Training Steps

When I want to teach a directional command, I use the following steps. First take the dog through the manuover in a heel position right next to you. Then, teach the dog to do it in normal position at the end of the leash out in front of you while walking. Then try it on a bike. Note that dogs do not normally generalize like you do. A command at heel is not necessarily the same to them as that command at the end of a leash, which is not the same as that command while on a gangline. You have to help your dog through those transitions.

If you have multiple dogs you can use an experienced one paired next to a novice to speed up training. Just be sure to let your experienced dog know how much you appreciate their help. For a lead dog, training a young puppy is not nearly as much fun as a real running adventure. In fact, it can be pretty annoying, so give your lead dog breaks and lots of praise. This also helps the puppy understand that the lead dog is doing the right thing and should be emulated. If nothing else, maybe the puppy will learn to follow the lead dog.

What Commands to Train Your Dog

The names of the commands are up to you. I use commands that I tend to instinctively shout, because often I have to blurt a command out. The command must be given and the dogs must react within one or two seconds to prevent an accident.

Use the words that work best for you and your dog. Avoid words that sound alike, especially avoid words that start the same, as much as is possible.

I have read that dogs focus on consonants instead of vowels. Not sure if that is true, but it is food for thought. I have three classes of commands. Essential implicit are rules a dog must always follow for the safety of the team. Essential verbal commands include direction and pacing such as turn right/left, start and stop commands. Informational commands are ones that inform a dog of what is coming up (yup, I see that cat too so calm down).

Essential Implicit Commands:

These are things your dog must know without you saying it.

You must always walk and train according to these rules.

- Always pull the ropes tight in front of you, never allow slack without a slack command. If the ropes go slack they can tangle or get caught in your front wheel, which will cause you to be thrown from the bike.

- Always stay together, never split and go around different sides of a pole or tree.

- Always stay on the street side of poles, mail boxes and fire hydrants.

- Always be on the right hand (in the US) side of the road or trail and move straight ahead.

- Always stay on the road or trail, don't leave it to chase things.

- Ignore other dogs and people.

I teach my dogs to walk in two positions. Heel is walking on my left side with no tension on the leash. Normal is walking in front of me with slight tension on the leash.

There are a couple of ways to train this. One is to use some sort of harness for normal position and to clip the leash to their collar for heel position. Initially I did it that way. Now I just train them with a "heel" and a "hike" or "lead" command. Learning these two positions is important. I start teaching a command with a dog at heel (unless I can pair them with a lead dog). After learning a command at heel, a dog relearns it walking at normal position, then in front of a bike.

Essential Verbal Commands:

- STOP or WHOA (Essential for self preservation)

- SLOW (can be used before STOP for a controlled approach to a stop sign or blind intersection)

- LEAVE IT (Essential for self preservation & control)

- GEE (RIGHT, gee is the traditional word, most people pronounce it jjee, but I use a hard Gee)

- HAW (LEFT, haw is the traditional word)

- STRAIGHT (blast through an intersection without turns)

- HIKE (GO, hike is the traditional word, not mush. I use "LEAD" too.)

- YIELD (Get off the road or trail. I use it when someone is about to run us over.)

- ON BY (Go around an object, combine with GEE and HAW to get around to one side or the other)

Informational Commands

I tell my dogs what I see. They tend to react less if they know I see what they see. For some reason they go nuts if they see a cat, but if I say “kitty cat”, all they do is perk up a bit.

- CAR (any motor vehicle is a "car")

- PEOPLE (your dogs should not react to people)

- BIKE (dogs can't always hear bikes from behind so warn them lest they startle and swerve)

- DOG (you should ignore it)

- CAT, SQUIRREL (yes I see it too, mellow out)

- FRONT (it is in front of us, as in DOG FRONT)

- BEHIND (it is behind us, as in BIKE BEHIND)

Nice Verbal Commands to Have

- CROSS (go to the other side of the trail or street, combine with GEE and HAW to jump on and off of sidewalks or to change lanes)

- ABIT (example: GEE ABIT means take the right fork, but not a hard right turn, useful at complex intersections and random obstacle fields)

- TURN (turn around 180 degrees, combine with GEE or HAW to avoid dogs turning into or away from each other) I recently learned that my dogs react better to “gee turn” or “haw turn” better than “turn gee” or “turn haw”. So word order is significant. What happens is I say “gee” or “haw” and they start to angle to the proper side, then I say turn and they finish off with a 180.

- TAKE-A-BREAK (stop pulling, give me slack, settle down, this is going to take some time to fix)

- VISIT (My dogs are therapy dogs, so I use "VISIT" and "NO VISIT" to define

whether we are going to interact)

- TEAM (This means "Hey everyone, listen for a command" and is used in place of a dog's name. If you can do "TEAM SIT", it looks really cool.)

When and How to give commands

Some people say to give a command once, right as you want your dog to do it. I personally give my dogs some warning, say 30 to 50 feet (a few seconds at speed). I may also say the command more than once. The problem with saying the command once is that if the dogs aren't expecting it, they miss it.

If your team has been running straight on one trail for a few miles they may be zombied out. If it is a busy city street the dogs may be distracted by everything that is going on.

You need to get the dogs' attention before they will interpret any command. Also, if you give a command that may sound like a different command, giving it more than once gives the dogs a better chance to understand it.

If I preface the command with a dog's name, the others may ignore the command. If I want all the dogs to turn, this is not so good.

Conversely, if I have one dog who is not where they should be, I will speak that dog's name and then give the command for them to get back in place.

Say the commands loudly and distinctly enough to be heard. In many cases I can almost whisper commands, but if we go by a noisy distraction, I may be almost shouting.

Learn to modulate your voice to convey happiness and disappointment. The dog has to know everything you want to say in a few short words. In an emergency you must convey urgent instructions in a second or two.

A higher lighter pitch is good for praises, a medium, clear pitch for commands, and a lower louder pitch for correction. You must be able to correct in a deep tone and then immediately praise in a high pitched happy tone if the situation calls for it.

If you speak in a monotone, this is your chance to learn something new and to use your tone of voice as a tool.