During my animal communication sessions, I speak with a lot of dogs and their people.
We speak about leash aggression, too much energy, chasing of cats, wanting a dog friend, being tired of the new puppy ... and every time I mention the five most essential words each dog needs to know.
Come
Sit
Down
Wait
Leave it
(ok, that's two words, but I count it is as one request ;)
Come
Our dog, Scout, needs to know his name in conjunction with the word "come" to keep him from heading down the driveway into traffic. Or if he attempts to dive into a muddy watering hole on the trail. Or when his nose takes over, and he tracks himself right out of our yard onto a neighboring property.
Sit
Scout needs to know "Sit" because I ask him to out his booty to the ground every time we see another dog. Scout can be territorial with other dogs, and if we encounter one on the trail, I immediately ask him to engage his root chakra by sitting so he can stay or get back to being grounded.
Down
We use this very rarely, but when Scout is really excited or driven to follow his instincts, a.k.a. chase the fox out of the field, I might ask him to lay "Down." Putting his belly on Mother Earth is another great way to ground the excited body, plus me insisting that he lowers himself to the ground requires his mind to pay attention to me ... not the fox.
Wait
Oh, I love this word. It is the key to emotional agility. When a dog can wait for ... anything ... he is emotionally agile. Emotionally agile, what a phrase.
I learned emotional agility from the great author and lecturer Patricia McConnell https://www.patriciamcconnell.com/
Scout learned to wait from a pup age, and it pays off big time. If Scout paws the door, wanting to go out, I can say, "Wait, I will be with you in a minute," which allows me to finish writing an email. If I need to move the cars around in the driveway, I can point to an area and say "Sit" and once he does, "Wait," and trust that he stays there until I come back to release him.
Leave It
I think our cats appreciate this request the most. Dogs have a natural curiosity about cats, and most cats do not enjoy their butts sniffed. So a simple "Leave it" goes a long way. But, we also use it when Scout brings dirty laundry from the bedroom to the laundry chute or when he tries to sneak a sock out into the yard.
As always, these are only a few examples of how to use these five words or phrases. As you observe your daily interactions with your pup, you will see how often these words come in handy and how quickly they can expand your communication.
Let me know how you and your dog are doing and book a phone session if you want to dive deeper into communicating with your dog, cat, horse, bird, or backyard skunk :-)
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