come home with sore arms and feeling stressed from being dragged around. And you might even start to avoid walking your dog as your walks are so unpleasant. Teaching your dog to walk calmly on-lead will massively improve your life and your dog’s. Finally you’re able to get out and enjoy exploring new places together without any stress.

Unfortunately teaching loose-lead walking takes a lot of work. The principle is easy - reward your dog for walking next to you with a loose-lead. But the reality of teaching your dog to stay calm and focus on you around constant distractions is definitely not easy. Your dog’s not going to suddenly stop pulling and start walking with a loose-lead overnight. It’s going to take weeks or even months of training. So don’t give up if you don’t see results from your training quickly. Keep going, you and your dog will get there. And all that hard work will be so worth it…

2. Recall

We all want to let our dogs run free off-lead. But we can only do that if they come back when we call them. No-one wants to be the person whose dog is running around creating chaos by bothering other dogs, chasing squirrels and stealing people's picnics. And no-one wants to be the person whose dog can never be let off-lead because they won't come back.

Like loose-lead walking, recall takes A LONG time to train. It's a really difficult skill for our dogs to choose us over all those tempting distractions. Luckily recall training can, and should, be fun for you and your dog. Recall is a competition between you and those other dogs, squirrels and picnics, and a boring treat just isn’t going to cut it. The only way to win is to throw your dog a party every time they come back. If your dog knows that hearing their recall cue means it’s time to play a fun recall game with you, they’ll come zooming back every time you call them.

3. Settle

Being able to relax and do nothing is one of the most underrated skills for dogs. Having a dog who chills out after walks, while you eat and when you have visitors will make your home so much more calm. If you’re thinking ‘that sounds wonderful, but my dog’s so hyper, they’d never relax at home’ don’t worry. This is a skill you can (and should) teach your dog. Some dogs are more chilled than others, but even the most hyper dogs (usually teenage dogs and working breeds) can be taught to settle at home. And as a bonus, once your dog knows how to settle, you’ll be able to have relaxing café trips with them.

Teaching your dog to settle isn’t only important for your mental health. It’s vital for your dog’s. Adult dogs should be sleeping for around 12-14 hours a day and resting for about another 6. Yep, that’s A LOT of snoozing and chilling. Dogs who don’t get enough rest and sleep will be more excitable, frustrated and anxious. That’s going to make their behaviour a lot worse. And make it more difficult for them to learn new behaviours. Teaching your dog to chill out might seem like a small thing - but it can make a massive difference for you and your dog.

4. Leave

Dogs often pick up things they shouldn't. And often those things can hurt them or make them ill. At home you should move anything you don't want your dog to chew or eat out of their reach (if possible). But you can't control what your dogs find on walks. Abandoned takeaways, boxes of recycling on rubbish day, dead animals and fox poo are all very tempting for most dogs.

Teaching your dog to ignore something they think is valuable is a vital skill for your dog's safety. It saves you fighting your dog to try and take something out of their mouth. And could prevent a very stressful and potentially very expensive vet trip. It's important that when you ask your dog to leave something, you give them a high-value reward. If all your dog gets for leaving that tasty pavement pizza is a tiny bit of kibble, they'll just eat the pizza next time. Teaching a good leave is a lot of work, but it's massively worth it. And if your dog gets really good, you can ask them to leave things they'd roll in or chase as well.

5. Drop

Teaching a leave is great, but what if your dog picks something up before you've seen it? You don't want to be putting your fingers in your dog's mouth to remove something because you're probably gonna get bitten. Instead you need to be able to ask your dog to drop whatever they've picked up. Just like a leave, you need to give your dog a high-value reward for dropping something. Giving up something valuable they already have is very hard for your dog. And if they don't get a good enough reward, they won't bother dropping anything again.

If you want to play fetch with your dog then you'll definitely want to teach them to drop their ball or frisbee. Some dogs have a 'no take, only throw' attitude to fetch. Which can make the game pretty hard to play. Being able to ask your dog to drop their toy when they bring it back, means you can throw it again and the game can continue. If your dog picks their ball up as soon as you go to get it, just play with two balls. Then you can ask your dog to drop one, and throw the other as soon as they've dropped it. Giving you the chance to pick up one ball while your dog's busy chasing the other.

Teaching a drop is essential for playing fetch if you want to get the ball back

6. Grooming and handling

All dogs need grooming - although some more than others. For some dogs this just means being washed and brushed and having their nails trimmed. But long-coated or curly-coated dogs will need their fur regularly trimmed to prevent matts by you or by a groomer. If your dog hates being groomed then the whole experience will be stressful for both of you. And you might start to avoid this essential care which could affect your dog’s welfare. Spending time getting your dog comfortable with being groomed is an investment in your dog’s health.

But looking after your dog’s health involves much more than grooming. Regularly checking your dog over will allow you to spot any changes that might need to get checked out by a vet. If your dog is always ok with having you touch their legs, back, ears etc. but suddenly one day they won’t let you, then that might suggest they’re not well. And if your dog is happy to be handled, your vet will find it much easier to check them over. Dogs who hate being touched are very difficult to treat or even diagnose. You can even get a syringe (without a needle, obviously) and practise putting in ear or eye drops. You don’t need to put anything in the syringe, just bring it to your dog’s ears and eyes and pretend.

7. Muzzle training

Every dog should be muzzle trained. Yes, even your sweet, friendly dog. Muzzles definitely aren't just for 'bad' or 'aggressive' dogs. Dogs may need to be muzzled on walks if they scavenge food that can make them ill. And dogs like XL bullies and pitbulls who are a banned breed are legally required to wear a muzzle.

Buying brightly coloured muzzle is a great way to make your muzzled dog look less scary

But the most important reason to muzzle train is to keep yourself safe in an emergency. Any dog can bite if they're in pain and scared. If your dog gets injured, you should always muzzle them before attempting to look at the wound or give them any first aid to protect yourself. And it's common for vets to ask for dogs to be muzzled if they're worried about being bitten. Treating your dog when they're ill or in pain is pretty stressful. And it's going to be much more stressful if you have to muzzle your dog and they're scared because they've never worn one before. Spending some time getting your dog used to wearing a muzzle can make an awful emergency situation just a little bit easier.

Written by Juniper Indigo, dog trainer in Tiverton and Exeter