#227 How To Stop Untraining Your Dog In Daily Life

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Ever feel like your dog hears their name and just… doesn’t? We’ve been there, and today we unpack the small everyday habits that quietly teach dogs to tune us out. From name overuse to muddy cues, we show how clarity and consistency turn a distracted dog into a responsive partner without adding more drills or gadgets.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
When we train our dogs, we usually think about
teaching them something new.
Sit, stay, come.
But sometimes without realizingit, we confuse or even undo our
own training in random everydayinteractions.
And here's one example.

(00:24):
Overusing your dog's name.
If I constantly say scooterthis, scooter that, scooter
here, scooter there, eventuallyscooter tunes me out.
His name stops being a signal topay attention and becomes
background noise.
That's why I actually use a lotof nicknames for him when I'm

(00:46):
just rambling or talking to himcasually.
I try to save his real name forwhen it truly matters, when I
need him to focus.
And the same thing happens withcues like come.
If I say come here, come in thekitchen, come upstairs, it no
longer means drop what you'redoing and get to me.

(01:11):
It just becomes another casualword that they learn to ignore.
That's why if I only want tocheck if scooter wants to come
inside, I'll step on the porchand ask him, Would you like to
come in?
But if I say scooter come,that's a cue and he has to do
it, even if he'd rather stayoutside.

(01:34):
Another way we confuse our dogsis by using cues or promises to
trick them.
So for example, when it's timefor a walk, I'll say, Hey
scooter, let's go.
And he'll hop up and follow me.
But if I started saying, heyscooter, let's go, and when he
hopped up, I use that as anopportunity to get him in the

(01:56):
bathroom for a bath.
Pretty soon, those two wordswouldn't mean anything
trustworthy.
And if I do it too often, hewon't know whether let's go
means a real walk, a bath, orsomething else entirely.
And that's a fast way to ruin auseful cue.

And here's another one (02:17):
changing our rules without realizing it.
So for example, sometimes we letthe dog jump up on us when we're
wearing play clothes and we'rein a good mood.
But then we get upset when theytry to do the same thing and
we're dressed for work.
From the dog's perspective, therule isn't consistent.

(02:39):
They don't read our wardrobe.
They just know sometimes it'sallowed and sometimes it's not.
So if you want clearer training,here's the big takeaway.
Use your dog's name sparingly oruse nicknames.
Don't use cues or promises totrick your dog, and try to keep

(03:00):
your rules consistent.
Your dog will thank you formaking their job much easier.